Big News: Robin for Verizon and another color for Robin
almost 9 years ago – Sat, Sep 19, 2015 at 12:32:09 AM

Special flash sale for Verizon subscribers on Friday

We received tons of fan mail asking us to make a Verizon compatible version of Robin. We’ve been working our tails (get it? tails?) off to bring you a version of Robin that can properly support the Verizon network and we’re happy to tell you we’ve done it!

Because Verizon subscribers couldn’t participate in the Early Adopter reward tier, we’re doing something special for you: a Verizon only flash sale. Starting at 10am Pacific tomorrow (Friday, Sept 18) we will offer a Verizon compatible Robin for only $299 to the first 300 backers. This sale will be limited to US backers only and is only for the Verizon version, not the currently available version. Mark your calendars. Set your alarms.

The Verizon compatible version is available to current backers and after the flash sale, just choose any reward level. We will let you pick whether you want the original or Verizon model in your backer survey after the campaign is over. (The exception is that tomorrow's flash sale is only for the Verizon model.)

Community Color Contest: Design the Robin of your dreams

You love the Midnight and Mint colorways, but keep asking if there will be more colors. The answer is YES, and now’s your chance to decide what that color will be. We are going to do a limited Kickstarter backer colorway and we want your help. Here’s how it works:

• Download the Robin Photoshop file here. If you don’t feel comfortable in Photoshop, just print it out and use markers / crayons to color it in. We won’t judge. 
• We made the Photoshop file super easy to use. (a) Select the layer of the part you want to color. (b) Hit CTRL-U or Command-U to open hue/saturation dialog. (c) Select the “colorize” checkbox. (d) Move the hue and saturation sliders ‘til you find the perfect color. Repeat! 
• Design your dream Robin color scheme. Get crazy. Be bold. If you want something conservative, we already have the Midnight option. This is your chance to take a risk.
• Submit your community color to us: (a) Post a hosted image in the Kickstarter comments (b) Post your creation to Twitter or Instagram. If you’re posting to social media, you must use the hashtag #RobinColor and tag us @nextbitsys so that we can find it. We will accept entries until Thursday, 24 Sept noon PDT (1900h GMT)
• After the contest ends we will select our five favorite entries. We’ll tune them so we can actually manufacture them and create renderings. We will present our five finalists to you on Monday, 28 Sept and open voting at that time. Voting will be open until Wednesday, 30 Sept at 5PM PDT (1 Oct, 0000h GMT) 
• The winner will be announced in our campaign closing update. All backers will be able to select the community color as their option(s) in the post-campaign backer survey. The community color will only be available through the backer survey and will never be made again.

Let your imaginations run wild! We can’t wait to see what you come up with. As always, we’re so excited you’re on this adventure with us.

One Million! New stretch goals and cases.
almost 9 years ago – Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 12:26:47 PM

OMG we hit a million dollars, friends!

We hit our $1 million stretch goal so you know what that means: quick chargers with every Robin! A big thank you to all our amazing backers for believing in us and making this possible. We’re only halfway through our Kickstarter campaign. Here’s what’s next:

At $1.25 million, all backers get a free shirt, based on the back of the midnight colorway. Check out the men’s and women’s designs.

At $1.5 million, all backers get 129GB of cloud storage. Because you all deserve at least 1 more GB than everyone who just spent $850 on a brand new iPhone.

Things are getting real: Case designs

If last week’s sneak peek at case designs made you thirsty, here’s a big glass of water. We’ve finalized the designs of our cases in the past few days. We’ll be offering three different cases with increasing degrees of protection. They’re designed with the same care as Robin, optimizing as much for usability and protection as for looks. And each case allows the cloud LEDs to shine through in some way.

Scrapes: A light, thin, translucent plastic case to protect your Robin from everyday scratches and keep it looking fresh.

Bumps: A little bit thicker plastic case to protect your Robin from more wear and tear, that still allows the color to show through thanks to the perforation pattern on the back.

Bruises: A thick plastic case with rubber end caps to protect your Robin from more serious falls. (We still don’t recommend throwing your Robin out a window, but this will handle the usual drops and bangs.)

