Here comes the May update guys!
FACTORY START!
As production edges closer and closer, here are the latest photos from the factory!
Below, engineers from Compal are explaining the components and structures to our assembly line workers in the Kunshan factory.
What you are seeing is the actual line our watch will be assembled on.
These are the fixture carriers that carry our boards through a totally automatic SMT (surface mount technology) line.
These ‘carriers’ are basically trays that carry our SMT boards through the SMT line. This comprises a long line of machines in a production line, with the PCB board going through each of these machines or ‘stations’. These machines add small electronic components on to our PCB board, check every single step, and then heat and fix them in place.
Expect more insight into the production process and all the hard work the team are putting in to build the best smartwatch ever in the coming months .
Logo Competition
We are in the midst of a branding overhaul and need your help! The BLOCKS community is a key part of who we are and what we represent as a brand. So it seemed rather obvious to ask for your input in creating our new logo. If you have an idea of how the BLOCKS logo should look like this is your moment! Submit to us in any visual format you wish. Whether it is a digitally produced image or a hand drawn sketch. Justifying your submission would also go a long way towards being taken into consideration.
The best ideas will be promoted to the community for additional feedback and voted on internally by our staff.
This competition isn’t just about coming up with a bunch of logos. It’s a key opportunity for us to discuss with you what you think BLOCKS should be and how we can communicate that to the outside world in a split second via a simple symbol (the logo). So to inspire you guys we have crafted a succinct mission statement of where we intend to take the company in the future.
Our 3 BLOCKS values
"BLOCKS mission is to empower people to do incredible things. Since 2013, we have been building the world’s first modular smartwatch to give people the tools to be the best version of themselves. We challenge dreamers to be ambitious through the technology they use and wear. Our open, modular platform is built for individuals to control their own future and explore more opportunities beyond oneself. We have started this trend with modules but we believe this will expand into other technologies and devices growing into an ecosystem of unlimited human potential. This started off as a modular smartwatch but will end up being something so much more."
These are some of the ideas we are playing around with but we thought we would test the waters with you guys first and also to spark some interesting conversations around these concepts.
We will launch the Logo competition early next week and announce it through our social channels. You will be able to vote on other ideas, provide feedback and engage with each other through the platform we plan to use. So stay tuned for new announcements.
Watch competition
Oh, and you thought that’ll we’d stop at logos? There’s definitely more! What we have discovered from our surveys, polls and feedback from backers is people care a lot about their watchfaces. For good reason, as it’s the thing you will be looking at the most. And because you guys will be the first to get your BLOCKS smartwatch, shouldn’t we get you involved in creating the first watchfaces to be launched with the watch? Of course we should!
In the above image, you can see some of the watchface concepts we made that are in development (these haven’t been finalised). This is your chance to put your mark on the watchfaces that could become part of the default selection for launch. The winners will be credited by name on the app making you BLOCKS-famous amongst the community!
You can submit your concepts via hand-drawn sketches or from image or graphic editing software. Once again, bear in mind that the more effort you put in, the better received it will be. This will be launched after the logo competition in a similar format.
Recruitment
The BLOCKS team started off in the UK and has since expanded all over the world. To accommodate the ever-growing requirements of building a modular smartwatch we want to grow bigger. We are on the lookout for those passionate about changing the industry through modular smart devices. Location is not a barrier if your mindset and skills are aligned with BLOCKS mission and company values. Full time, part time or even in an advisory capacity - we are happy to consider anyone who could add real value to BLOCKS. We are looking for experts in the following areas:
Web Design & Development
Honestly, we were focussed so much on getting the perfect smartwatch into your hands in the last 5 months, that we “kind of” forgot about the importance of having a solid and up-to-date website. We would like to relaunch our website in a big way. If you have built and supported websites before - do drop us an email! In addition to a completely new design, we are looking to introduce a lot of new functionality to BLOCKS website, such as a rebuilt community forum, issue tracking and ticketing system for customer orders and, of course, the BLOCKS Store!
Retail Sales
BLOCKS has a large amount of interest from leading distributors and retailers from around the world. We are looking for experienced retail sales professionals to help us guide Blocks retail setup for our product launch this autumn. If you have done this before for a technology product, please get in touch.
