Portable Fragging with PocketC.H.I.P.!!!

Hey C.H.I.P.sters!

As promised, we made time for some more PocketC.H.I.P. demo action. Over the last few days, we’ve been stress testing the PocketC.H.I.P. prototypes and we’ve finally found the perfect test: PocketC.H.I.P. running QUAKE 3!!!

Quake 3 or more specifically IOQuake3 with the Open Arena content pack is a great way to see the real power of PocketC.H.I.P. and it’s completely free and open source!

Take a look!

Brought to you by: the power of AWESOME open source projects!

Getting IOQuake up and running was amazingly straightforward thanks to these great open source projects:

Tell us your ideas for other PocketC.H.I.P. demos!  What kinds of things do you want to see?

Post your ideas in the update comments or on twitter – @nextthingco

PocketC.H.I.P. LAN Party anyone? 😉

– Dave, Richard, Thomas, Gus, Wynter, Vanessa, Alex, Sharps, and George @nextthingco

International C.H.I.P.ping!

C.H.I.P.’s INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING is now up to 44% cheaper!!!

We looked into it (extensively) and are super happy to announce major reductions to international shipping costs. It’s taken three weeks of hard work and countless import forms, but we have finally found logistics agents who can mix and match distribution centers and freight forwarders!

We will be shipping by many different methods and colors.

This means we’ll be setting up distribution centers in, or near, the countries and zones with the most C.H.I.P. backers. That way we can reduce to-your-door shipping costs for light packages under 500g (1lb).

“But @nextthing, what does this mean for me?” For about 3/4 of our backers, that means the same plan as before — shipping into OAK or LAX and distributing domestically via USPS. For backers in Canada, the UK, EU, Australia, and Japan, however, this means we are reducing shipping costs by 20% to 44%!(!!)

Kickstarter doesn’t have a way for us to refund back the difference in updated shipping costs for existing pledges, so we’re providing two options:

  •  A fresh pledge reward tier for 5,000 C.H.I.P.s shipping in March with the new reduced shipping costsTo join this new tier, please click *MANAGE MY PLEDGE* on the campaign page and select the March C.H.I.P. tier.
  • Special treats and accessories only available via BACKERKIT post-campaign for backers who wind up with a little extra left on their pledge.

To be clear, this means all backers will get follow-up messages fromBACKERKIT after the campaign ends, and will have the opportunity to add on (or purchase separately) extras and accessories at that point. Remember: we’ll have those fun extras and surprises in BACKERKIT available for ALL our backers… so stay tuned to find out more!

\(•◡•)/ – Dave, Gus, Thomas, Wynter, Sharps, Vanessa, Alex, George, and Richard (AKA everyone at @nextthingco)

 

Up Close with PocketC.H.I.P.

Howdy Chipsters!

We finally had the chance to show off PocketC.H.I.P. over the last two weeks and seeing people’s reactions has been spectacular.  We’ve been stoked about PocketC.H.I.P. for some time and want to make sure everyone gets to see a demo.  For those that haven’t had an opportunity to see PocketC.H.I.P. in person, we’ve added a PocketC.H.I.P. demo video to our campaign page as well as a behind the scenes look at design process behind PocketC.H.I.P.

Take a look and let us know what you think!

\(•◡•)/ – Dave, Gus, Thomas, Wynter, Sharps, Vanessa, Alex, George, and Richard (AKA everyone at @nextthingco)

30,000 backers!! 40,000 C.H.I.P.s!! \(•◡•)/

30,000 backers!! 40,000 chips!! 

Chipsters, you are amazing! Thank each and every one of you so much for making this campaign what it is. We’ve been really excited about the $9 computer for some time and it feels great to see that it means as much to all of you as it does to us!

We know lots of you still have questions about C.H.I.P., so we’ve added a lot of answers to our FAQ page (the FAQ is at the very bottom of the “Campaign” page). We’re posting a few of the most frequently-asked FAQs in this update as well, just so there’s no missing them. 🙂

Why pledge now? 

We are working very hard to make C.H.I.P. possible, and every pledge on Kickstarter helps us prove that the world wants access to lower cost computing. By backing C.H.I.P.’s Kickstarter campaign, you add your voice to the conversation, and help show that the world wants a $9 computer for everything from education to home automation. Back C.H.I.P. today, and be a part of the early adopters that made it possible!

Will C.H.I.P. be available after the campaign?

Right now, we are entirely focused on the Kickstarter campaign. The only way to be an early adopter of C.H.I.P. is through Kickstarter. We plan to make C.H.I.P. available at a later date, but are committed to fulfilling our Kickstarter backers’ pledges first.

International shipping is (still) too expensive! 

Yes. And we are still very actively looking into it. We’ve been in contact with dozens of specialists: distribution centers, freight forwarders, fulfillment companies and customs brokers. We’re doing our best to find more competitive international rates and are trying to get our shipping costs down. Even though C.H.I.P. is small, there are handling, distribution and shipping costs that can’t be skimped on if we want your package to arrive safely.

Can I buy multiple C.H.I.P.s right now? 

We’ve held off on allowing multiple C.H.I.P. orders from our early production batches in order to make sure that everyone who wants to be an early adopter via Kickstarter is able. Offering Multiple-C.H.I.P. packs would mean that a single manufacturing run reaches fewer people. Don’t worry, we plan to make C.H.I.P. available in larger quantities later.

Can I add extra to my pledge to get more items? 

Unfortunately, no. Kickstarter does not allow us to offer add-ons to rewards, or allow multiple rewards, and with the amazing number of backers C.H.I.P. has, we simply can’t track each pledge + reward individually! Please take a minute to make sure your pledge and reward tier match.

Why composite video? 

Several reasons: Televisions are the most commonly available screen in the world and the vast majority of them have a composite input. Composite video can also be integrated without having to work in licensing fees to the cost of C.H.I.P. Composite is also a very low profile connector, allowing us to keep the footprint of the board small for people wanting to build C.H.I.P. into projects.

Does C.H.I.P have an SD Card slot? 

No. By integrating reliable storage onto the device, we’re able to both save you a “getting started” cost and allow Linux to come preinstalled on C.H.I.P. meaning it’s ready to go when it arrives at your door. One of the big goals of this project is making C.H.I.P. easy to use, and this goes a long way towards that end. If you need additional storage, it’s easy to add an SD card reader over the USB ports on C.H.I.P.

What was that “Chipsters” song in the MakerFaire Video?

It was called Chipsters! By Ultrasyd.  You can find it here!

http://bleepstreet.bandcamp.com/album/chipsters-ep

\(•◡•)/ – Dave, Gus, Thomas, Wynter, Sharps, Vanessa, Alex, George, and Richard (AKA everyone at @nextthingco)

Alex taking calls from regional banana wholesalers who saw our Maker Faire cart.

Gus and his Biltwell helmet, with C.H.I.P. “attachment”

MakerFaire Recap!

Howdy C.H.I.P.sters!

We hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! We had a great time at Maker Faire!!! Thanks to all of you who stopped by our tuk-tuk banana-stand. It was a pleasure meeting you in person and we appreciate all the lovely feedback. Watching you play with PocketC.H.I.P. and seeing your excitement in person was an absolute delight.

We snapped a few photos of our backers and cut a quick video together.  Enjoy!

\(•◡•)/ – Dave, Gus, Thomas, Wynter, Sharps, Vanessa, Alex, George, Richard, and Shelly (AKA everyone at @nextthingco)