Technological innovation is on the precipice of finding a smart application that just allows you to do just anything in your daily routine. Even the most ridiculously simple daily tasks can be made… well even more simple. So it is with little surprise that we learn the newest little gadget to hit the stage in America is a nifty little whotsit which can help you in the complex, tiring and often dangerous task of making a shopping list…
Quite an investment…
A little more expensive than a traditional pen and paper at $80 – or about £50 – (you can loose your pencil – don’t loose this!) its makers boast it is so simple it can be used by a five year old. Which gets rid of another problem. Now you can ask your toddler to do a shopping inventory with that little round toy thing.
Ok, Ok, enough sarcasm already. Hiku is a small barcode scanner that is linked to an application on your mobile phone. All you do is scan the barcode on the tin or package on the item you are running short of and it will add it to your virtual shopping list. Only available on ios at the moment the makers are hoping it will be available on android very soon.
Mobile and easy to use
It is very small with one huge button, and aesthetically pleasing, Hiku is easy to store, carry around, use and no doubt loose (pity it doesn’t have a barcode when you need a new one). However Hiku comes with a neat little magnet so you can stick it on your fridge. Just don’t loose the fridge.
Hiku make funny noises. When it recognises a product it produces a high tone, when it doesn’t recognise a product it produces a low depressed tone. Yes it is likely it will not register all the barcodes.
I have probably been wildly unfair about the advent of Hiku. As with all new products it will take a little fine tuning – and who knows they maybe a household necessity in years to come. However, isn’t it likely that if you need something, it is highly likely you haven’t got it in stock and therefore cant scan it?
Just a thought.
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