Kickstarter

Creator Alon Walter 1 day ago

@ThaWolf:
Read the Z3's specs again.
It only says "accessing the GPS on your smartphone to display speed, distance and pace data",
and below, the cpu is described as one that can support GPS navigators.
So no GPS even in the "original" specs...

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

Everyone should also look at the Pine: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neptune/neptune-pine-smartwatch-reinvented…
They have a real product, without all these lies and misinformation. It's a wee bit more expensive, but if you think you're getting a quality OLED 4GB smartwatch for 93 bucks with unique well built apps, you need to get out of Wonderland and enter back into the real world.
If this product is legit, I expect the specs to be reduced from what's claimed right now, same as the "waterproof" claim ended up being a water resistant coating that can't handle much more than splashes.

Creator Stephen Mitchell 1 day ago

To be clear from my point of view:

If this is a real product and Vak and his team got blindsided, sabotaged, whatever, I would love to have a Rock Smartwatch.

However, if this is just another KS scam, then it's only a matter of time before this thing gets shut down and if Vak and his team come down on hard times as a result of this....then too bad. You get what you deserve.

Right now, things are not looking good for Vak. Too many unanswered questions and seriously How Can You Not Know the Specs of Your Own Product? You need to get a statement from your engineering team? It's your face on this project's profile. I'm sorry Vak, but it is YOU who should have all the answers.

* To the backers, if you are really interested in this product but are wary of the the details emerging from all of this, take a moment and just reduce your pledge to the minimum. It will still keep you in the campaign. Also when Vak sees his pledge total dropping (which it is since yesterday), I bet you he will really take notice and either he will come clean and verify that what he says is true. At that point, we all (INCLUDING MYSELF) can shut up and let the man do his work and deliver the product we all want. Or, this whole thing will blow up in his face, resulting in very negative media coverage as another KS scammer and this campaign will get shut down.

Just think, yesterday at almost this exact time, Vak was pretty close to reaching his goal. That is until, we started paying attention and asking questions. The questions being asked, were not hard questions, but nevertheless, they got deflected, ignored, etc.

Sorry Vak, honestly, you have no one to blame but yourself how this is being handled. Hopefully you will come out of this one cleanly and get to finish the work you started. If not, if this all turns out to be another hoax, then to hell with you and you get what you deserve.

The Rock Smartwatch seems awesome and I really hope I am wrong about you and your campaign. Again, good luck.

Creator Randall McQuade 1 day ago

@Alon No GPS so can't be used as a standalone for biking to track distance. Thanks for that info I never thought of that.

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

@LiLo - I had backed that until I realized they were going for a standalone. It seemed like kind of overkill for what I wanted. It's still tempting but how large it is and the higher cost kind of put me off. It will probably take Google or Apple to make a sexy smartwatch that doesn't promise the world but operates as a companion to a smartphone really well.

@Alon - I actually think the Z3 has GPS, which I found kind of funny that that wasn't shown in this watches specs. The specs seem written up to pull wool over the eyes of people with less technical knowledge. Most people won't know that 4 GB isn't practical or even possible, that you can't have 1080p screen on a 420x420 screen, that OLED looks much better than the photos shown here and would bring the cost of the watch up significantly. There's also a reason the metal bands don't look too great, they weren't made for this watch. They're just replacement standard watch bands.
The excuses of engineers needing more time, lawyers needing to be contacted, etc, is starting to grow old. I've seen some legit projects have issues, but never have they worked so hard at providing 0 new information. Even if this is legit, do I want a product from a company that takes 3 days to figure out how much RAM is in their watch?

Creator Alon Walter 1 day ago

The things that are lies or unfulfillable promises that I spoted:
1) He claims he uses a local hardware company to design the watch.
2) He promises the watch in metal case, without realizing that will block bluetooth, wifi and QI.
3) He quotes specs badly, resulting in promises such as 1080p screen resolution.
4) He has fake "radar" functionality to pin point the lost phone - can't be done without triangulation. That's just a mock-up app, and if he didn't understand it until now - it's not feasible.
5) He promises it can measure distances on the bike (how? no GPS...).

Obviously there are a lot of open questions, and things that seam fishy, but these points are a bluntly misleading people (with or without intent).

Creator LiLo 1 day ago

@TheWulf - What about Neptune Pine? It's maybe an overkill if you just want a companion (rather than a stand-alone smartwatch) but it seems to be the real deal.

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

@LiLo - this is true. I do like supporting small American companies/persons like this : http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cmukshoes/cmuk-shoes-take-on-life-feet-first
That is what a project should be like. He has plenty of photos, he is up front about design work and what goes into making the shoes, etc.
If I end up being wrong, I will apologize and pledge for a watch. But if it continues as is, I will continue to try and save people from throwing their money away. I am kind of tired of my pebble, and wish something like the Rock (the one promised) would come out.

