Earlier this year Finnish startup The Button Corporation (TBC) unboxed a connected hardware button, called charmingly enough, bttn. It started taking pre-orders at €69 per pop back in May but has now fired up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to speed manufacturing and expand the reach of its bttn, with a stated focus of driving interest in the US.
The $99 bttns being offered on Indiegogo are pledged to ship to backers this December. The campaign is a flexible funding one, meaning TBC will get all funds pledged, regardless of whether it makes the $100,000 campaign goal or not. So mostly this is a marketing amplification exercise for the startup.
What exactly is bttn? It’s a wireless physical push button that can be customized to perform a digital action of the user’s choosing — such as, for instance, sending a pre-written text message to say someone has arrived home, or changing the mode of a smart heating system, or enacting an IFTTT recipe. The bttn displays visual and/or tactile feedback to the button pusher to confirm the configured action has been carried out. TBC has also focused on b2b applications for bttn, such as hotels wanting a quick way to call a cab for guests.
bttn will be Icontrol OpenHome certified upon launch — meaning it will interoperate with other OpenHome certified smart home devices, expanding its remit to become a control button for a range of other connected home devices.
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