Kini is a discreet, compact safety gadget measuring approximately 2.25 x 1.5 x 0.75 inches. It's designed to protect items or areas you consider private, valuable, hazardous, or off-limits. When Kini detects any tampering or movement, it swiftly dispatches a real-time SMS alert to only you (not a third party, alarm system, or police) ensuring you are the first to know within ten seconds. This immediate notification empowers you to take swift action, such as relocating or reinforcing security, initiating a conversation, or safeguarding potentially dangerous items from unauthorized access. Kini's versatility extends to countless applications, delivering invaluable peace of mind and security benefits.

Our research shows that most people have more than one item that they want monitored. A safe and a liquor cabinet. A medicine cabinet and a drawer of collectibles. A cabinet of memorabilia or valuable figurines. Monitoring each of these would be a great application for Kini.

No. Kini is to be used in addition to real security like safes and locked cabinets. A Kini alerting you means that your security has either been bypassed or has been tampered with, and with that wake-up call, you can take action to better secure your items. Or, if you have been assuming that the amazingly great hiding spot you have is ample security when that hiding spot has been breached, Kini will inform you that it is time to find a more secure storage method!

Users can create an account, or login to a pre-existing account by going to https://www.user.kinisium.com. The process is relatively simple. Due to the sensitivity of certain applications of Kini and the privacy of users, we only require a phone number and a password for account creation. Creating an account is a prerequisite before a Kini can be placed in service. After an account is created, then one or more Kinis can be linked to that account. There is no limit on how many Kinis can be on one account.

Initially, we will only send SMS to only one number, for all Kinis on an account. In the near future, we will add the capability to add two SMS numbers for each account, and either of those two or both can be alerted for each Kini. Users who anticipate needing more phone numbers on their accounts should let us know their use case.
If you have more than one Kini, each Kini can use a different phone number for text messaging.

It takes a Kini a split second to determine movement over the acceptable threshold. Kini will then access the network and send a message to our servers. Depending on the Wi-Fi strength and type it could take about 1-6 seconds. Our servers will immediately route an SMS through to your carrier, which generally takes two or three seconds. In most cases, users will be notified in less than 5 seconds. However, a message could get delayed due to network traffic, weak signals, and network congestion. We cannot guarantee the timeliness of notifications.

We will add that option soon. At this point, we found it more important to address the broader market of "everyone with a phone" rather than "everyone who has a smartphone". We will add apps that will allow for easy setup and also apps that can accept Push Notifications, instead of or in addition to SMS.

Kinis require a Wi-Fi network, with Internet access, in order to communicate with our servers in the cloud, and our servers will then communicate with systems that route SMS message via cellular carriers.

When you set up your smartphone to receive these important texts, be sure to enter the Kini phone number into your contacts so that it will not be considered “junk” or “spam”. We find it helpful to create a special ringtone for when this message is received that is different from anything else so you know to read it right away.

Yes - very easy!  If the Kini is off, simply use the provided pin (or a paper clip) to momentarily click the internal power switch. The LED will turn white for a few seconds, then quickly flash green a few times. That sequence indicates that the Kini has been turned on.  It’s just as easy to turn if off, but the pin has to be held in for about five seconds until the white LED comes on brightly and stays on. Then release the pin. Momentarily, the LED will turn off, signifying the Kini has powered down. When the Kini is turned off, a message gets sent out advising the owner “Turned off”.  Likewise, a “Turned on” message is sent when a Kini is turned on. We did that so the Kini can’t accidentally be turned off.

No. Due to power savings and physical size considerations, Kinis can only work with Wi-Fi networks that operate on 2.4GHz frequencies. Kini units currently being produced now, and in the foreseeable future, will not be able to support 5GHz networks.

Kini periodically makes a check-in call to our servers. If there is an interruption in those calls, whether because the Wi-Fi connection is lost or because the Kini has somehow been disabled, you will get an SMS message to notify you that the Kini is not communicating with the server. The default check-in interval is once every 2 hours. Users can increase the check-in rate to as frequently as once per 15 minutes, with the tradeoff that the Kini may need to be charged more often.

