Bug Blogger

En Route to Maker Faire

While packing my bags (gadgets, chargers, extra batteries, cables) I realized why Maker Faire is so important for the DIYer: meeting like minded people. Maker faire allows us to share ideas, obtain advice, see new things; it exercises our innate passion for creating things - cavemen were Makers!

I recall the experience of building my first robot. There I was with a RIM 850, an 8051 micro-controller and a toy tank. I had learned to program blackberries during a summer internship, 8051 assembly during a course, and had some knowledge of basic electronics. I new I could control actuators via an H-bridge with the GPIO pins of the 8051 but didn't know how to interface the RIM 850 with the micro-controller. At that point I perused the Blackberry Hardware Developer's manual and realized that the gold plated connector at the bottom contained the signals for serial communications. Unfortunately, my 8051 provided TTL levels instead of RS232. This was a road block.

Fortunately, as I was drinking some water near an electronics lab, I overhead a classmate discussing the same issue with a professor. When my classmate walked out of the lab into the hall way, I stopped him and told him I was interested in converting RS232 levels to TTL. He relayed what the professor had told him and introduced me to Maxim's RS232 transceivers.

A simple question turned into full-blown discussion where we exchanged our ideas, solutions, and feed back. I can't imagine what will happen while I'm at Maker Faire, but I encourage everyone to ask us questions about BUG and other related topics; as I know I will be asking other Makers many similar questions.

On the Road to Maker Faire, Day 1

Now in its third year, Bay Area Maker Faire 2008 takes place next weekend, Saturday May 3 and Sunday May 4, and Bug Labs is raring to go as we gear up for the event. For those who are new to Maker Faire, it is best described as a weekend of unbridled creation and exploration of all things hackable - whether mechanical, electrical, or other. From making music with tesla coils to aptly titled danger machines, next weekend will be about celebrating the unabashed spirit of DIY and, for lack of a better word, "making" things.

For our first go at Maker Faire, we're inviting the community of hackers, hobbyists, tinkerers, designers, and free thinkers at large to come by our station at the San Mateo Fairgrounds, and join the Bug Labs team in creating the next batch of BUG applications and modules.  The Bug Labs team will be arriving in force, with our biggest showing at an event to date. We'll have two tables and several BUGs to play with,  and we encourage you to bring your soldering irons, your laptops, and your breadboards, and come along with us as we venture into making new gadgets and apps.

And over the next week, we'll be publishing a series of posts on this blog chronicling the "Road to Maker Faire," featuring pieces from Bug Labs employees and guest columnists. We'll also be giving away several passes to the event for those interested in attending. Stay tuned for more details!

Spring Break's Over, Time for BUG+EDU!

I was really searching for a good title for this post.  It ranged from "inauguration" to "freshmen orientation" but none fit that well.  Then I remembered that it was the end of Spring Break and voila!  But now for the important news - we've released all the details of BUG+EDU on the website.  Please take a look and give us your thoughts.  We'd love to hear your comments on ways you think the program can expand and grow in the future.

First time hearing about BUG+EDU?  No problem, I'll take a moment to explain...

In our opinion, children of all ages represent more creative, original thinking that can possibly be harnessed.  When I was young I envisioned a future with all moving sidewalks, and remember sketching out how they'd work (intersections are tricky!) and thinking it through to the nth detail.  Now, that's not completely true, since the one topic that never really crossed my mind were the economics of the situation. 
Which is an unfortunate reality of technology innovation - it tends to be a bit pricey relative to allowances and after-school jobs.

The amazing thing for "kids these days" is the power of computers and the Internet.  They both provide vast opportunities to create new software, applications and web sites.  But all those opportunities are isolated to the digital realm.  Hardware invention/innovation remains frustratingly out of reach for all but the most intrepid youth.  We aim to change that.

BUG+EDU (again, details are all here) is a series of programs to not only get discounted BUGs to interested students, but also provide free units to educational institutions, help participate in creating new class curricula, and sponsor on-campus events and demonstrations of the platform in action.  We've tried to offer a wide enough range of programs to help virtually any type of school, teacher, or student, but if there's something that somehow has slipped through the cracks, please let us know!  In the meantime, good luck on finals!

Reminder: BUG+SV and BUG+Hack

(UPDATE: Due to several requests, BUG+Hack has been extended to Thursday at noon. Remember to visit the BUG+Hack wiki page)

Just a quick reminder: BUG+SV is happening tonight. With EclipseCon in full swing, it looks like we're going to have a good turnout of developers joining us for drinks as we extend BUG+Hack into the evening. Again, the event is open to all, and we'll be giving away BUGbundles to the two developers who create the coolest BUG applications. Visit the BUG+Hack wiki page for rules and instructions.

WHAT: Meet the Bug Labs developers, grab a drink, hack together a new BUG app before the night ends.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 18, 6-9pm

WHERE: Bistro 412, located at 412 Emerson, Palo Alto (Google map)

WHY: Play with the BUG firsthand, make up for a missed St. Patrick's Day

WHO: Ken, Angel, Alex, Mehrshad, and you!

HOW: Car/pool, Caltrain (Palo Alto exit), BUG+teleporter (still in beta)

Looking forward to seeing you tonight!

BUG+SV next Tuesday, March 18

Ken, Angel and Alex from the Bug Labs NY team will be out in the SF Bay Area next week to speak at EclipseCon 2008. And we figure it's been a while since we did a BUG+ get-together (not to mention that we need to celebrate shipping the BUG). So on Tuesday March 18, we'll be hosting BUG+Silicon Valley, or BUG+SV, between 6-9pm in Palo Alto at Bistro 412, and we're inviting developers, enthusiasts, and the community-at-large to meet and grab drinks with the Bug Labs team. Let us know via upcoming if you can make it.

However, there's a twist to this BUG+ event. At previous gatherings, we've been demoing the BUG and Dragonfly, and showing how to build custom apps on the fly. This time, we want YOU to make a BUG with us. You bring your laptop and your imagination, we'll supply the drinks and support, and let's see if we can develop a new BUG application or two by the end of the night.

And as always, the event is open to all, developers and non-techies alike. Hope to see you there!

March 2008 Preview: Exciting Times for Bug Labs

March is looking to be an exceptionally busy month for Bug Labs, as we set off for a series of conferences and events in the lead up to the BUG launch.

To start, we'll be at the O'Reilly ETech Conference in San Diego next week, where Peter will be delivering a keynote on the morning of Wednesday, March 5, on "Personalizing the Device". The following week, we'll be at SXSW in Austin, where Peter will be delivering another presentation on Monday, March 10, this time on "Hardware Mashups: Introducing the Long Tail of Gadgets". (UPDATE: On the evening of Wednesday, March 12, Jeremy will be speaking at eComm 2008, taking place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.)

Bug Labs software gurus, Ken and Angel, will be at EclipseCon in Santa Clara on Wednesday March 19, discussing the development of the BUG platform in "BUG: A Customizable Hardware and Software Platform using Linux, Java, and OSGi". And to close off March in style, Ken will be at the Internet of Things 2008 in Zurich on Thursday, March 27, participating in the session on "The Software Fabric for the Internet of Things".

And finally, March 17 is the day we've all been waiting for - Lá Fhéile Pádraig, commonly known as Saint Patrick's Day. On this day, we celebrate in the streets in commemoration of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. (We should also mention that is the day BUG finally ships. If you haven't ordered yours yet, you can do so now in the online store).

You can follow our updates online via Twitter, Jaiku, and Facebook, and we'll be posting reminders and updates here on BUG blogger.

Announcing the Bug Labs Store Grand Opening!

If this were 1997, this post would be chock full of blinking content as we announced our store's opening with pride.  Instead, we'll be only slightly more subtle as we open the padlocks, and welcome you in to browse around.  I want to take a moment to (and boy is this going to sound odd) potentially discourage certain shoppers:

For those of you who have ZERO programming experience, this isn't a great time to buy a BUG.  It'd be like having a Web browser on your computer in 1988 (which would've been quite a feat, by the way): the platform works, but it doesn't have much going on.  Right now, and for the next few months, our focus is building a developer community.  This is part of why we made the SDK available back in December, as we anticipate working hand-in-hand with programmers to build a huge suite of cool applications for the BUG.  So if the promise of the "Lego of Gadgets" is appealing to you, but you don't have any direct programming skills, we recommend you hold off for a few months.  Stay tuned for updates here as we'll be sure to talk about how the community is evolving the BUG!

We're also announcing the BUGbundle today, which is the BUGbase and the first four shipping modules (gps, LCD, motion detector/accelerometer, 2MP digital camera).  It's being sold for $705, but the Early Adopter Discount brings it down to $549 (22% savings!).

Also, we're in such a limited supply right now that we are limiting orders to one per customer.  If you are interested in a bulk order, please send us an email.  Also, we have not yet started the BUG+EDU promotions, which we'll unveil in March.

Lastly, just in case you missed it last week, the BUGbase going on sale now is the "Hiro P" edition, and it has a slightly different interface than you've seen on our site before.  Also, it doesn't have WiFi built-in.  For those of you who don't need WiFi for your gadget dreams, jump on in, we'll also be sending you a free vonHippel module!  Further, if you do want WiFi, but can't stand the wait, we're making a BUGmodule with 802.11b/g and it'll be available to you at our production cost.

This is an extremely exciting moment in the history of Bug Labs.  Thanks for being a part of it, and once you've placed your order, please join us in the discussion forums to get your feedback our way!

UPDATES: A few emails already came in, so I wanted to add a few points (I will do this throughout the day as new topics arise).

International shipping: we are working on a solution, but we don't have it ready yet.  We will have an early adopter program available to international customers.

