The delay between jumping out of an airplane with a GoPro strapped to your head and the ensuing video of it being posted to Facebook is entirely too long.
That lag is a big complaint of GoPro lovers and other extreme sports photo shooters, according to Tim Feess, the CEO of Santa Monica-based Gnarbox.
Instead of lugging around a laptop, external hard drives, and running complicated editing software, his company created an extremely versatile device that jams all these functions into your pocket.
"It's the smallest, most convenient, fastest editing tool, and most badass computer on the planet," Feess said at an event sponsored by Make in LA.
Feess was on hand at the hardware startup-focused event in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, speaking about the latest plans for production and explaining Gnarbox, which he said would "unlock hours of footage."
While it looks just like a mini external hard drive (which it is, with 128gb of storage), it's also a computer, WiFi hotspot, and card reader, which turns a smartphone into a video editing suite capable of splicing and enhancing 4K high definition video on the spot. This means everything from trimming, making adjustments to color or brightness, or picking out certain moments for slow-motion.
The device is a huge time saver for extreme sports junkies (or anyone who shoots video on the go, really). They may shoot hours of footage but just barely scratch the surface when it comes to throwing together a cool video to share with friends.
For example, a snowboarder wearing a GoPro might wait until the end of the day, running through hours of footage far from the slopes. With a Gnarbox, that same snowboarder can get video of a few tricks and turns, then sit down on the slopes, edit that footage on their phone, and upload it to YouTube in less than five minutes.
Feess is a fan of GoPro cameras, which he called "fantastic pieces of equipment." But he seems to have found a niche gap in the market, which has turned out to be a profitable one (Feess previously told Bloomberg that Gnarbox has had talks with GoPro about some kind of partnership).
Last year, the device raised nearly $100,000 on Kickstarter in just 24 hours (culminating in a whopping $540,000 over the month). Now, the company is getting the final product ready to ship, which should happen sometime in the next few months.
Check out the Gnarbox demo video:
