Hey backers,
We’ve been able to get our PCBs in time, just before the Chinese New Year. We assembled them with all the components we need and… we nailed connectivity again 🙂
Check out below what’s next, because there’s a lot of relevant stuff going on.
DEVELOPMENT STATUS
Alright, so during the last month, we redesigned our PCBs to enhance battery performance and requested a batch from our manufacturer. We received them just before the Chinese holidays. They performed magnificently once again. We assembled them locally, tweaked them a bit and have been able to get solid results. Also, the battery management fixes we engineered are successful.
The current earbuds’ shells are made of a somewhat flimsy plastic for prototyping purposes. We’re ready to upgrade this with the real deal: top-notch polycarbonate, which is the material we’ll use for the finished product. We’re also in the process of making improvements to the shells’ molds to better protect the electronics from shocks. These minor tweaks will make pre-production go smoother.
We made an in-house video montage of what we’re up to, check it out:
TIMELINE
Given that we reproduced connectivity, we’re now able to provide a conservative shipping estimate. Of course, this is only an estimate and we cannot guarantee it. It’s not yet the guaranteed shipping estimate I was eager to show you, but it’s quite close.
To put you in context, both our electronics and mechanical designs are almost complete. There are non-critical adjustments to do for production purposes, but it’s basically set up. Great connectivity has been achieved and replicated.
Here’s the projected timeline:
DRAGONS’ DEN
As you may recall, Dragon’s Den is a Canadian TV show where entrepreneurs pitch their idea or company to angel investors (like Shark Tank in the USA). We got tremendous coverage the first time we went on. They asked me to return to the studio to comment on my own pitch. I feel it can be pretty interesting for the backers as well so I encourage you to check it out here: http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/pitches/inside-the-den-with-phazon
WAITING LIST
Now that we have a more precise timeline, we’re switching from a pre-order model to a waiting list on our website (phazon.com). Our earlier shipping estimate was too optimistic and with the new one, we figured out a waiting list made more sense.
There’s some programming to be done, so it’s not implemented yet, but it will be effective before the next update.
We’re still extremely confident we’ll ship and we have the funds for production. We understand the journey from investment to shipping takes longer than you expected. We’re working super hard to reward you with a product you’ll love using every day.
Have a splendid weekend,
Chris