Dear Blockers,
We are now in one of the most critical periods in BLOCKS history, and there is a lot of exciting news to share with you this month. Since the campaign, we have been working incredibly hard with our manufacturing partner, Compal Electronics to validate all aspects of our smartwatch for production, from the hardware and software to the industrial and mechanical design.
From day one we were set to be fully transparent with everyone in our community and want to keep all of you involved with our development of the world's best smartwatch. So in this update we will be sharing all the details of our progress to this day.
Your smartwatch looks, feels, and works better
One of our latest achievements in the past couple of months was finalising the industrial and mechanical design of the smartwatch. Working with some of the best engineers in the world, we managed to pull off a world first. Our aim was to make our modular concept as approachable and intuitive as possible.
A few things have changed, but definitely for the better. This is the smartwatch that you will be wearing when it arrives at your door, with possibly just a few more refinements as we enter the later stages of the validation process. Such a novel concept meant that everything had to be built from the ground up when we first started, and optimised relentlessly over months and months to be as space efficient as possible. Ergonomics were one our main priorities in refining the final design, from the core to the modules. By minimising the dimensions of our modules, we were able to achieve a comfortable fit for all wrist sizes. And how did we achieve that? Through a few surprises that you are going to see below.
The core
We decided to upgrade the core to stainless steel for everyone, instead of the polycarbonate plastic that was originally offered on Kickstarter. All FREE of charge. With stainless steel, you can expect not just a beautifully designed centerpiece, but also unbeatable sturdiness that will enable it to endure daily regular and heavy usage. On a technical level, it also means that we were able shrink the dimensions of the device even further.
We are still currently experimenting with the final colour appearance of the top casing of the stainless steel core, but we are looking to offer a satin finish, in addition to a gunmetal and a black metallic finish applied using PVD coating technology. We can however confirm that the bottom casing of the core will have a black metallic finish, to achieve a continuity between the core and the modules. Watch this space for some new updates on this very soon.
The connector
But one of the biggest improvements is the way you will be able to connect your modules together. A single action, with a satisfying click, is all you need to do to assemble your watch, engaging both the electrical connection, our flexible connector, and the mechanical connection, which is now composed of a pair of structural arms extending from the modules that are held together by spring loaded pins on an adjacent module. To release the modules, precision manufactured buttons on each module are pressed allowing the modules to be pulled apart. An elegant solution, that offers amazing rigidity, is simple to use, and that is also space efficient, leaving even more space for electronics.
And of course you can still expect the exact same level of protection from water and dust. With the O-ring structure built into the connector, your modules will be completely sealed, even when closed around your wrist. We will keep you updated on our tests and when we have finally reached the IP68 benchmark that we are striving for.
The finish
Your modules are just a sight to behold. The material and finish that we have been finalising are no slouch either, with a matte finish that, alongside the metallic core, give the watch a stylish look. The bottom of the module will be in black as initially promised, and the top casing or shells in black, white and red.
Although we initially planned to offer NCVM coating to mimic metallic-like finish, we realized after rounds of testing that, despite its use in smartphones, NCVM coating is not resistant enough to pass our criteria for quality in smartwatches. For those who paid extra for NCVM finish both for the core and the modules, we are currently investigating more premium materials for the modules to offer you instead and will update you on this in due course.
Your shells will also now be permanently installed to the bottom casings of your modules, so you won’t have to worry about ever damaging the waterproof seal between them. This is not to say that you won’t still have a wealth of different customisable options available for your modules, and we will eventually offer a diverse range of colours, materials and finishes, from our design team and from our design partners.
Your charger
We can also finally reveal the charging dock for your device; currently entering another prototyping phase, we should have a sample ready in the next month. With a handy detachable micro-USB to USB cable packaged in the box, you simply have to snap your core module into place, with or without the other modules connected, and it’s ready for a charge. To charge your extra battery modules, they will have to be connected to the core, but the option to charge them separately will be made available through a future accessory.
Extra Battery Module
The extra battery module will be able to provide a hefty 100 mAh of capacity to extend the battery life of your watch, nearly half the capacity of the Apple Watch on its own. If you own several of these popular modules you will be able to swap them as required to make sure that you never run out of power. The extra battery module is the only module that has been sized differently to the rest of our modules to ensure that it provided the highest possible capacity. This means that you will only be able to fit one to your watch at any one time, on the bottom of side of your wrist. Tests are currently being undertaken to verify whether the heart rate module will work as effectively as we want, away from the centre of the wrist if this longer extra battery module has been connected, and we will update you on this as soon as possible.
One of the great things about our modular concept is that we will be ready to implement state of the art battery technology as soon as it becomes available. We have already started to reach out to some of the most innovative companies out there so we can continue to shrink down the size of this module further, as we know it is one of your most desired ones.
Securing the watch to your wrist
And finally the adjustable clasp; this is the one aspect of the product that is undergoing a few more tests with our manufacturer. We managed to find a solution that would account for different wrist sizes, and the fact that users may wear different numbers or types of modules. In addition to the strap only solution for our backers who purchased a core alone, we will be revealing samples of these designs in the very near future too (currently planned for the next update).
A futureproof processor
Your watch is not just pushing what’s capable in design, but also in terms of hardware.
Through our collaboration with both Qualcomm and Compal, we were able to secure the latest processor technology for the core module. The brand new chipset that BLOCKS will be using has been optimised for wearables, and is 25% more efficient than before! More efficiency meant that we are able to avoid a hefty core module by reducing the core battery size by 25% to 300 mAh, while still ensuring that your watch will last all day as promised. Moreover, the new chipset allowed us to move to the latest Android OS, which has its own battery usage improvements (see below for more details). As a result, we felt like BLOCKS core module has become much more futureproof than ever before.
