July 27th Update
almost 7 years ago – Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 01:01:31 AM

Dear Backers,

We began producing the 1,000 units and--there's no use in sugar-coating it--it did not go well enough to ship to you.

The silver lining is that as the very last step, a real production run reveals all remaining problems. We are making final board modifications and producing them which will take 3-4 weeks. At that point we can immediately produce 3,000 units. 

We know you are tired of hearing about delays, and we're also unhappy about having them. As a small token, we will be adding one free silicon sport case to every single Backer kit account. We agree that it's not as good as a Jack, but we are confident that it's better than having a bad Jack.

*see bottom for notes on the free gift*

Our original plan was to produce 1,000 units by the end of this month and a minimum of 5,000 the next, so net we will be about 50% behind pace for next month.

The problem was a defect in the jack circuit (the actual 3.5mm jack, not the Jack as a whole) which made it unable to properly handle phone calls with in-line microphones.

Somewhat amusingly, people owning earphones without in-line microphones would have been able to make calls by talking into one ear bud and listening through the other. The bad thing is, those with in-line microphones, including ours, simply couldn't use them. Other than that, they are working as designed.

We decided to scrap the first 12.5k PCBs that were already made and fix this final problem the right way, for every single unit. It is not the time-effective or cost-effective decision, but we know it's the right one. New boards are going into production again and will be tested soon.

To recap, 3,000+ units will arrive safely in Sept, and the rest of the units will arrive, to be safe, in October.

Again, we're very sorry for this delay and wish it weren't so. Thank you for supporting us and we promise to keep the lines of communication open and straightforward, and we hope the free accessory can benefit you when the Jack does arrive.

Taking a moment to be frank, if I may--this is why we're on Kickstarter for the 3rd time and will return again. Every setback is a painful experience but in the end, together we create real products that have meaning and value to many people. And while we are very proud when finished products make it out the door, you have every reason to be more proud that none of this would have happened without you. We applaud you for coming to Kickstarter to be a part of that.

So thank you again, and we promise that we will continue to do our best without shortcuts, and make the choices necessary to bring you our product vision.

Best,

The Podo Labs Team

*notes about the free silicon sport case*

We will add one case per Backerkit account, and try to do so in a color you do not currently have. Please do not email us for alternate accessory or color requests as we cannot accommodate them all, and please wait for the changes in your account to reflect the free item by next week. As we do not accept refunds on Kickstarter, we cannot accommodate refund requests for Jack or any silicon cases you may have already purchased in the past. Thank you for your understanding!

July 13 Update
almost 7 years ago – Fri, Jul 14, 2017 at 12:27:56 AM

Dear Backers,

Today comes another weekly update on our progress. 

Our target is to begin production this month!

In the first few days we will manufacture 1,000 Jacks, and because this is our first run we will test each and every one of them. After that, the remaining units will be manufactured at full speed with a handful being randomly tested out of every hundred made, as per normal procedure.

The specifics:

Last update, we mentioned the PVD challenge that was on our plate last week. Over the weekend we were able to solve this problem.

We decided to switch to a different process called electroplating. The process used to electroplate an object is called electrodeposition, and involves using an electric current to form a thin metal later on the target object. The factories in China also call this "water plating" as it takes place in a vat of water.

The end result is that we get the metal finish that we want, and since high heat is not applied during the process, we can lift the tooth of the clip off of the clip itself and get color underneath. The opened clip will then spring back to the original position after plating. 

Take a look:

The next step is to lock down the colors and get properly equipped for a large-scale version of the process. What you see in the pictures are some plastics they had lying around to prop the clip open but we will make something more precise for mass production.

The next challenge we had was getting a perfect mating between the clip and the plastic. That issue also has also been essentially solved. The fit is 98% perfect and it will be much easier to finish off the last bit of refinement, now that the hardest and main bulk of the work has been solved. Check it out:

Our mechanical engineer has been going back and forth with China over these issues every night (their morning) and weekend to get this on track. Here is a peek at some of the really tiny and complicated inner structures that they discussed together:

Here is a fully functional Jack in the office! We don't have the new metal clip that fits yet (on its way from China) and it was hand-assembled by us, but it's definitely exciting to see something that was only an idea so recently finally come to life.

 Next Steps

We'll continue to cross our t's and dot our i's, and ensure Jack is something you can rely on every day. Mechanical tasks have gotten back on track and the biggest remaining challenge is setting up the new assembly line as mentioned in prior updates.

The new partner has been receiving all of the prototype parts and we've been working with them directly to plan the assembly line procedure. What happens, in what order, with what machinery, with what quality control standards and when, etc. Now that the parts and procedures are nearly finalized, the next step will be to actually build the line on the factory floor, gather and train the appropriate workers, then do a couple test runs of a couple dozens of units each. 

We will push them to move fast and expect to take 3-4 weeks. We are doing our best to get 1,000 units done by the end of the month! We then expect maybe 5-10 days for air shipping, depending on your location. We will determine a fair method of first distribution; please wait patiently for a notification rather than messaging us! Thank you for your cooperation :)

Closing Notes

We're very sorry for causing many of you frustration and disappointment with our updates about challenges and delays. We are fully motivated to make these products with our full effort and ability, because that makes you happy and us happy, and it allows us to survive and continue making things.

