MAKO Client Spotlight: Kharaband

Throughout our everyday lives, we often experience inconveniences with devices we use on a regular basis that we typically learn to live with or try to ignore. Some examples are slow internet, bad cell reception, or short battery life.

Often, we’ll search online to find a product or service that alleviates these issues. Occasionally, we’ll hire a team of wearable tech designers to engineer a sleek product that solves our problems and more.

That’s exactly what the inventor of the Kharaband did! Meet Harp Gahunia, a smartwatch aficionado who was looking to extend the battery life of his smartwatch.

A young athlete wearing the Kharaband while working out.

The Inspiration Behind the Kharaband:

The Founder of the Kharaband, Harp Gahunia used to own the Pebble Watch, a pioneer in the smartwatch space. Despite the product’s innovative features, its primary downfall was its battery life which only lasted at best 24 hours.

As a result, Harp found its daunting charging requirements to discredit its valuable elements. He didn’t venture into the world of smartwatches again until Apple released the Apple Watch. Surely, a company with such commitment to disruptive technology and pioneering tech products would give users a watch that lasts longer than a day.

Unfortunately, the device lasted about 18 hours. After scouring the web for anything that would solve the battery problem, Harp discovered there was nothing currently available in the market that could solve this pain point.

How Our Wearable Tech Designers Helped Create the Kharaband:

The Kharaband was created with the help of our wearable tech designers to work with the Apple Watch. However, the connecting technology between the watch face and the band is very similar from one brand to another, and thus, the Kharaband was created with this customization in mind.

Made of high-performance materials, the band shapes comfortably around any wrist for everything from running to sleeping. The refined, contemporary design complements any style and can go with you from work to the gym to everything in between.

Best of all, with this band, the Apple Watch can last up to four times longer on a single charge!  Check out this video on the Kharaband below.

 Kharaband’s Medical Application:

Not only do these smartwatches and wearable tech have fitness applications, but they also have significant medical applications as well. Wrist-based wearable tech in the medical field measures elements like an irregular heartbeat or blood pressure and is also able to alert doctors of hypertension and the risk of stroke while patients are sleeping.

Imagine relying on such a promising piece of technology but having to charge it every day! Using the Kharaband, monitoring can continue for up to 4 times longer without having to charge the device or change it.

Advice for Other Entrepreneurs and Product Start-Ups:

All aspiring entrepreneurs know that taking the first leap can be the most daunting. We asked Harp for his advice to others who may be just starting their product development with wearable tech designers or even just starting their new business.

As someone who has successfully launched his company, developed a product, and is now in the licensing phase, Harp knows the hurdles like-minded entrepreneurs will face. He suggests breaking down the end goal into smaller, achievable objectives with assessment gates at certain levels.

Doing so aids in the progression of the business and helps operators focus on specific tasks needed to pass those assessment gates. When it comes to MAKO and its wearable tech designers, goals included talking to an engineer to work out a solution and collectively refining the product design.

“The end-to-end experience that the MAKO wearable tech designers and the whole team provide is amazing,” says Harp. “They go beyond engineering and have the network to assist an entrepreneur every step of the way. My favorite part was working on the design of the product with the engineer, Robert.

I especially like the fact that the MAKO team meets weekly to talk about the products they are working on and collaborate in order to solve problems related to the products. Product owners such as myself benefit from the mindshare of all of the engineers at MAKO, not just one!”

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!