E-Commerce and Online Marketing
We would love to hear from you if you have experience in e-commerce and online marketing. As BLOCKS is nearing production, we aim to increase our activity on the web to grow our company’s reach. This requires ingenuity and optimization for simpler things, like our web design, to complex affiliate campaigns with third party involvements.
Senior Android Development
We are looking for experts with 3+ years experience in Android development to help with development & integration with a variety of future Blocks services, such as voice recognition, IFTT framework, and advanced sensor integration.
Financial Planning & Management
There is a LOT of complexity to building a hardware product from scratch, especially for a modular product, which requires challenging number crunching in terms of logistics and delivery. We are looking for an expert to help us plan ahead, Simple as. If you have had experience in working on budgeting & strategic financials for startups or large companies before that deliver physical products - we would love to hear from you.
If you have experience with any of the above and are interested in contributing to Blocks - please contact us at [email protected] We look forward to hearing from you!
BLOCKS in Hong Kong
Just a short flight away from our favourite Asian city, Taipei (must be something to do with our manufacturing partner!), BLOCKS was invited to an awesome trade show. At Global Sources Electronics Trade our team met with a large number of potential distributors and retailers. All this thanks to Startup Launchpad! Here is a picture of Fred, one of our directors, giving a super pitch.
COMPUTEX d&i Awards 2016
BLOCKS recently was a winner in the Wearable Technology and Smart Applications/ Products category of the COMPUTEX Taipei 2016 which will be showcasing from May 31st to June 4th. Our modular smartwatch design demonstrated strengths in “quality materials”, “value”, and “creative design”. World’s top industry designers from Taiwan, Germany, Australia, Japan, and China started their marathon-style selection process with products from 107 tech companies to form the judge panel. The panelist selected 12 out of 253 excellent products to compete for the top 5 in d&i awards.
The winning products not only will be showcased in 2016 COMPUTEX but also other ICT shows affiliated with COMPUTEX around the world.
The full press release can be found within the link below:
http://www.computextaipei.com.tw/en_US/n...7E543617F8
That's all for now. Until next time!
Working hard on building your future smartwatch,
The BLOCKS Team
FACTORY START!
As production edges closer and closer, here are the latest photos from the factory!
Below, engineers from Compal are explaining the components and structures to our assembly line workers in the Kunshan factory.
What you are seeing is the actual line our watch will be assembled on.
These are the fixture carriers that carry our boards through a totally automatic SMT (surface mount technology) line.
These ‘carriers’ are basically trays that carry our SMT boards through the SMT line. This comprises a long line of machines in a production line, with the PCB board going through each of these machines or ‘stations’. These machines add small electronic components on to our PCB board, check every single step, and then heat and fix them in place.
Expect more insight into the production process and all the hard work the team are putting in to build the best smartwatch ever in the coming months .
Logo Competition
We are in the midst of a branding overhaul and need your help! The BLOCKS community is a key part of who we are and what we represent as a brand. So it seemed rather obvious to ask for your input in creating our new logo. If you have an idea of how the BLOCKS logo should look like this is your moment! Submit to us in any visual format you wish. Whether it is a digitally produced image or a hand drawn sketch. Justifying your submission would also go a long way towards being taken into consideration.
The best ideas will be promoted to the community for additional feedback and voted on internally by our staff.
This competition isn’t just about coming up with a bunch of logos. It’s a key opportunity for us to discuss with you what you think BLOCKS should be and how we can communicate that to the outside world in a split second via a simple symbol (the logo). So to inspire you guys we have crafted a succinct mission statement of where we intend to take the company in the future.
Our 3 BLOCKS values
- Built for the future
- Open and honest
- Approachable
"BLOCKS mission is to empower people to do incredible things. Since 2013, we have been building the world’s first modular smartwatch to give people the tools to be the best version of themselves. We challenge dreamers to be ambitious through the technology they use and wear. Our open, modular platform is built for individuals to control their own future and explore more opportunities beyond oneself. We have started this trend with modules but we believe this will expand into other technologies and devices growing into an ecosystem of unlimited human potential. This started off as a modular smartwatch but will end up being something so much more."
These are some of the ideas we are playing around with but we thought we would test the waters with you guys first and also to spark some interesting conversations around these concepts.
