LuDela unveils world’s smartest and safest real-flame candle

A San Jose company named LuDela is taking smart lighting to a whole other level. Instead of using LEDs like every other smart lighting device, the company's first product uses a real flame. You use a smartphone app called Wi-Fire to turn on the flame, turn it off, set a timer, and see how much wax is left. The app can even control multiple candles. To top it off, LuDela added safety features such as automatic extinguishing if the candle tips and phone alerts.

The LuDela smart candle is available at www.ludela.com for $99. Shipments begin early 2017. For more info, check out their site or read the press release below.

Groundbreaking Wi-Fire Technology Allows Multiple Candles to be Lit and Controlled From a Smartphone App Without the Need for Matches

SAN JOSE, Calif. – September 20, 2016 – LuDela today introduced the world’s smartest and safest real-flame candle. Featuring unprecedented Wi-Fire technology, the LuDela smart candle is the first to feature a real flame that can be lit, extinguished and controlled via a smartphone and eliminates the need for matches or other fire starters. LuDela addresses safety and aesthetic concerns that candle burners have faced for centuries, resulting in a safer, more convenient, and hassle-free approach to burning candles that delivers increased peace of mind and enjoyment to users.

“There’s nothing quite like the glow, smell, and ambiance of candles, but with it comes the fire risk, wax mess, hassles with wicks, and the time it takes to light and extinguish multiple candles,” said Jamie Bianchini, co-founder & CEO, LuDela. “LuDela addresses these issues with a smart candle that delivers the convenience and increased safety benefits of LED candles, but with the magic and fascination of a real flame. Combined with our social mission, LuDela delivers better light and better lives around the world.”

LuDela melds the beauty of traditional candles with 21st century Wi-Fire technology. Its innovative burning design utilizes 100 percent of the natural candle wax with no buried wicks and an “Everbrite Flame” that guarantees the candle will always shine bright. The LuDela smartphone app lights, extinguishes, and controls multiple candles with the touch of a button.

LuDela Smart Candle features with Wi-Fire technology include:

• Instant Ambiance
• Tap to Extinguish
• Multi-Zone Lighting
• Timer
• Candle Remaining Meter
• Scene Modes
• Long-Life Rechargeable Batteries
• App Controls Multiple Candles

LuDela Safety Features include:

• Proximity Extinguish
• Extinguish on Tip Over
• Smart Scan
• Child-Lock App
• Reverse Burn Design
• Safe Wax Pool Design
• Smartphone Safety Alerts
• Low Battery Detection

The LuDela smart candle is available at an introductory price of $99 at www.ludela.com with delivery expected in early 2017. Special preorder bundles and subscriptions–including LuDela’s Seasonal Scented Subscription that features curated scented refills that change with the season–are also available. Unlike standard pillar candles, LuDela burns 100 percent of the wax refills. As a result, consumers benefit from savings of up to 45 percent compared to other natural candles.

“LuDela literally pays for itself,” added Bianchini. “Within the first year, candle refill savings allow most LuDela users to recoup their $99 investment and begin saving money while continuing to enjoy safer, clean burning, beautifully smelling natural candles that light up their space–and their lives.”

For more information and to order your LuDela candle today, visit www.ludela.com.

Social Media
Twitter: @joinLuDela
Facebook: facebook.com/JoinLuDela
Instagram: instagram.com/JoinLuDela

About LuDela
LuDela is a smart and safe candle company with a mission to deliver better light and better lives to people around the world. With innovative Wi-Fire technology, LuDela offers the convenience and increased safety benefits of LED candles, but with the real flame ambiance and scents of real flame wax candles. LuDela is using its smarter, safer candle as a vehicle to help those suffering from poor lighting and lack of education in developing countries. To join LuDela in delivering a brighter global future, visit www.LuDela.com.

Camera 12 - (Part II)

Sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but I want to start the post today with a different tone. So what is the positive spin on Camera 12 shutting down? The opportunity to create something even better.

Over the past few years the theater did seem like it was being poorly maintained. While the ticket cost to see a movie at Camera 12 was less than most other movie theaters, it does take effort for people outside of Downtown to drive in, park, and go see a movie. To make matters even worse, the home movie experience today has become exceptional. For people to go out and see a movie, there needs to be a more compelling reason than 10 years ago--something you cannot get at home.

What Downtown really needs right now is a destination movie theater that will appeal to local residents and pull people from around Silicon Valley. It can't just be another Cinemark or AMC, it should be something that goes above and beyond. I think the Camera 12 space would be perfect for a premium movie theater with fewer seats, food, and alcohol. A great example is the Alamo Drafthouse. Even better is iPic Theaters where you get reserved leather recliners, blankets, and service in the theater.

The multi-level setup allows for even more opportunity to turn this into a premium experience that can cater to multiple audiences. The bottom floor can have nice reserved seats with no food or drink and costs similar to a normal theater. The upper floors can be 21 and over with a full bar and food served at your seat. Fewer seats that are more expensive would make the theater easier to fill, especially with a concept not found anywhere else in Silicon Valley.

Right now there are only two premium theaters planned for the area, one in Valley Fair and another all the way in San Mateo. Both are half-measures in malls that won't be of the same caliber as the iPic Theater pictured below.

Downtown is the perfect location for a destination movie house that will bring more people to the area instead of solely rely on nearby residents. We need to step up our entertainment game, and the Camera 12 spot is the ultimate anchor location that can help take us to the next level.

Camera 12 - Rest in Peace (Part I)

Unfortunately, the largest movie theater in Downtown San Jose has shut its doors. Camera 12 was one of my favorite movie theaters for a long time. I still remember when they first opened and hired actors to entertain crowds during premiers. My personal favorite was the Borat impersonator that hung out with crowds in line and introduced the film.