In the case of a network outage, Kini will queue up alerts and will deliver them later when it next makes a call to the servers.

While we do hope to provide a future Kini that can use the cellular network, current Kinis were intentionally designed for Wi-Fi communication. To support cellular transmission, we would have to make a number of tradeoffs. We'd have to:

• charge much more to cover a cellular carrier’s monthly fee
• support multiple carriers, or choose one and hope that their coverage area intersects our users’ home antennas and batteries would need to be larger and have more capacity.

Fear not! We have a workaround.

Read our Blog Post! No Wi-Fi?

Other than lower costs, and faster response time that comes with Wi-Fi (5-10 second alerts), with a cellular device, the exact location could be triangulated based on its communication with cell towers. We didn’t want that as a main offering for users who are monitoring valuable or sensitive items. In the future, we may have a cellular version for those who have no other means of network access.

To charge Kini, we are providing you with a USB cable to use with your computer or an old phone charger. Given how infrequently Kini needs to be charged, we decided that we would not spend any time or resources on trying to include something that virtually all households already have. We hope this isn’t an inconvenience for you. Learn more about charging on our support page.

We’re very proud of being able to achieve amazing battery life from our Kinis. With average SMS messaging of one message per week, and a check-in rate of 12 times per day, a Kini should only need a charge once a year, or less! If the check-in rate is increased to once per quarter an hour, the Kini will need to be charged once every three months. Read more about charging on our support page.

Kini reports its battery life to our server periodically during its check-in call. If that battery life drops under 20%, you will start to get SMS notifications reminding you to recharge the Kini. Learn more about charging on our support page.

Kinis currently being sold include a lifetime service plan, free of charge. This service plan covers the cost of maintaining our servers and a reasonable and limited number of SMS messages sent per Kini.

Users who exceed 450 SMS per year, 45 per month, or 10 per day, should contact us for solutions and alternative service plans.

Kini's sold in the future, may have service plans that are limited to shorter timeframes and will require a subscription plan at some point after the initial service plan expires.

We are initially only providing service for US/Canada phone numbers. To our knowledge, no US/Canada cellular carriers charge end-users for SMS messages received, and only we pay the cost to send those messages through the carriers.
Please see our SMS Message Limits page.

Yes. Kinis that are triggered frequently will put an undue burden on us, and we are going to have the following reasonable limits on each Kini: 10/45/450 limits: No more than 10 triggers per day, 45 triggers per month, and 450 triggers per year. Users who are getting close to those limits will be reminded of the limits in the last SMS alert of the period, so they can correct the situation. Users who wish to receive SMS more frequently can contact us for a service plan upgrade.
Please see: SMS Message Limits

Kinis are shipped set to one of the most sensitive settings. This setting may be too sensitive for some locations, such as older homes, places where heavy road traffic can induce vibrations, or high-rises with ordinary sways. For those users, we do have a way to customize the sensitivity of Kinis. Learn more about Calibration on our support page.

if you want Kini to be more sensitive, then drag the slider to the left, to a smaller number. That makes Kini trigger on smaller movements.

If you want Kini to be less sensitive to subtle movements – such as in the floor or vibrations in the environment– and only trigger when some large movement occurs, then move the slider to the right to a larger number.

The number somewhat represents the size of the movement.  Smaller numbers to detect small movements, and larger numbers for large movements.  

Yes. In addition to being able to reduce the sensitivity, users can also limit whether movement in certain axes or dimensions is ignored. For example, a Kini that is attached to the inside of a drawer, to monitor the opening of that drawer, or one installed on a swinging medicine cabinet door, only needs to monitor one axis and can ignore the other two. Or, if you are monitoring an item to see if it is lifted out of its box, then Kini needs to only monitor the z or vertical axis. A Kini on a door only needs to monitor two axes.