Creator LiLo 1 day ago

@TheWulf, I dont believe that is the case as I said below, just saying it would be quite an amazing story if it was as he claims

Creator Alon Walter 1 day ago

@Lilo,
As for what came first - I think it's clear from the sparse info we did get:
Look at update #4.
The first design (the one at the bottom) is from May 23.
This is a watch with a different design, and a different screen. No one can make a new design (including different screen) in under a month (the next mail is from Jun).

Now, I guess the best description for the situation - as Vak wants to see it - came from (his alleged alter ego) Tonya:
"It seems to me that they commissioned Appscomm for the basic infrastructure, hired American developers and designers.. and for all we know both companies (Rock and the Chinese company) are working and collaborating really hard to produce a better product.."
link:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/253126792/rocktm-first-qi-wifi-lifestyle-smartwatch-wireless/comments…

I also guess that his initial intent was to strip the original casing, and use that local metal shop to produce a different casing.
I guess he just got a little too cocky, and also decided to offer the original design as an option, making it even easier for him to cash as the middleman...

His justification is if you were willing to pay for it, it shouldn't matter to you if it's new, or rebranded.
Tonya:
"If that's the case then I don't mind.. In fact I have to commend their hardwork for pimping something up and offering it to American consumers for a very friendly price"
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/253126792/rocktm-first-qi-wifi-lifestyle-smartwatch-wireless/comments…

Creator Sagar Tandel 1 day ago

Maybe...we'll see what he says..

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

@LiLo - By the time MSRP pricing has been determined and the cost of making the watches is known, aka right now, stuff like what screen is in the watch and internal specs should be common knowledge. The person in charge of securing funding should have access to files and parts lists and cost comparisons. It would take an engineer all of 10 minutes to answer 90% of my questions, and there's no reason for it to take more than a day to get hold of an engineer. It sounds more like Vak is getting his info from the chinese company that makes the Z3. He is right now waiting on them to answer his questions, which would make sense why it takes so long. It can take a couple days to get answers from a chinese company what with language barriers and time differences. For a small team that loves their product, they don't seem to know anything about it, and all of their info is wrong/misleading.

@Sagar - I have seen many projects where even up to half the backers ended up being fake, and the creator was just trying to boost pledges so he could steal the actual backers money. One creator pledged 10k on the last day to make his goal. It might just be coincidence, but it could be staged. It could also be that Vak went around to his friends and told them he needed help, or something similar.

Creator Sagar Tandel 1 day ago

@ThaWulf if you look at the recent backers something is really fishy. All of the recent backers have not backed any of the other kickstarter projects but have backed this one and are supporting him even after not knowing anything about kickstarter and all are december entries. Or is it just me being too skeptical about this project.

Creator LiLo 1 day ago

Wouldn't it be quite a story if it turns out that Vaks claim is true - That he has a team who worked and design a smartwatch for the past 2 years and that one of the partners he used in China during the process screwed him over by copying his design and starting to produce cheap copies?

I still don't understand though, if that were the case, how he cannot know basic specs of his own watch, but just to play with the thought..

Creator Rumen Matanov 1 day ago

@ThaWulf
Fair enough. Didn't see it from that perspective.

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

Any new backers that don't read down the comment list - read this before backing. There is evidence that this project might be a scam, and until proven otherwise you should be wary. Also below is a list of the many simple questions we have been waiting days to hear answers to. The watch in this project looks and has same details as the Z3 watch by Uplay. The creator owns no patents for the watch or the apps despite saying he does on the front page. The creator has enough of a finished product to quote us "low prices" of 100 bucks, but doesn't know how much RAM the watch has, even saying ridiculous things like it having 4 GB RAM. Read through the comments, several backers have worked hard to dig into this project and have found plenty to cause doubt in it's authenticity, but no proof anything Vak says is true.
From Tira:
Hi @Trogdor, @ThaWulf I regroup all the questions of both of us so it will don't get missed, I very hope Vak will answer until tomorrow or I think that everybody will need to report this project to KS, I dont want to see any scams on KS and to me its really look like one.

@VAK
How much RAM does the watch have? What specs on the RAM?
How does the metal body effect the Wifi, bluetooth, and the Qi charging?
What are ALL of the differences between Qi and non-Qi watches?
What are the battery specs? Not hours, but what specific battery is in the non-Qi, and what size Qi battery etc.
What is the status of ios compatibility? What do you know works with ios phones?
What apps work on the watch itself aka without phone connected?
Can you show videos of any of the apps you've made, or of apps working on a prototype? What can you show us so we can see the quality of your unique apps without compromising anything legally?
What is the screen resolution? What is the 1080p referring to?
Is the screen really OLED? Why use it over cheaper options?
What version android does both versions of the watch run? Are there plans to upgrade the version at some point?
Is liquipel what you will be doing as far as water resistance? If not what IPA rating are you shooting for?
What is the watch band size? Is it a standard size or do we have to buy any additional bands from you?
-Apps tested with portal both successes and failures.
Can you give us more information on the multi-touchscreen? (this is mostly for the engineer in me, as far as is it capacitive etc)
Can you give us any specs on the vibration? Is it comparable to the Pebble in terms of strength? Does it have different vibration settings?
You might have answered this but: Does each watch come with 1 leash device?
Are you joking on all the backers here ?? It is the 1 of April or December ?
You made an update that a child can do that!
You show us designs that was not made by you, by the way its very easy to take a watch from the net and modified it and just add a screen on it, is what you did in your update!!
By the way nice adaptation trying to take the Pebble body in red and adapt it on your watch!! hahahahaha, Vak I am sorry but I am really dont know if to laugh or Cry.
So you are telling us that APPSCOMM copy from you the design ??
Just how they will copy if you never present before your watch ??
And how APPSCOMM design the same watch before you if they copy from you ??
For the patent, this is what you are thinking is a patent ?
Waiting for all the answers from your team.
@Vak I got to tell you, you are funny man.
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Hi Vak still not seeing any reply to my questions just telling me that i am one day Kickstarter fan?
Did you think maybe i have more than one account ??
I also analyse today all your project and i got to tell you that I am more than disappointed.
1.The clock face screen with all the icons this is just a Gif that running on the screen.
2.If you didnt know this Chinese company that do the cheap watch (Z3)?!!? Why did you use the same pictures as the company in China that produce this cheap watch ?
Link of the original picture : http://postimg.org/image/6xyah3z8z/
Your project picture : http://www.uplaytablet.com/color-pebble-uplays-first-android-smart-watch-z3-99-will-be-released-by-end-of-october-open-to-pre-order/
3.In your project you show us a picture of a board of the watch, but this board not corresponding of the watch board, how this board have a place for 2 buttons and your watch that you are presenting have 1 button ?? and many more that i will not enter in it because its seem to me that you dont understand anything about your project or on smartwatches.... strange for a person that develop it or pretend to develop it its sound to me better !
4.You show in your project a screen (Pebble style) but the screen of your watch is a 1.54 inch so how the screen of testing are smaller, different and not in color ?
5.For the QI charger if from Appscomm(Chinese company) they tell you it is possible dont believe them its just an advise for you, it will never work due to the back of this watch.
6.You are writing in the "UP AGAINST THE COMPETITION Table" that you have a 1.54 Oled ?? Did you know that a Oled screen only Samsung produce it and its starting from 1,63.
7.High definition 1080P how you get to that on a poor TFT screen with 240X240 ?
Every time that I see this project more and more I find it to much like a scam sorry!!
Hope that you will answer to all my questions and not try to answer one like you are trying to do with all the other backers!!!!
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Hi Vak and all Kickstarter backers sorry to blow away your dreams but to protect every backers and myself for this kind of scams I need to report that immediately.
I am really disappointed to see a project like that (Scam) in Kickstarter!!
I love Kickstarter and a big fan of it but sorry I feel that I need to alert all the backers here even that I was needed to pay to write this comment!!
The smartwatch that you are presenting is a poor Chinese smartwatch that is calling the Z3, she came out in China one year ago with no success due to the Bluetooth connection problems with smartphones, the Z3 cost around 30$ on bulk quantities, the spec of this cheap smartwatch are far like you are pretending, very disappointing also to see that you lie to all of us and pretending for long years that your team develop it.
Take good examples of Pebble, Agents, Omate this guys real work and develop a smartwatch!!!!
Shame of you and your Team very frustrated that Kickstarter dont do anything and allow this types of projects!!
Next time try to do your homework and be logical with the spec, 4GB of Ram ?? what you are joking on backers ? 4GB of memory ? For your record this poor Chinese smartwatch have 2GB of memory and 256mb of Ram it is Running on Android 4.1 and not 4.2!! Oled screen?? 1080P ?? What are you dreaming ?? Even you dont know how to explain what is a resolution so you want Oled screen and 1080P on it ?? Vak please stop jock on us, not everybody are dumb!! For your knowledge the Z3 screen is 1,54 poor lcd. Its not possible to add QI charger on the Z3 due to his construction, the charger is a clip like the first Omate charger.
The App is also developed by the same Chinese company by the name of Appscomm dont confuse with the well known company Foxconn and they are far to finish the app for just receiving Text message.
Notifications such as Facebook, Email can be receive only by wifi and not like you are pretending by your smartphone like the Gear!! Next time also dont jock on others and do comparisons with Omate and the Neptune Pines that are far far away advanced from the Z3 specifications and features even the old good Pebble are better!!
For all the backers here is all the proof
Link of the company that his developing the Z3 (Rock as you pretending) in China: http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/783148222/Android_watch_4_0_capacitive_touch.html
Some pictures of my Z3 that I buy 4 month ago.
http://postimg.org/image/6deo0ogmr/
http://postimg.org/image/7kx76mw4z/
http://postimg.org/image/ekb95zw37/
http://postimg.org/image/mux2dtrn7/
http://postimg.org/image/dfclmvk8j/
http://postimg.org/image/6nqrxrkmr/
Link of the original picture : http://postimg.org/image/6xyah3z8z/
Next time dont take us for idiots !!

