Japanese portable alarm to keep laptops safe when working from a cafe smashes crowdfunding goal

Clever design means you never have to manually turn the alarm on or off.

So imagine you’re sitting in Starbucks, sipping hojicha roasted green tea Frappuccinos and making progress on your current project for that sweet, sweet telecommuting job you’ve landed. At some point, you’re going to need to stop the flow of greatness from your mind to your laptop to either go to the bathroom or order another drink, but when you do that you’ve actually got another important task that exists outside your body’s liquid intake/output cycle: you need to keep your laptop safe.

Even though Japan is an amazingly safe country, it’s still not really advisable to leave high-priced electronics unattended, especially if they’ve got sensitive work material in them. But it can be a pain to pack up your laptop when you’re only stepping away for a minute, and so King Jim, the same company that brought us the wearable office futon and snack-hiding folder, has a solution.

The compact, thimble-shaped Trene is a personal alarm that links to your smartphone via Bluetooth. Simply place it on to of our laptop or other belongings you want it to keep an eye on, and if someone tries to move it out of the way, the unit’s accelerometer will sense what’s going on and trigger the audible alarm and flashing lights, as demonstrated in the video below.

But wait, if any movement will set the Trene off, what do you do when you come back to your seat and want to start using your laptop again? Well…you just start using your laptop again. The Trene alarm automatically arms when the smartphone it’s linked to is moved away from the unit (so while you can leave your laptop behind, you will need to take your phone with you). Once it senses the phone is back at a close distance, it accepts that the rightful owner is back too, and the alarm disarms. In other words, the entire process is seamless, with no need for you to manually turn the alarm on and off.

Because the on/off process is automated, King Jim says the Trene is great for those times when you need to quickly step away for just a moment, such as when you need to step out of a cafe of seminar room to take an important phone call, and its light, compact design makes it a perfect fit for mobile professionals. It’s currently being offered as as part of a crowdfunding project on Japanese website Makuake, but even with 90 days still to go, it’s blown right past its goal of 500,000 yen (US$4,550), having already raised over 830,000 yen. Reward tiers that include a Trene start at 6,610 yen, and the campaign can be found here.

Source: Makuake via IT Media
Top image: YouTube/キングジム公式YouTubeチャンネル
Insert images: Makuake, YouTube/キングジム公式YouTubeチャンネル

Credit: