Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Crowd Supply started off as platforms for creators to raise money to turn an idea into a real product that's ready to ship. And that means there's always some risk involved: even if a project is fully funded, it's often important to keep in mind that things can go wrong with the manufacturing process, costs can rise, and the product that eventually ships may not live up to the promises made by its creators… if they ship at all.

But in recent years some companies have turned to crowdfunding not as a way to raise money to finish making a product, but as a way to generate buzz around or take pre-orders for a product that's pretty much ready to go. Sometimes it can be hard to tell which category a campaign falls under, but Indiegogo has launched a new program that could make it easier: if you see a "Shipping Guarantee" badge, it means that the project meets certain criteria indicating that there's a high chance the creator will ship you something. If not, you'll get your money back.

Peakago sent me this mini-laptop ahead of a crowdfunding campaign that launched in 2019. I never published a review because the company never actually shipped this product to backers (and because it wasn't very good anyway). As recently as this year, commenters are still asking for refunds.

Indiegogo is encouraging crowdfunding campaign creators to participate by promising that it "can significantly enhance your campaign's credibility, attract more early adopters, and increase conversion rates." But that doesn't mean that all eligible campaigners will take advantage of the program – participation means that Indiegogo will keep all funds until rewards have been shipped.

That's how the platform can ensure that it has the money necessary to issue refunds. But it also means that campaign creators can't access funds until after they ship a product… which means that this isn't a particularly helpful tool for raising money needed to manufacture that product.

Here's a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.

Indiegogo will refund backers when some campaigns don't ship as promised [The Verge]

Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo has introduced a "Shipping Guarantee Program" for select campaigns with a proven track record and a product in the final manufacturing stages. If it doesn't ship, backers get their money back.

This could be the Google Pixel 9a [9to5Google]

Take this with a grain of salt, but now that the Google Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold have launched, the Pixel 9a leaks are starting to arrive. The first includes a pair of pictures shared in a since-deleted social media post. 

They show a phone that appears to have a similar-but-different design with a prominent oval shape for the camera bar, but one that sits much closer to the back of the phone than the camera bars on pricier models.

Google usually releases its cheaper A-series phones around half a year after their pricier counterparts, but rumor has it that the Pixel 9a could be unveiled before the end of 2024. 

Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming expands to two more Fire TV models [AFTVNews]

Microsoft's Xbox Game Streaming is now available on the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (1st-gen) and Fire TV Cube (3rd-gen). They join the already-supported 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick 4K and 4K Max.

Dual-screen laptops make more sense with this spiral notebook-like hinge [Ars Technica]

The first paragraph of this dual-screen laptop review tells much of the story: dual-screens are great. But it's tough to implement them well in a traditional laptop form factor. 

Ars Technica

Still, there's pretty much nothing else on the market quite like the ACEMAGIC X1 at the moment. 

Flexduino is an Arduino UNO clone made of a flexible PCB [CNX Software]

Take an Arduino UNO and replace the printed circuit board with one that's flexible, and you've got the FlexDuino. Why? Because it's possible, I guess. Is it useful? That's a different question.

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