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

@rumen - you also lose nothing reducing your pledge to a buck or by canceling your pledge and starring the project for later. it's not like any of the tiers are that exclusive.
On the other hand by keeping your pledge high, you are hurting other backers. People will see this project and the fact it has 37k and back it without reading through the comments. When you see something fishy about a project, you don't just sit back and let other people jump on board, just because you know to leave at the last minute.

Creator Chi-Kong Ho 1 day ago

Hi,
if it is connected with my smartphone, does it works with whatsapp? whatsapp notification would be greatful :)

Creator Richard Hustwit 1 day ago

Guys, even the cycling picture is fake:
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-98983154/stock-photo-two-cyclists-sprinting-past-the-camera-at-high-speed.html…
... walk away.

Creator Rumen Matanov 1 day ago

Yup, I personally lose nothing by waiting to see their explanation and supposed side of the story. There's still 40 days to go so plenty of time to decide to stick to the pledge or not.

Creator Atul Kapoor 1 day ago

I agree… even this one says "technical specs are a mystery".

Creator Sagar Tandel 1 day ago

Yes i am waiting for him to reply. But i found not more than 2 or maybe 3 articles. And none of them were a hands-on

Creator Atul Kapoor 1 day ago

I was trying searching the claimed blogs by Vak… found this.

I think we should "at least" give him a chance to explain.

In end, it will be Our decision to hold on or not.

Creator Atul Kapoor 1 day ago

@Sagar: This is an extract from "Digital Trends" blog -

"Rock Smartwatch

Featured in its own website in what it calls a pre-Kickstarter launch, the Rock smartwatch comes in various colors, along with the option of a metal or plastic strap. The OS looks proprietary, but could be heavily skinned Android, but its technical specs are a mystery at the moment. The price is listed as $320, but if you sign-up for more information, it can be had for $100. The blurb suggests it’ll show up on Kickstarter before Christmas, so it’s one to watch (sorry) out for soon."

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-smartwatch/#ixzz2mawlPqZE
Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook

Creator Sagar Tandel 1 day ago

@Vak also could you please post the articles about your watch from the sites you have mentioned on the Home page. Also the link for editors choice award that you got. And the ranking for which website? Just to be clear so we can atleast hold onto you.

Creator Alon Walter 1 day ago

@Vak:
First Tonya, and now Seth.
That's pathetic.
Your interests burst out of the fake personas.

Seth was supposed to go away for 30 days... What happened?

P.S.
you have obvious patterns using this fake personas, and be sure we will call you on them every time!

Please stop that.

@Everyone: the motivation behind the credit card story is to try and fool you. You will not be able to cancel it or be refunded.

Creator Seth Ulloa 1 day ago

@thawulf - you are a funny dude. I'll send this Co a message to produce some kind of geek anime/cartoon, you would mortgage your house to help out...did you do the 5 dollar pledge, so you can go back and forth with ppl, lame-O...already got my 100 value...just looking at these comments like yours make me laugh, what the internet and sites like this do for ppl...I expect to get my product but if not, its put on my CC, if they don't send it I'll happily let me CC company deal with this and I'll get a conditional credit...if these guys can make it happen cool...@Vak - when will you have a video demo of the product and once you hit your goal of 50K what is the turnaround time to get this into our mailbox???

Creator nicole dolly 1 day ago

Well don't attack him. I know you are only trying to help all of us but let him do as he pleases. As established in last nights positing, I don't really value money either but had to pull out of this.

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

it was @seth. the only guy *still* defending Vak.