You would have to make sure that you are within range of a Wi-Fi signal, or use a device like a cellular hotspot or Mi-Fi like a Solis Simo Lite (not our product; it utilizes the cellular network to provide Wi-Fi for up to 10 Kinis).

Heavy cars going by could impact it if they make the road vibrate. You can adjust the sensitivity by making customizations on the settings page of the user portal.

No. Kinis can be powered off using the recessed power button hidden behind the pinhole. However, before powering off, the Kini will generate a message to the owner to alert them to the fact that it is being powered off. (In addition, the Kini will quite possibly also detect the vibration that is incurred as the power button is pressed)

Yes. press in the pin until the LED turns bright white — about 5 seconds —  then release. The LED will dim gradually and go off. Kini will shut down completely after sending a warning message to the owner. It will then be utilizing virtually no battery power, so it can be in that powered-off state for many months without needing a recharge.

Alternatively, you can keep the Kini on, but deactivate it from the Kini User Portal. It will still be running, but it will not be sending you any notifications.

Kinis are designed not to attract attention. Kinis will not emanate any light and colors, so as not to become a beacon in a darkened room and draw curious eyes to their location. To know if one is active, you could log in to your account where you can see the last time one checked in. Or, if you press the power button, with the included pin, Kini will, after running a quick test, flash a green light to indicate that it is operating, or a red one if it detects an issue. If, in the process, you move it, you will also get a text message.

SMS is a dependable method for sending messages, yet there are instances when SMS messages might be delayed or lost. This can happen if the phone is in areas with poor cellular reception, transitioning between cell towers or Wi-Fi networks, or in locations with signal interference. Additionally, please note that Kini, designed as a safety device, has a limit on the number of text messages it can process. Kini is intended to alert you to unusual events that require timely attention, typically occurring no more than once a day, rather than hourly. For detailed information on our message limitations, please visit SMS Message Limits.

With each connection, Kini sends ~220 bytes of data to our servers, and ~120 bytes are sent back. If a Kini is set to report its status every 2 hours, multiply by 12 connections a day and the size you get is 14Kbytes. That's what Kini sends and receives.

However, that's over-simplifying it. and it's more complicated to calculate the total traffic. Since we use HTTPS, the initial HTTPS handshake could be between 2K and 3Kbytes.While that handshake doesn't occur all the time, we can err on the high side. In that case, a daily rate would be closer to 50Kbytes per day. As you can see, only a small fraction is the data that we need to send and the rest is overhead. If you reduce the number of connections to once every 4 hours, or 8 hours, you can move that number down to 25KB, or 12.5KB respectively. For reference, ten seconds of compressed audio (128Kbps bitrate) takes up 250KB on the network. And ten seconds of HD video can use 6.5MB.

Yes! Retailers are welcome to contact us at info@kinisium.com.

This is how often Kini sends a “here’s my battery level and latest operating parameters”. That means, that when Kini is operating with no issues, it will contact our cloud servers every “status check period”. If Kini doesn’t contact the cloud servers in that time frame, you will get a message soon thereafter to let you know that something is wrong. For example, if someone breaks a Kini or turns your Wi-Fi off, you will be notified when the status check does not occur as expected. If your battery level is getting low, you will also be notified because Kini managed to send its battery level in the last status check. This time period does not change how quickly Kini contacts you when it detects movement. You should get SMS notifications (text messages) within 5-10 seconds, in most situations. 

We recommend keeping this between 1-4 hours because shorter periods will decrease battery charge and will force you to recharge your battery more often. At 2 hours, Kini should only require a charge once every 12-18 months. At 1 hour, Kini might require charging every 6-9 months. 0:15 drops battery recharge requirement down to 45 days or so. All these numbers assume no more than 4-5 movement messages per day. Please choose the number that best suits your need. 

This is a brief pause after a movement before Kini starts monitoring for movement again. Kini could literally send you a handful of movement alerts when a door or drawer is being opened. We found that this is excessive and can be annoying. After the first movement, Kini will wait 15 seconds before the next notification. That 15 seconds is the quiet time. Most users choose a value between 1 minute and 15 seconds.