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Smart display button puts GIFs on your shirt

BEAM lets you share any cause you want, including from your friends.

The odds are that you've shown your support for a cause with a button on your shirt or backpack at some point in your life. But there's only so much button real estate you can offer, isn't there? That's where BEAM Authentic thinks it can save the day. Its BEAM button pairs to your phone through an app and lets you display virtually any image you want on its circular AMOLED screen, including slideshows and GIFs. You could promote an environmental cause one hour and a dank meme the next.

Also, you're not just limited to your own creations. You can find buttons art from others' collections, follow creators you like, receive streams and send conversations. And yes, there are paid buttons -- you can donate to a cause at the same time as you endorse it. The button might even get you out of trouble, as you there's a panic mode that will send an emergency message and your location to as many as four other people.

The BEAM button is available now, but there's a catch: it's $99. That can buy a lot of conventional buttons, and those won't run out of energy. You'll contribute $3 to a charity when you buy, though, and this is certainly a viable option if you'd rather draw your own artwork than track down an elusive button that expresses your exact thoughts.