Dear backers, 


We just got back from factory and it’s been an amazing couple of weeks! There’s been a fantastic amount of energy in these final moments. As we speak BATBAND is being manufactured and it’s an extraordinary experience to share this piece of news with you.

UPDATE 

So, here’s a window into what’s been happening these last few weeks in chronological order:

+ Clamping force approved 
+ Pulp tray modification completed and manufactured 

+ All certification fulfilled and compliances approved

+ Full production assembly instruction manuals & training complete

+ Full production run test complete
+ ‘Golden sample’ of full production test assembly unit complete - 100% functional product signed off. 

+ Full SGS Quality Control
+ Kick off of final manufacturing run

Lecture

Rejouer avec le son

Lecture
avec le son

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TIMELINE

We are happy to see that production is racing forward, however with our demanding quality control measures in place, the production process is taking slightly longer than the facility expected. This means that there will be an alteration of the shipping date. We will be commencing shipping in early July. We apologise for this unforeseen change to the timeline we announced last year, we trust you will understand that quality has always been our top priority.

SHIPPING

We would like to remind you that we need your correct information (including phone number). If you wish to amend your shipping information please do so within the next 2 weeks (cut off point: 14th June) by following the instructions below.
 

You can edit your shipping address directly on your BATBAND survey, by following these steps:

1. Select your profile icon at the top right corner: you should see a drop down menu appear.

2. Select "Backed Projects”.

3. Select the BATBAND project.

4. On the next page, click on "Survey", which is located between the "Reward" tab and the "Messages” tab.
Now you can modify your shipping address. 

In case you need to receive your BATBAND in a different country than the one your stated in the first place, you will find Kickstarter won’t allow you to edit it on the survey: please contact us by private message and we will proceed to modify it.

If you did not received your survey, please check your spam mail or reach out to Kickstarter support team who can facilitate a copy of survey. Please remember to double check our survey so we can process your reward and you can start enjoying the BATBAND acoustic experience.

THANK YOU
 

We continue working hard to make sure your BATBAND gets to every single one of you. We also wanted to take this opportunity to reiterate how enormously we appreciate your support and patience throughout this journey together.

Thank you to you all. We hope you have a wonderful day!

Dear backers,
We hope you’re all enjoying spring time. We know you’re keen to hear some news about Batband, we apologise for our silence. We have been running full sprint on the manufacturing front. The end of the project is coming closer and we really want to make sure the last mile is a good one and the product offers you a great experience. Things have evolved well and we’re sticking to the announced planning. 

So, here’s an update of what’s been happening on our end the last few weeks:

+ Assembly of all final components - Conducting test

+ Assembly full cosmetic - Approved
+ Modification for certification - Approved
+ Assembly samples test - Approved
+ Functionally test - Approved
+ Optimised firmware BLE Connection testing - Approved
+ Battery standby test - Still ongoing after 24 days so the
+10 days mark is Approved
+ Product drop test (2m / 6”7) - Approved
+ Full Product (including packaging) drop test - Approved
+ Final temperature test - Approved
+ Padding texture improvements - Approved
+ Padding trim improvement - Approved
+ Padding USB access improvements - Approved  

+ Packaging: Outer cardboard box & compliance with shipping requirements - Done

+ Packaging: User manual final edit and multi-language translation - In process
+ USB Cable improvements test - Approved 

+ Testing fit Batband in conjunction with glasses - Images attached

And here’s what’s currently pending:
+ Batband bag finishing - In process 

+ First round of certification fulfilled all compliance - Certification planned for first week of May
+ Clamping force of the assembled unit was slightly too strong - Minor modifications being carried out to guarantee perfect clamping force 

+ Pulp tray (packaging) modifications for optimal fit and UX 

Some of you have been asking recently about the timeline and we want to inform you that we’re still advancing as per our latest timeline announced back in December. We’re truly at the end of this incredible journey. We appreciate enormously your support and patience. It means a lot to us and we trust the end product will make it all worth the wait. Thank you all.