We are hesitant to name exact dates of production because with any first-time run of a product, you never know what will happen until it happens. However, that doesn't mean we are sticking our heads in the sand and not setting and meeting goals. We will provide you exact dates that we have high confidence in, and in the meantime we are all working like crazy to get this done. This is our passion and our lives, not a clock-in, clock-out type of job.

Regarding the new product announcement, I want to apologize for causing concern. The reality is that this product was always something in our schedule but was not intended to overlap with Jack like this, and we frankly cannot survive without constantly making new stuff. 

Rest assured though, that these problems with Jack are more back and forth with the factory and managing them, rather than requiring our full-time engineering or other manpower. Therefore our resources are split but working in parallel. 

Typically after a campaign concludes, our product design and marketing people transition to dreaming up the next thing while our engineering team focuses on delivery. And as mentioned, many of us work on both US time and China time, though with some sleep here and there :)

Anyway, thank you so much for your support and for being so engaged about the product. We know everyone is simply eager to receive their Jacks, and that makes us super excited too!

Stay tuned for next week's update everybody, and have a great rest of your week.

Best,

The Podo Labs Team

P.S. the sign up sheet for the new product support group is closed, and we will be sending out our first group communication in the next few days. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to sign up.

 P.P.S. Please do not read ahead if you do not want to see a campaign promotion:

The following product was created by a personal friend, and as a fellow creator we don't mind supporting other products that are legitimately cool. (We are not paid to do this)

The PNW created a 100% waterproof backpack that fits in your pocket - The Sea to Sky Pack. These backpacks are smaller and lighter than your iPhone 7 but are large enough to carry everything you need. 

The campaign has 36 hours left and has nearly 6,000 backers already. You can check it out here.

Thank you everyone!

July 3rd Update
almost 7 years ago – Mon, Jul 03, 2017 at 11:57:10 PM

Dear Backers,

We are back from China and have updates on current progress! 

To be very realistic, we still do not have a 100% firm delivery date and our best guess is August, not July. The main holdups continue to be the plastic and metal fabrication. Going well are the electrical components and firmware, which are essentially complete and doing fine in testing.

The PVD

PVD, or physical vapor deposition, is a process where a physical coating is heated to a vapor and then forced to condense on the parts inside a vacuum chamber. It allows us to color stainless steel, which we chose for its springiness and durability, to be the way we want it aesthetically.

One challenge we are facing is that the PVD is not coating well in the area where the clip "tooth" rests on the body of the clip.

If you can see carefully in the image, there is some swirling right there under the tooth. It's just a cosmetic blemish but we are trying a few methods to get rid of it. PVDing the clip in an "open" position did not work because the heat during the PVD process essentially froze the clip in that open position, so it could no longer function well as a clip. We're currently testing a different method to keep the parts separated during PVD.

The plastics are in the T1 phase, meaning they have finished making modifications to the steel tool and are ready to inject new test pieces with them. That should get us one step closer to achieving that perfect fit between plastic and metal. The issues with PVD have prevented us from finalizing the metal pieces 100%, but that should be locked down soon and the plastics will be already one step closer by then. Plastic injection is definitely a science but also an art; you always want to start loose or "tool safe", and then dial it in step by step to perfection. This is why plastic tooling is almost always the longest process in pre production.

The good news is, the silicon sleeve tool has been finished and the parts fit great!

We're happy with the part in terms of fit, but we want to dial in the perfect rubbery-ness of the material. We're injecting a few more versions and receiving the samples in the office over the next week or two. It's just a final validation as we get it just the way we like it, but the part is essentially approved and final now.

New Manufacturer

We conducted many visits and narrowed down our favorites to two suppliers. They both have experience with consumer electronics before, but one in particular has direct experience making very similar Bluetooth adapters. We are negotiating with both but we're confident in our options now. Once we sign with one, setting up the assembly line may take 3-4 weeks, including training the assembly line operators. This is a very important step not to rush, but we're optimistic that it will go smoothly if the supplier already has experience with a similar thing. We predict this will be the final driver in the schedule.

It's hard to take pictures of the interior of facilities unless taking pictures of your own product's assembly line, but here are just a couple of pictures we took during our visit:

This is the loading dock of injection molding supplier. You can see some steel tools (the big metal boxes) that are being unloaded and worked on. They are solid steel and a crane arm is required to move them around. 

This is us visiting a supplier before they took us out for lunch. A very typical visit comprises us, the client, bringing gifts and having tea with the lao-ban (factory owner/boss) in his office before discussing any kind of business. We then take a factory tour as they show us the level of organization and efficiency of their processes. Then, we reconvene for more tea and then typically go out for lunch or dinner. Building these relationships is an essential part of doing business in Asia, and it's often not until we meet and share food and drinks in person that we reach the next level of trust and confidence in each other. We find that communication and service improves dramatically after these kind of successful visits.

This is Huaqiang Bei, a sprawling, multi-block marketplace with buildings full of components, personal electronics, and this time around, fidget spinners. 