The schedule
So on the industrial design front, we couldn’t be any happier. We think BLOCKS smartwatch looks more beautiful than ever and is indeed much more comfortable and easy to use. We also managed to secure a significant upgrade for the core processor, which will be the newest of its kind when it is released this year with our watch. Finally, we have also worked hard on adding the latest AMOLED screen technology to the watch, as we promised for our stretch goal, instead of TFT screen.
Due to all these significant advances in the design that came about from our validation tests, and as a result of the hardware upgrades, the schedule for the whole project has been stretched by a few months to accommodate for extra tests that had to be done by our manufacturing partner to ensure good quality build. As a result, it has now been confirmed by Compal that we will be able to ship to all backers by September. That said, we will do everything in our power to bring this date earlier as there is a chance things may go faster.
Currently, our manufacturing partner is putting extra time to ensure we can deliver this very novel technology in uncompromised quality to you. For example, if our DVT (design validation testing) goes well, we may remove the second iteration as is currently scheduled for safety reasons. Even more importantly, we will not pull any punches and not waste any time, to make sure that this date is not delayed any further and are dedicated to bring the best smartwatch on the planet to your wrist. And you can expect a huge level of transparency from us, with full details of what’s to come in our schedules. We cannot build Blocks by ourselves, it is a product that you made possible, for all of us, so you are as much a part of this journey as we are.
And a little bit about our software
The requests for more software updates have not been overlooked, especially since it is an essential part of making the modular concept actually work.
Low Level Software
We have been working closely with our manufacturer to make our modular communication software viable for production. And the good news is - it works!
Our novel communication protocol connects the Core with other modules, and allows the information to be read efficiently from each sensor.
One key innovation is that we have a dedicated microcontroller managing the modular aspect of our system. In this way, we can save a lot of power because the main processor can enter sleep mode whilst the modular components of the device still remain active.
In fact, we have made so many advancements in this area that we had to start patenting some of it!
We are now are waiting for our EVT (Engineering Validation Testing) devices to be ready so that we can start debugging (shown below).
User Experience and User Interface
As you will remember, our operating system is based on a modified version of Android, built by Cronologics, an ex-Google team based in Silicon Valley, California. We have combined our forces with Cronologics to bring the most customizable, easiest-to-use and, more importantly, watch-like operating system for wearables. Having studied practically all the smartwatches in the market today, we have designed something quite new that we will be showing to you very soon. Currently we have our first versions of UI flow logic laid out and are aiming to complete the entire specification by end of the month. We just don’t want to reveal it quite yet before we get the small details thought through.
In the next update we will also be confirming to you all the apps that BLOCKS smartwatch will host on release by default.
Android 6.0
We are happy to announce here that thanks to the recent move to the latest and most advanced Qualcomm processor, we were also able to shift from Android Lollipop to Android 6.0 Marshmallow for our build. That means we will have even more power efficiency for your modular smartwatch, as is the case with Marshmallow release.
Writing apps
If you are an Android developer and would like to write a simple app, you will need to consider a slightly different screen display and UX guidelines, but otherwise it will feel exactly like writing a standard Android app for connecting with sensors.
If you would like to create something a little more complicated that uses the power of modularity (a.k.a. the endless module combinations that are possible), we designed the system in a way to let you worry least about modular communication details (including power efficiency issues, modules communication order, etc) and only think about end-user application.
However, we will also be introducing a more advanced way for direct communication with modules. It would be most useful to those who develop module hardware together with applications for them.
Right now we have already started to put down our first drafts for SDK and MDK, and are talking to experts in this field to make sure we cover a lot of the crucial questions, especially on the complexities of modularity. We will write more on this in due course as we will be showing the first glimpses of our SDK and MDK to you.
Hackathons
Our main focus right now is on developing our APIs and development platform. As we get the software to beta stage we intend to organize some showdowns and tests, perhaps to be organized as hackathons. So watch out for that, we’ll keep you posted.
The Team
We have been expanding our engineering team and advisory panel to help us with development of this challenging product. There are now experts who work and advise BLOCKS using their experience working with companies like Google, Qualcomm, HTC, Nokia, Vertu, Intel and even...Hong Kong Airport Authority (operational efficiency, anyone? We will introduce our expanding team in due course.
A few more announcements
Mobile World Congress Barcelona
BLOCKS will be showcasing at the annual convention later this month to meet with our partners and make collaborations for new modules to be developed in the future (in fact we are already planning a surprise for you for next month, let us confirm the details first). If you are coming along - do drop by our stand there and we will be happy to meet.
Best British Mobile Startup
Blocks has been nominated as the candidate for the Best British Mobile Startup 2016 by KPMG. We are pitching at the final of the event in London later this month and will reveal more info to you if we win!
The survey
And finally, the long awaited survey. It is almost time for you to tell us exactly which modules you want delivered to you, as well as the colour and finishes that you would like for your watch. We will provide you with a guide on measuring your wrist size to help select the final clasp design. The surveys will be released this month, so please do fill in all the fields; it’s very important that you answer all the questions applicable to you. If you have any concerns though please do not hesitate to contact us via email or KS messages.
And I guess that is all for this month. Thank you for your time, and if you have any further questions, you know where to find us!
Working hard on building your future smartwatch,
The Blocks Team
Promised non-backers the update and here it is
This post was last modified: 02-05-2016, 01:29 PM by
Yousif.