Hi guys,

We hope you are you doing great. Our production development team is still in China working side by side with the manufacturing team and we have quite some exciting news to share. For the last few weeks we've been working on the final manufacturing molds and we're happy to share that we now have:

• New silicon padding: Final mold ready 

• Inner frame (the hidden support of the padding) – Final mold ready
• PCB cover (casing of the board, attached to the inner frame) – Final mold ready 

• USB cover (lid to protect the USB port) – Final mold ready 
• Playback tests for battery durability – Hotel California from the Eagles was played continuously at medium volume for 6,47hours on one charge (After a full day listening to this track we really can't play it anymore ;–)
• Full battery charge time – 1h 27m
• Extreme temperature tests – Conducted, satisfactory results. The product was exposed 48h to +60°C (140°F) and –20°C (–4°F) temperatures, all functionalities worked perfectly after the test.
• RGB LED pilotlight – LED guide transparent film added to diffuse light and avoid glare. Updating firmware to optimise all the functionalities of the pilotlight.
• Microphone – Reception volume increased and ng optimising background sound cancellation (conducting final tests) to enhance the call experience.

And here are some of our next steps:

• Assembly of all final components
• Full product test and cosmetic approval once components assembled.
• Packaging review
• Bluetooth – Simplifying connectivity of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to device and testing dual device connection.

We will keep you updated with news. On a general note, we want to inform you all that we're still on the announced timeline.

Thanks for your support and stay tuned for more updates.

Hi guys,

Just back from CES and we're excited to tell you it was amazing… Thanks to those of you that came by to visit our booth. Talking to you and sharing our excitement really meant a lot to us. Please feel free to share with the rest of the community your first hand experience of the product. (Image of CES with crowd) 

These are some of the public's reactions when trying the latest prototype of Batband. 
"Cool – Awesome - Get out of here – What ? – No way ! "

In the meantime we have continued working on the product. Since our previous updates we have successfully achieved the following:
• USB cap – Fit adaptation to the new padding completed. (3D files & images below )

• Pressure sensor reliability test - Response to 1 second - Completed 
• Packaging – Inner pulp tray being improved to remove water marks. • New silicon padding - Insertion of inner ribs to provide a consistent hardness throughout the product. 

• New silicon padding gap to metal frame - Approved, 100% signed off. 

• Sound leak – Optimised through extra audio performance tests and reached acceptable levels for standard use. 
• Clamping force of inner frame – Optimised by introducing slits in it, now providing optimal grip.

• The few remaining moulds for components (silicon padding mould, inner frame mould, ON/OFF button, frame of ON/OFF button) – Approved and in manufacturing.
• Onboarding audio - Completed 

Having achieved all of the above, our next steps are as follows:

• Main PCB cover – Needs to be matt finish in mould (Image below) • Battery life run-times – Further improvements being carried out. • Firmware update via app – Being developed. • App firmware update – Being tested. • App equaliser pre-sets – Being optimised for indoors & outdoors situations.

Thanks a lot and stay tuned for more updates. We're getting there!

Happy New Year dear backers!

We hope you have all enjoyed the holiday season and the start of a new year. So here we are with a fresh update for you. Since our previous message we have successfully achieved the following: 

• New silicon padding sample – Reviewed and approved. Gap between padding and outer frame is now a consistent 1mm, as designed and clean and constant all around the edge. That's what we all wanted!

• Grip test with the new padding – Considerably higher results. 

• Printing certifications tests on the silicon padding – Positive results. Some minor tweaking is now required on the design and printing operation. See the result on the image below.

• Durability (stretch, twist, heat etc...) and friction tests on the new padding –Carried out with positive results. This is a great confidence booster!

• Trim on padding around USB port – Improved. See image below.

• Swipe sensor sensitivity – Optimised. This guarantees excellent UX.

• Metal Frame Logo in Pantone 431C tone – Completed and satisfactory.

Having achieved all of the above, our next steps are as follows:

• New silicon padding and inner frame – Due to the silicon's higher density relative to the previous polyurethane padding, sound leak is a challenge we're working hard to mitigate. This requires carrying out some more audio performance tests.  

• Battery life run-times – Further improvements. 

• USB cap – Fit needs adapting to the new padding now that trim is satisfactory. 

• Pressure sensor reliability test - Due to the change of padding the pressure sensor (button) needs to be fine-tuned.

• Firmware update via app – Being developed.

• App firmware update – Being tested.

• App equalizer pre-sets – Being optimised for indoors & outdoors situations.

• Packaging – Inner pulp tray being improved to remove water marks.

We are also excited inform you that we are currently in CES for the first time showcasing BatBand samples. So if any of you are around please come by and visit us, we will be in the Eureka Park section, at the Hardware Club Area. 

Thank you for your support and stay tuned for our next update. Ah! And don't forget those new year resolutions too soon ;–)