Touchfire Released to Manufacturing
Summary
The Good News: We signed off on Touchfire going into volume production; hooray! Our factory will start making Touchfires next week.
The Bad News: We had to order 80,000 new magnets, and it will be about 4 weeks before they get here.
More Good News: By the time the magnets arrive, the factory will have made a lot of Touchfires!
Even More Good News: We were able to come up with a single version of Touchfire that works for all generations of iPads. In fact, we were forced to….
The Full Story
Getting Touchfire into production has been a wild ride, but the last few weeks have been the wildest of all.
Touchfire Released To Production
As you might recall from our last update, we found that our magnets were not fitting into the completed Touchfire keyboards. We tried all the alternatives we discussed in the last update, but at the end of the day we needed to go with new magnets. The samples of the new magnets arrived today, and they fit great.
So we gave the go-ahead to our magnet supplier to make 80,000 magnets. And then we released Touchfire for production in our Los Angeles factory. Needless to say, this was a big day!
Our factory will now send our tools out for Teflon coating and anodization to get them ready for mass production. This will take about a week. And then they will dive into making lots of Touchfires. Three shifts a day, seven days a week.
The magnets will arrive in 4-5 weeks. At which point our factory will have made all the Touchfires. They will then insert the magnets, seal up the magnet wells, and ship you your Touchfire. So, we are looking at shipping out your Touchfires by the end of June.
iPad 3, Revisited
We bought two iPad 3’s to test Touchfire on, and as we previously reported, quickly discovered that the polarity of the speaker magnet was reversed between the iPad 3 and the iPad 2. We switched the polarity of some of the magnets in Touchfire to match, resulting in a Touchfire version for iPad 2 and a different version for iPad 3.
A few weeks ago, a friend came by with their new iPad 3 and we put Touchfire on it for a test drive. OMG! The speaker magnet in this iPad 3 was the same polarity as an iPad 2. What was going on here?
We headed out to the Apple stores in the Seattle area with Touchfires in hand, and tested about 40 iPad 3s. We found that the iPad 3 speaker magnet polarity was completely random. This is pretty unusual for an Apple product, and it was feeling like a catastrophe for us. The iPad 3 version of Touchfire was dead unless we could find a way to make one version of Touchfire work for all iPads. So we went to work.
We tried micro-Velcro, suction tape, etc. as alternatives for retracting Touchfire. But nothing worked as well as magnets. And then we hit on the answer. If we changed the size and power of the affected magnets in the chin, we could have a balanced solution that worked with both polarities of speaker magnets. And since we were ordering new magnets anyway, this solution would work out.
So, there will now be just one version of Touchfire for all three generations of iPads.
As always, thank you so much for hanging in there with us. Touchfires will be rolling off the assembly line at last!
Steve & Brad
3,146
Backers
$201,400
pledged of $10,000 goal
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Funding period
Oct 20, 2011 -
Dec 13, 2011
- First created · 29 backed
- Bradley Melmon 138 friends
- Website: facebook.com
Pledge $1 or more
83 backers
THANK YOU! Pledging any amount you feel comfortable with will help turn this project into reality. You will be listed as a contributor on the TouchFire Web site.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2011Pledge $45 or more
2096 backers
Congratulations, you've just pre-ordered the TouchFire Standard Pack! It contains a keyboard, a storage case and a pair of cover clips, all in black. Shipping is free in the U.S. Please add $10 to your pledge for shipping to Canada, $25 for International shipping.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2011Pledge $80 or more
877 backers
KICKSTARTER SPECIAL! We created the TouchFire Variety Pack exclusively for Kickstarter - 2 keyboards in black and white, 2 storage cases and 5 pairs of cover clips in colors that complement the iPad Smart Covers. This is a $100 value. Free U.S. shipping, please add $10 for Canada, $25 for International.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2011Pledge $200 or more
59 backers
Five TouchFire Standard Packs. Outfit your friends, co-workers and clients with TouchFire! Plus save $25 over the single unit price. Free U.S. shipping, please add $10 for Canada, $25 for International.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2011Pledge $350 or more
16 backers
KICKSTARTER UBER-SPECIAL! Five TouchFire Variety Packs - 10 keyboards in total! The perfect gift for your group of iPad toting compadres. This is a $50 savings over the single unit price. Free U.S. shipping, please add $10 for Canada, $25 for International.
Estimated delivery: Dec 2011Pledge $1,000 or more
6 backers
Customize TouchFire! Add a graphic (your logo, your signature, or whatever you'd like) to the bottom of the TouchFire keyboard and choose your keyboard and cover clip colors. 20 custom units are included in this reward, and you will be able to order more of your customized TouchFires at volume prices. Free shipping anywhere in the world.
Estimated delivery: Jan 2012
Comments
Creator Stewart bracken on June 16, 2012
Ready for my touchfire
Creator Tvartist on June 14, 2012
It's been a long wait and hopefully delays are behind and nothing but smooth sailing ahead. From a backer standpoint it's frustrating but having grown up around a manufacturing environment I understand unexpected delays. Please keep on updating Frequently! Even if there isn't much news it helps to know that as a backer-customer we are not being dodged.