Creator nicole dolly 1 day ago

ThaWulf. Who are you talking to

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

Company is reselling a chinese product for 3 times the price you can buy them in bulk, lying about everything, and there's not even a guarantee you'll get the shitty chinese watch, and you still want to put 100 bucks into this thing? Well ok then. I value my money a little more than you I guess.

Creator kalani dolly 1 day ago

Had to pull my son out too

Creator nicole dolly 1 day ago

I'm sorry Vak, this was fun yesterday but not today. As they say you get what you pay for and if something is to good to be true it probably is. Again as stated before.......don't care if watch is a remake although I've now learned that is not the KS way. There are just too many unansered questions that you should know. If this product is real and it of quality, I say congrats @ darn I missed out but I guess it was not ment to be for me.

Creator Matthew 1 day ago

@Seth Welcome to KS! the problem is that they haven't given clear information on anything. It is just a red flag when you can find them from various websites heres one http://neuwatch.en.alibaba.com/product/855735871-0/2013_latest_Android_4_0_smart_gadget_watch.html
Nobody wants to see anyone else get ripped off. Not saying they are trying to it just doesn't look good.

Creator Seth Ulloa 1 day ago

Wow...all the KS veterans are schooling me on this stuff...Wait only ppl with multiple backings can comment? I'm sorry my bad, I saw this project via FB from a friend who posted, looked interesting n so helped out...if this company screws yeah I'm going to be upset/ pissed but I'm not gonna be here like some of u guys all day...serious get a life peace out check back in 30 days.

Creator Benedict Huang 1 day ago

So according to your LinkedIn profile and the profile of others in your "team". You guys have many years of combined expertise in software and engineering. Yet it seems like you can't answer a rudimentary question like amount of RAM, resolution or battery life. These questions do not require the consul of a lawyer OR engineering guru.

If this watch has been in development since early 2012 as you claim, then YOU as the project creator should have these simple facts at the back of your head. A simple FAQ would have addressed these but as it is, this now looks like a shoddy fly-by-night project looking at a cashgrab.

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

I kind of feel sorry for all the new backers that this is their first project... It gives you a bad idea of KS, and it's too easy for new backers to be taken advantage of.

@Seth - read the KS rules on accountability.

Creator Richard Hustwit 1 day ago

Seth = New Kickstarter account, backed 1 project ... hmmm ... Vak, is that you?

Creator Randall McQuade 1 day ago

@Seth, I don't think you can return a product that has been funded on kickstarter just because you don't like it. You are not buying a product as such. You are receiving a reward or gift for funding the project.

Creator ThaWulf 1 day ago

@Seth - you don't understand how KS works. You aren't guaranteed a product. If Vak wants to run off with your money, he can. You, personally, would have to waste time and money suing him. Would you do this over 100 bucks? No, probably not. So he would get 50k and all of us would get nothing and be 100 bucks in the hole.

I don't know where people get this idea that KS is some store and they always get a product. You aren't guaranteed a product, and if you get one and it sucks, you don't get your money back. You back people because you want to see them succeed, but you are also trusting and investing in their dream. To just toss your money away, even though the project looks like a scam, is downright foolish.

Creator Seth Ulloa 1 day ago

Looks like its on back order...and the features and the way it charges are different...its worth the 100 bucks if it can find my keys...I'm still waiting for Tileapp to send my product as well...

Creator Amir Soltani 1 day ago

@Seth: you can buy your right away from here there is no waiting:
http://www.uplaytablet.com/product/uplay-customized-android-smart-watch-white-label-z3-smart-watch-running-android-4-0-with-a-1-5-touch-screen-bluetooth-4-0-gravity-sensor-and-gyro/…

Creator Trogdor 1 day ago

@Seth

Welcome to Kickstarter. Enjoy your watch.

Creator Seth Ulloa 1 day ago

Idk what's all the complaint is about. Worst case you return your product for refund if you don't like it. Bashers are probably just the 5 dollars backer...I did the 97 dollar option, just get me my product in time...thx

Creator John Proffer 1 day ago

@vak with all due respect, you've had TONS of opportunity to give it to us straight. Your team is apparently SO fragmented and uncommunicative, that it takes you days to get info together. And even then, if history serves insofar, I have very little faith that it will actually answer any of our questions. -- nearly every answer you have given us has been basically non-answers.

Your bio portrays you and your team as huge industrial players with extensive experience. But your handling of this campaign tells me you're more of a coattail-rider with apparently alot of experience in deception and giving info without actually telling anyone anything relevant.

And your lawyer is weird. What kind of IP lawyer tells you that you can only show someone the date of a patent and absolutely nothing else? Are you your own lawyer? :P