We will launch the Logo competition early next week and announce it through our social channels. You will be able to vote on other ideas, provide feedback and engage with each other through the platform we plan to use. So stay tuned for new announcements.
Watch competition
Oh, and you thought that’ll we’d stop at logos? There’s definitely more! What we have discovered from our surveys, polls and feedback from backers is people care a lot about their watchfaces. For good reason, as it’s the thing you will be looking at the most. And because you guys will be the first to get your BLOCKS smartwatch, shouldn’t we get you involved in creating the first watchfaces to be launched with the watch? Of course we should!
In the above image, you can see some of the watchface concepts we made that are in development (these haven’t been finalised). This is your chance to put your mark on the watchfaces that could become part of the default selection for launch. The winners will be credited by name on the app making you BLOCKS-famous amongst the community!
You can submit your concepts via hand-drawn sketches or from image or graphic editing software. Once again, bear in mind that the more effort you put in, the better received it will be. This will be launched after the logo competition in a similar format.
Recruitment
The BLOCKS team started off in the UK and has since expanded all over the world. To accommodate the ever-growing requirements of building a modular smartwatch we want to grow bigger. We are on the lookout for those passionate about changing the industry through modular smart devices. Location is not a barrier if your mindset and skills are aligned with BLOCKS mission and company values. Full time, part time or even in an advisory capacity - we are happy to consider anyone who could add real value to BLOCKS. We are looking for experts in the following areas:
Web Design & Development
Honestly, we were focussed so much on getting the perfect smartwatch into your hands in the last 5 months, that we “kind of” forgot about the importance of having a solid and up-to-date website. We would like to relaunch our website in a big way. If you have built and supported websites before - do drop us an email! In addition to a completely new design, we are looking to introduce a lot of new functionality to BLOCKS website, such as a rebuilt community forum, issue tracking and ticketing system for customer orders and, of course, the BLOCKS Store!
Retail Sales
BLOCKS has a large amount of interest from leading distributors and retailers from around the world. We are looking for experienced retail sales professionals to help us guide Blocks retail setup for our product launch this autumn. If you have done this before for a technology product, please get in touch.
E-Commerce and Online Marketing
We would love to hear from you if you have experience in e-commerce and online marketing. As BLOCKS is nearing production, we aim to increase our activity on the web to grow our company’s reach. This requires ingenuity and optimization for simpler things, like our web design, to complex affiliate campaigns with third party involvements.
Senior Android Development
We are looking for experts with 3+ years experience in Android development to help with development & integration with a variety of future Blocks services, such as voice recognition, IFTT framework, and advanced sensor integration.
Financial Planning & Management
There is a LOT of complexity to building a hardware product from scratch, especially for a modular product, which requires challenging number crunching in terms of logistics and delivery. We are looking for an expert to help us plan ahead, Simple as. If you have had experience in working on budgeting & strategic financials for startups or large companies before that deliver physical products - we would love to hear from you.
If you have experience with any of the above and are interested in contributing to Blocks - please contact us at [email protected] We look forward to hearing from you!
BLOCKS in Hong Kong
Just a short flight away from our favourite Asian city, Taipei (must be something to do with our manufacturing partner!), BLOCKS was invited to an awesome trade show. At Global Sources Electronics Trade our team met with a large number of potential distributors and retailers. All this thanks to Startup Launchpad! Here is a picture of Fred, one of our directors, giving a super pitch.
COMPUTEX d&i Awards 2016
BLOCKS recently was a winner in the Wearable Technology and Smart Applications/ Products category of the COMPUTEX Taipei 2016 which will be showcasing from May 31st to June 4th. Our modular smartwatch design demonstrated strengths in “quality materials”, “value”, and “creative design”. World’s top industry designers from Taiwan, Germany, Australia, Japan, and China started their marathon-style selection process with products from 107 tech companies to form the judge panel. The panelist selected 12 out of 253 excellent products to compete for the top 5 in d&i awards.
The winning products not only will be showcased in 2016 COMPUTEX but also other ICT shows affiliated with COMPUTEX around the world.
The full press release can be found within the link below:
http://www.computextaipei.com.tw/en_US/n...7E543617F8
That's all for now. Until next time!
Working hard on building your future smartwatch,
The BLOCKS Team
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand / And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, [...]" (W. Blake, "Auguries of Innocence", 1-2)
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