The Pressy, the latest application innovation to excite Android smartphone users, allows people to simplify basic tasks on the device with the click of a button.
The black rubber-tipped
Pressy button connects to your smartphone phone through its headphone jack, and after downloading the accompanying app, allows users to skip the sometimes laborious steps of navigating a touch screen before accessing three of the most commonly used features: the flashlight, camera and silent mode.
Simply click the button once to turn on your smartphone's flashlight, twice to take a photograph and hold down for an extended period of time to put the phone on silent mode.
Urgent: Should U.S. Strike Syria? Vote Here
Already, the new device has received financial support from some 2,900 people on the fundraising website Kickstarter.com, where it has raised more than $40,000,
CNET.com reported.
Kickstarter.com allows inventors and entrepreneurs to raise capital for upstart companies and concepts by appealing to small investors around the world who either purchase the product itself, to help further its production, or invest in it with the hopes it will eventually turn a profit so that they can make money on their investment.
In the Pressy's case, the button/app, which is only available for the Android smartphone and not Apple's iPhone, can be purchased for $20. A Pressy pledge investment is $17, CNET.com notes.
The inventor of the Pressy is a 29-year-old Israeli industrial engineer and app developer named Nimrod Back, who o
n Kickstarter.com describes himself as a "gadget lover and a nice guy."
According to Back, he came up with the idea after having developed several apps last year and "noticing that my awesome devices are lacking the most intuitive input – a button click."
Back says he then quit his day job, teamed up with his friend Boaz Mendel, a product designer, and dedicated himself 100 percent to the development of the Pressy.
Urgent: Should Obamacare be Repealed? Vote Here Now
During its development over the past year, the team grew to include a usability experience (UX) specialist named Danielle Arad, and a web developer and programmer named Shai Alon.
Though it is only available on the Android smartphone to date, Back says the team is in the process of developing a similar app that will be compatible with iOS, the mobile operating system for Apple devices.
Related stories:
British High Schooler Sells App to Yahoo for Millions
New Apps to Tame Uncontrollable Inboxes