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Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

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Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#41

Post by jackowayed »

I clicked through the purchase flow and noticed the "SSL secured" text.

But the homepage is not served via SSL. I assume the actual purchase form submits through SSL, but an active network attacker could change it to submit anywhere they want, and no one would know.

Everyone makes this mistake, because they think of SSL as being just encryption. It's encryption, but it's also integrity. If a page has security-sensitive functionality at all near it, you want integrity, even if the content is public. (Another example: You have a totally static personal site. Why would that possibly demand SSL? Well, say you want to post your GPG public key so people can send you encrypted email. Someone who can intercept mail bound for you might also be able to MITM your site, so you want SSL to ensure people actually get your real key.)

Just serve everything over SSL always, and you won't have to think about this.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#42

Post by Groxx »

michaelt wrote: post #11
Kiro wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the autofocus work?

1. Algorithm to evaluate how blurred an image is. 2. Adjust the focus a little bit, is it getting less blurred? Keep going. More blurred? Other direction. 3. Keep adjusting until you find the point where adjusting either way means more blur.

1 is pretty often "how much contrast", which is pretty easy to do.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#43

Post by gutnor »

chriskelley wrote: post #30
yan wrote: post #16

I'm going to preface this by saying this meter looks great and I realize that it's much easier to critique than encourage. Overall, I think it's an interesting implementation, but I felt the tone of the video did not match the nature of the product. The video feels produced towards something with more breadth and importance than essentially a contractor tool. Not that I'm downplaying what Senic built, but the present…

But that's advertising in a nutshell right? They're not using disinformation, they're simply setting a tone for how they wan't their company to be viewed. Coca-Cola makes sugar water, Kleenex makes tissue. But you don't push many units by downplaying your product. I think the video does a great job of making them seem to take their product seriously. If enough people walk away with a similar impression, it will allow…

Actually that is a weird ads. It seems targeted at 'us', i.e. tech guys mostly.

Looking at the spec, it seems that this tool has all the necessary bits inside to compete with Leica tools. Yet the ads is very silent on all that.

IMO I think they neglected the software side when designing their gismo ( by mistake or by strategy ). Now they hype it up with tech guys, so that one of us will eventually create a few killer apps for their hardware so they can compete against Leica.

99$ for a bluetooth enabled, fully featured laser measurer but with a SDK instead of great interface ? Well I guess it is working, count me in.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#44

Post by kevingibbon »

cbhl wrote: post #38
kevingibbon wrote: post #20

Love the idea for the professional. Is there any way to measure less precisely using the iPhone's camera? Something about using the gyroscope to get a depth measurement?

More likely you'd use algorithms based on structure from motion, like in the Kinect. But that's definitely not the target market for these guys.

ya of course. Do you have more details? I'm interested myself.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#46

Post by argumentum »

gutnor wrote: post #43
chriskelley wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's advertising in a nutshell right? They're not using disinformation, they're simply setting a tone for how they wan't their company to be viewed. Coca-Cola makes sugar water, Kleenex makes tissue. But you don't push many units by downplaying your product. I think the video does a great job of making them seem to take their product seriously. If enough people walk away with a similar impression, it will allow…

Actually that is a weird ads. It seems targeted at 'us', i.e. tech guys mostly. Looking at the spec, it seems that this tool has all the necessary bits inside to compete with Leica tools. Yet the ads is very silent on all that. IMO I think they neglected the software side when designing their gismo ( by mistake or by strategy ). Now they hype it up with tech guys, so that one of us will eventually create a few killer…

I'm biased, as I know the team personally, but they didn't neglect the software side. A majority of the team are software engineers, and hackability is very much a part of their design. So definitely, buy one (or more) and make some killer apps!

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#47

Post by ra88it »

yan wrote: post #16

I'm going to preface this by saying this meter looks great and I realize that it's much easier to critique than encourage. Overall, I think it's an interesting implementation, but I felt the tone of the video did not match the nature of the product. The video feels produced towards something with more breadth and importance than essentially a contractor tool. Not that I'm downplaying what Senic built, but the present…

I agree with your comment, although I'd replace "toddler" with "college kid".

That said, I found it refreshing and pleasant to watch and charming in its innocence and the depth of its ambition.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#48

Post by yan »

ra88it wrote: post #47
yan wrote: post #16

I'm going to preface this by saying this meter looks great and I realize that it's much easier to critique than encourage. Overall, I think it's an interesting implementation, but I felt the tone of the video did not match the nature of the product. The video feels produced towards something with more breadth and importance than essentially a contractor tool. Not that I'm downplaying what Senic built, but the present…

I agree with your comment, although I'd replace "toddler" with "college kid". That said, I found it refreshing and pleasant to watch and charming in its innocence and the depth of its ambition.

I wasn't trying to liken the founder to a toddler, I was just trying to paint a mental picture. "College kid in a business suit" isn't very descriptive :)

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#49

Post by doctoboggan »

I think Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)[0]is really cool and has the possibility to enable many many cool devices. The low power requirements allow devices to run for weeks on a button cell, and the fact that it uses the same hardware as the original bluetooth implementation mean devices only need software updates to enable it. The latest iPhones have BLE support, and google added BLE support in android 4.3[1].

BLE is already used in devices like the Pebble Watch. If you are interested in hacking with a BLE device, check out the SensorTag[2] from TI. Its a tiny $25 board that contains a whopping six sensors:

* IR temperature Sensor (contactless temperature measurement)

* Humidity Sensor

* Pressure Sensor

* 3-axis Accelerometer

* Gyroscope

* Magnetometer

They also provide example iOS and android source code. You can download the iOS app in the app store.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy

[1] http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/bluet...

[2] http://www.ti.com/tool/cc2541dk-sensor

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#50

Post by tlrobinson »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #4

Useful product, although I'm dismayed its not a device that can build a point cloud of the whole room yet (and use said point cloud for rendering on a mobile device, as well as high-resolution measurements). Look what tech innovation has done to my expectations of products :( Room scanning point cloud with Kinect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhg3_ZgRK68 Boiler Room Point Cloud: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1l0X…

I wonder if you could plop this thing on a cheap pan/tilt device like Galileo (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/449163977/galileo-your-i...)
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