Camera 12 was also known for its central role in the Cinequest Film Festival. The 2017 festival will be a bit more complicated now. It was one of the few theaters eager to experiment with new technology, like the Barco Escape three-screen experience (image below).

Architecturally, it was also very unique. There are not very many three-story theaters in the US, let alone the Bay Area. I always enjoyed the view coming down from the top floor and the openness in the lobby.

Even though it seems like more and more people were patronizing the theater this year, revenue was outpaced by increasing rents and maintenance costs. Fortunately, Camera 3 and Camera 7 will not be impacted by the closure.

As sad as I am about this closure, there is a positive spin... (stay tuned for Part II tomorrow).

Source: The Merc, Andrew Rivlin

San Jose Brew Bike

With so many great beer options in Downtown San Jose, it's surprising we didn't get one of these sooner. San Jose Brew Bike is essentially a giant bike that takes you and up to 14 friends on a tour of San Jose's top beer hotspots. Don't worry, the person steering does not partake in the tastings.

The standard two hour tour will stop at three different establishments and stay for 30 minutes at each stop. The extended tours allow for a fourth or even a fifth stop. Tours begin and end at 286 West San Fernando Street (next to Adobe).

The cost is $25/person from Sunday-Thursday and $30/person on Friday-Saturday. This includes a designated tour guide, bottles of water, and discounts at each stop. You do have to be 21 and over.

For more info and to book a tour, head over to the San Jose Brew Bike website.

1st Annual Timmy Awards

The 1st Annual Timmy Awards is a new event recognizing the best places for tech professionals to work. There will be cocktails, hor d'oeuvres, music, and product demos. The moderator for the night is Katie Roof from Tech Crunch and the award presenters are Kerry Davis from Engadget, Marc Acton from Mix 106.5, and Jennifer Elias from the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Categories include Best Tech Startup, Best Tech Work Culture, and Best Tech Manager.

The event will take place this Thursday, September 22nd from 6pm-9pm at the San Jose Women's Club. For more information head over to the Tech in Motion site. You can RSVP for free over here.

We're excited to present Silicon Valley's 1st Annual Timmy Awards in an effort to recognize the best places for technology professionals to work. We asked the Silicon Valley tech community to weigh in by nominating companies they believe deserve to win and then voting for the finalists!

Organizations and individuals will be crowned the winners of each of the categories below on September 22nd. The evening will begin with cocktails, hor d'oeuvres, music and product demos from the best of the best in Silicon Valley tech.

Silicon Valley's Best Technology Manager

Bill Hu – CEO of Kika Tech
Erik Kostelnik - Founder & CEO of TextRecruit
Han Jin - CEO of LucidCam
Venkatachalam Rangasamy – Principal Software Architect at Equinix
Waqaas Al-Siddiq - CEO of Biotricity

Silicon Valley's Best Technology Startup 

Avegant
Blue River Technology
Cloudian
DataVisor
Datos IO
Engagio
Liquid Robotics
Loop Commerce
Primary Data
Rubrik

Silicon Valley's Best Technology Work Culture 

Branch
Drawbridge
Identity Guard
Kespry
MATRIXX Software Inc.
Peloton Technology
Pinger, Inc.
Retail Solutions Inc. (RSi)
Shipwire
Whipsaw, Industrial Design and Engineering

Cinequest doubling down on Virtual Reality

The main film festival for the most innovative place on earth absolutely needs to keep pace with technological innovations in film. That is why they are not just adding a Virtual Reality (VR) category, but they are actually renaming the whole event. Cinequest will now be know as the Cinequest Film & VR Festival. Within 24 hours of the announcement, they already received over 10 submissions.

The new name won't be the only change. Unfortunately, Cinequest may need a new venue this year as Camera 12 has shut down. I'll explain more in a separate post.

Source: SVBJ

Beers in Hell 2016

A unique event combining five craft breweries and 11 underground bands is coming to Johnny V's next weekend (Saturday, 9/24). Heavy San Jose, Ripple Music, and Doomed & Stoned are behind the festival which features heavy-blues, rock, and classic heavy metal music.

There will be 12 taps and brewery reps on site to talk beer and music. The breweries are Ballast Point, Lagunitas, Firestone Walker, Oskar Blues, and our very own Santa Clara Valley Brewing. SCVB will even concoct a special "Hell Brew IPA" just for the event.

Tickets are $20 and you can get additional perks and merch at the Indiegogo campaign over here. The event will run from 5pm to 1:30am at Johnny V's, 31 East Santa Clara Street.

About Heavy San Jose

Heavy San Jose is more than just a concert promotions company, we are creating a community of musicians, music lovers, and others in the industry who simply want to do what they love and help others do the same by offering as many ways as possible to support local music, see great live bands, and live a life filled with music. Our aim is to foster, help grow and bring further recognition to the Bay Area music scene, as well as to support the touring bands passing through.

To learn more visit:

www.heavysj.com

www.facebook.com/heavysjc

General Assembly is building a training campus in San Jose

General Assembly, an "Edtech" startup founded in 2011, already has 25,000 graduates from their 15 campuses across the globe. They train their students with practical skills that can be applied immediately to the most in-demand corporate jobs today (coding, web/app design, data science, marketing, et cetera).

They are expanding to 25 campuses by the end of the year and one of those will be in San Jose. The location is yet to be determined but they will host classes, workshops, and events at the new campus. Until the final space is acquired, they will be leveraging San Jose's co-working spaces--something they should be familiar with as General Assembly was originally going to be a co-working company.

General Assembly's only other Bay Area campus is in San Francisco.

Source: SVBJ