An example of fine innovation seen at Huaqiang Bei!

Logistical Stuff

If you need to change your delivery address, please do so in your BackerKit profiles! You can follow the original link you used to answer your backerkit surveys in the first place. 

Until we have a final delivery date, we won't put a due date on finalizing your surveys. Please fill them out when you are able!

New Product Announcement

Our goal at Podo Labs is to keep making innovative and useful products for everyday situations. It's how we plan to stay alive as a company! To that end, we have a new product up our sleeves that we've been planning, and we still plan to announce it on Kickstarter despite this Jack delay. 

Rest assured our full attention is on finalizing these manufacturing kinks and in no way are we compromising on that. But in tandem, we want to bring you something cool and would love to get you involved!

If you'd like to be part of our pre-launch support group, please let us know your email here: https://goo.gl/forms/7OT6FKnuoKzdvAJe2

We'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts on our new product, and help us decide on things like the name, colors, features, etc. We'd also love to interview whoever's willing to learn more about our target user's pain points. 

We plan to launch our campaign in about a month, and hope another success will allow us to grow provide better service and products across the board. Thank you for your continued support of us and we'll continue to do our very best!

To those celebrating the July 4th weekend, happy holidays and be safe. And to everyone, have a great week as well!

Best,

The Podo Labs Team

Short Update - BackerKit support
about 7 years ago – Mon, Mar 20, 2017 at 11:37:21 PM

Dear Backers,

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We've been getting a lot of support requests so we thought we'd put out a short update with answers to some of the more common questions:

I have not received my BackerKit email yet:

By now, all BackerKit invitations have been sent to the emails Kickstarter has on file. Please double check which account that is and make sure the invite was not sent to spam or trash. If you still cannot find it, you can use this link to recover your account:

http://jack-by-podo-labs.backerkit.com

I do not see my free 3.5mm connector in my account:

If this is the case, then there was a discrepancy between the email you entered into our claim form and your Kickstarter email, so the credit wasn't properly transferred. Please message support with the share link or screenshot of your post and we will be happy to add one to your account. They are also available for sale in BackerKit for $2. 

I want to wait to choose my color:

That's perfectly fine, and you can also change now but change your mind. We will not lock down these surveys until May. You can see more pictures of our prototypes here to get an idea of the colors: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h949evomr9nu5xx/AAB2U2ezZT-cFl179-UFdvCja?dl=0

When will you charge my credit card?

Your card will be charged for any additional items you purchased in BackerKit when we lock down the surveys in mid March. Until then, BackerKit will store your card details but we never have access to see them. 

I would like to distribute your products:

Please contact Jae at [email protected] for distribution inquiries!

How are things going?

Pretty good! Here's a quick shot of John finishing up the final layout of the board. Astute observers may notice there are 3 buttons now instead of the original 1, to accommodate the volume and playback controls on the device. John is a wizard at making everything fit in a really small space. With the board and components finalized it's on to more prototyping and soon, production.

---

If you have any support needs, please email us at [email protected]. Due to the volume of emails and messages at the moment, please bear with us as we get to everything as fast as we can. Thank you so much!

In the coming weeks, we will be posting updates about our development process, pictures from China, and other behind the scenes looks at the Jack creation process. We will also do at least one more Live broadcast so you can ask whatever questions you have directly. We very much look forward to this journey with you!

Best,

The Podo Labs Team 

---------

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BackerKit Surveys have been sent!
about 7 years ago – Sat, Mar 18, 2017 at 12:21:25 AM

Dear Backers,

The long-awaited moment has arrived! BackerKit surveys have been sent out to your Kickstarter emails. Please answer the questions and fill out your shipping information. Note: your phone number is very important for shipping purposes, and we will use it for shipping purposes only.

You can access your BackerKit account at any time through the link provided in the email you should receive directly from BackerKit.

With BackerKit, you will be able to:

-Choose your Jack colors

-Specify your accessory add-on selections (and colors)

-Switch pledge levels (e.g. between buddy pack or single bundle pack)

-Purchase more Jacks or add-on accessories

-Change your address

-See which items were manually added for you by us (for the Facebook share, etc.)

All of the functions will be available until we announce that surveys will be locked down, sometime in May when we are getting ready to ship.

If you switch pledge levels or add accessories such that you need to add more funds, you can do so through Backerkit. We will charge your credit cards if you add funds also in May, when we lock down the surveys.

If you shared on Facebook, are part of BackerClub/Backershub etc., or otherwise expect an extra connector from us, you should see this reflected in your account. Otherwise, please send us a message if something is missing.

If your payment failed after Kickstarter and you would like to re-join our campaign, now is the time to message us so that we can properly add you back into the BackerKit system.

Thank you everyone, and we are so excited to enter this next development phase with you! We will target at least an update with production information every 2 weeks, if not more often.

We all wish you a wonderful weekend! And if you are celebrating St. Patrick's Day today, please be safe and do not drink and drive :)

Best,

The Podo Labs Team

P.S. if you are excited for your product and are happy with our performance so far, please take a moment and let us know in a comment or review at our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/podolabs. No pressure! We are very grateful for your support :)