We're working on some cool color options for each of the cases. We'll select final ones soon!

Time to celebrate! Keep thinking positive and thanks for all your support, backers.

More developments: Australia, Verizon and a peek at the camera app.
almost 9 years ago – Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 06:49:03 AM

We’re almost there!

$900,000! We’re on our way to hit the $1M stretch goal thanks to all of you amazing backers. Thanks again for your interest, participation and brilliant suggestions for stretch goals. We’re always listening.

Now shipping to more of you.

In case you missed it, we’re shipping Robin down under. AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE! We were overwhelmed by the number requests to bring Robin to Australia. Thanks to a few of you who were very knowledgeable about local networks. Because of your help we were quickly able to add Australia to our list of supported countries and get you all aboard. 

To the many Verizon and Sprint customers who’ve asked for Robin to support your networks, we hear you! We’re investigating an alternate version of Robin with support for those two networks (and a few other spots around the globe we can’t support with the current configuration). We’ll know more in the next week or so.

A quick look at the camera app…

We know you’re aching to find out more about the camera, so here’s a glimpse at the viewfinder and gallery.

When the camera launches, the menu is collapsed into a very minimal pill at the bottom of the screen, maximizing focus on the viewfinder and shutter key. You can expand it to reveal the options for the mode you’re in. You can switch modes from the grid key whether the menu is expanded or collapsed.

The gallery was also developed specifically for Robin, to work seamlessly with our smart storage solution. Once Robin offloads photos, the gallery will display a screen resolution version of online photos until you choose one and want to share it or zoom in. At that time, the gallery will download the full resolution version from the cloud for you. This feature only works in our gallery, not in all gallery apps.

Thanks for all your support. See you on the other side of $1 Million!

Holy moley we did it (Time for our first stretch goal) !!
almost 9 years ago – Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 06:48:58 AM

Can you believe we did it?

We were nervous setting such a big goal, but you all helped us meet it in less than a day… in less than half a day! We weren’t expecting this kind of response. Really, we weren’t. Your overwhelming support shows we’re on to something. That you believe there’s a better way to do things. That you’re ready for Next Now.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Now, are you ready for the first stretch goal?

When we hit $1 million everyone gets a quick charger with their order. We’ve already had a ton of great feedback and questions about charging. As our community grows with more backers, together we can make sure everyone gets the best, fastest recharge Robin can offer. It's another big goal, but hell we hit the first one in 10 hours. With your help, this won't take long, right? Keep spreading the word and we'll keep working to make you all happy.

Thank you again. We know next now would have been next never without you. 

A party, a model and some exciting previews
almost 9 years ago – Thu, Sep 17, 2015 at 05:03:31 AM

Party pictures are live!

We had a blast at Robin’s Kickstarter Launch Party last week. A big thank you to all of you who were able to attend in-person, or via Periscope live stream. It was fun to share Robin with our friends as well as total strangers who believe in the project. Check out the album we posted to Facebook.

Couldn’t make it to the launch party? We’re working on bringing more experiences like this to more cities soon.

3D print your Robin

Many of you have asked us how Robin looks and feels. Through the power of the internet, we’re offering you the chance to find out for yourself. We’re releasing a 3D print file of Robin so you can make your own model. This STL file should be compatible with most of your printers, as long as they’re big enough. For those without a printer of your own, you can use Shapeways, Amazon or just bring this to your local UPS store. Download Robin in 3D.

Quick Peek: SIM tray and slim cases

Step into our studios, we’d like to show you a few things we’re working on. Everyone has been so curious about the special SIM tray. We’re working with our paint lab on a metallic fade finish for outside edge of the SIM tray. We think it’s just a special little bit of shine that will set your Robin apart from the rest. We haven’t settled on the perfect color scheme yet, but these are a few we’re toying with.

And we’re working on the cases too! (See?) We’ve gotten in samples of shapes and designs for both the thin and medium cases so that we can start to get an idea of what fits, what works, and let’s face it—what looks good. Check out the spread:

And in this video our friend Josh shows off a couple so you can really get an idea for what they are and how they fit.

Thanks for coming along on this adventure; we'll be back with another update in a few days!