Creator Steve Isaac & Brad Melmon on June 14, 2012
@Joseph, @Zippy, in the update above we said we released to production and will be shipping at the end of this month. We are on track to do so. That's just a couple of weeks away...
Creator Joseph Terry, III on June 14, 2012
Jeff I agree with you, endless updates and the photo with them hand slapping, looks like they took the money and ran. I have been in a business before where we did injection molding that had to meet telco specs. From drawings, through tooling, pre-production, we were done and in production in 5 months.
Creator ZippyFund Inc. on June 12, 2012
December 2011 delivery date... June 2012...
Creator Jeff McNeill on June 12, 2012
Please refund, I want off of this interminable update train!
Creator Steve Isaac & Brad Melmon on June 11, 2012
@Tara It looks like Touchfire will work fine with the SmartCase. We will get one asap and find out for sure...
Creator Tara Johnson on June 11, 2012
Any idea if this will work with the new iPad Smart Case? http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD455
Creator ZippyFund Inc. on June 6, 2012
Would love to be able to use it, only need it to arrive...
Creator Rich Puskarich on May 27, 2012
I'm looking forward to it. It has been fun to follow your journey. It'd be great to read a "lessons learned" post after everything ships. I'm sure it has been an incredible and rewarding experience for your team. Congratulations and good luck in the home stretch.
Creator Frank Miller on May 26, 2012
Thanks for the updates especially about the unforeseen problems. These are fun and FASCINATING to read and follow. I just wish my late father the engineer was alive to read this stuff he would have loved every twist and turn you all have had to endure and persevere through. Great job.
Creator Faith Avner on May 25, 2012
thanks for the wonderful updates - very excited! was hoping to have it by July 5 to take with on a 2 week motorcycle journey to journal the trip- a g reat use of the keyboard!! - if it is close - can i pay for overnight shipping to guarantee that I get it before I leave? just checking for now - we can revisit this as it gets closer--- congrats to both of you !!!
Creator Chris @ BiteMyApple on May 23, 2012
1 TouchFire for all 3 generations? Perfect :-)
Creator Terry Hatmaker on May 23, 2012
Thanks for the update! It has been interesting watching the journey of your product. Now, I am looking forward to using it!
Creator Elayne Sawaya on May 23, 2012
You guys are the best. I love how meticulous you have been about making sure that the iPad 3 would work with the magnets. Only people who really care would go to the trouble of going to the store and testing 40 iPads. We are in great hands.
Creator Steve Isaac & Brad Melmon on May 23, 2012
Thanks for your comments, everyone! Very much appreciated.
@Neil - We are still making them in the USA. They will be shipped right out of our factory in Los Angeles.
@Austin - You can indeed reserve additional Touchfires by going to www.touchfire.com and clicking on the big orange button. These units will go out after the Kickstarter units.
Creator Austin Sharp on May 23, 2012
Wow, congratulations on the last minute design win! Thanks for sharing the ups and downs of your journey thus far. I have a feeling this accessory will be as invaluable as the Wallee.
20*6+10*16+5*59+2*877+2096 = 4425 TouchFires for backers
From the images it looks like each uses four magnets, so
80000/4 = 20000 TouchFires in this production run
Is there a chance we'll be able to order additional units online soon after the kickstarter rewards are shipped?
Creator Wilfred Phua on May 23, 2012
I'm glad the haters have generally toned down. So it's one TouchFire to rule them all! Woohoo!
It's been a long time coming and I cannot wait to get my hands on one. Looking forward to more updates. Great job fellas!
Creator Jason Wright on May 23, 2012
Great update! Thanks for the hard work and for finding a solution.
Creator L.W. Brown on May 23, 2012
Felexibility & ingenuity! Unbeatable...
Creator Sami Laine on May 22, 2012
Hard work and perseverance! Thanks for good updates and finding a universal solution.
Creator Neil Bunn on May 22, 2012
Terrific update! I'm still in the iPad 2 cycle, and with five ipads to upgrade I'm not headed to the "new" world anytime soon, but being future-proofed into at least a couple of them is a great update. So, one not-so-serious question -- are the touchpads being made in the USA still, or are they literally going to take the slow boat from China? (Being in Canada, I personally don't care either way, but nice to know what my shipping expectation should be... USPS = fast and good, China Post = reliable, but slow.) :)
Congrats on reaching this milestone and I look forward to trying them out!
Creator Perry Alexander on May 22, 2012
Ah, the unending joys of a new venture! You guys are troopers! Thanks for the occasional updates, and the vicarious ride along with you on your big adventure.
Creator Blackymetal on May 22, 2012
REAL GOOD NEWS!
Creator Sandra Hunter on May 22, 2012
Cannot wait! Thanks for the update!