Future products: we will also have an early adopter program for future products, as they come to market.

Best of CES finalist - PLEASE VOTE!

We are uber-thrilled (which is like "really really really" thrilled) to announce that CNET has selected us as a Best of CES finalist in the "emerging technologies" category!  Thank you CNET editors & judges, we are honored, especially considering the quantity of huge companies we were up against.

Now friends and fans of Bug Labs, there is a "People's Voice Award" from CNET, and we'd love to make a decent showing of it.  You can vote online here, or you can text in your vote (text PV14 to 26381).  Thanks for your support (we're up against humongous companies who spend more on CES than we spend on marketing in a year, so we need the help)!

UPDATE: I just noticed that CNBC/Donny Deutsch show is also polling for their favorite, and we'd love a little help there too!

Announcing Pricing, Availability, a New Module, and More!

It's the day before CES and all through the Labs not a creature was stirring, except for the marketing guys who are going crazy preparing for the show. 

The company has a lot to announce today, and I'll start with the topic that gets the most questions: pricing.  But, before I get there, I want to take a moment to introduce a new concept in pricing for consumer electronics devices: the Early Adopter Discount.

Just as it sounds, the BUG Early Adopter Discount is going take a shift away from tradition, and actually reward the first wave of customers with a 13% (or greater) discount on products for the first 60 days of sales.  Retail pricing for the first run of products is as follows:

• BUGbase $349 ($299 w/discount)
• LCD module $119 ($99 w/discount)
• GPS module $99 ($79 w/discount)
• Camera module $79 ($69 w/discount)
• Motion detector / Accelerometer $59 ($49 w/discount)

There will be an additional discount to customers who purchase the base plus all four modules, which we'll announce on the 21st.

In addition to the Early Adopter Discount, we are announcing a second pricing program called BUG+EDU.  BUG+EDU is actually a series of programs and promotions aimed at introducing BUG to the education market.  Different programs will be established for primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions, as well as for individual students. We believe the BUG is a great platform for aspiring engineering students as well as kids who just like to tinker.  BUG+EDU will hopefully get more units into the hands of those who will really use their imagination to drive the next generation of cool gadgets.

Also important, the Bug Labs online store will be open for business starting Monday, January 21st.  At this point we will begin taking pre-orders for the BUGbase and all four BUGmodules.  We will begin fulfilling orders on or before March 17th, and will ship based on the dates the orders were originally received.  Our initial rollout will only include domestic orders, but we aim to fulfill internationally later in the year.

Lastly, because we want to encourage users to make the most of their BUG, we are pleased to announce the Von Hippel module, a new addition to the collection of BUGmodules.  Named after MIT professor and "Democratizing Innovation" author Eric Von Hippel, the Von Hippel BUGmodule adds an interface of inputs and outputs to the BUG, allowing users to "hack" their BUG even further.  Professor Von Hippel's book was a big inspiration for the foundation of Bug Labs, so having his name associated with our products is an exciting accomplishment.  Final pricing and timing for the Von Hippel BUGmodule is not yet set, but we are targeting the first quarter as well.

We are looking forward to a great 2008!

The Promise and Perils of Optimism

Entrepreneurs, by necessity, suffer from a type of blindness that allows them to operate in a parallel universe where risk and reality are merely annoying variables, not hard and fast certainties.  Optimism reigns supreme.  No mountain is too high to climb.  And so it was when we set off on this quest to build BUG in April 2006.   And while we suffered our share of setbacks and challenges, I never lost my sense that hard work and a bit of luck would get us to the finish line - shipping product by the end of the year as we've been promising.  The good news is, I haven't lost an iota of optimism.  We are very, very close to getting BUG out the door.  But there are some realities that we can't overlook, and we'd be remiss to ignore them.

First and foremost, we want BUG to be very reliable and durable and capable of getting really USED.  So we've been testing it in lots of different scenarios - hot, cold, dropping it, twisting it, etc. Jeremy almost tried to set one on fire.  After the first batch of testing we noticed that we could make some improvements with respect to how the modules connect to the BUGbase.  Those improvements involved adjusting the design of the plastic housing to better absorb the shock involved when the unit is dropped.  We made those changes and went through another round of testing and confirmed that our changes did the trick.  The upshot of all this activity is it pushed our ship date back.  It wasn't an easy decision to make but we pulled the trigger because it was the right thing to do.

It's never easy to break a promise.  Especially one that you've made to many others whom you know are depending on you.  So it is not without a long face that I tell you we need to postpone our ship date into the first quarter of 2008.  But I would hope that you'll agree with me that we're doing it for the right reasons.  We want you to be using your BUG for years and years.  The result is a short term loss for a longer term gain.  It's a moment where reality collides with optimism.  But thankfully it's just that, a moment.

Thanks very much for all of your support and enthusiasm over the past couple of months.  While we've always hoped and dreamed for the best, I don't think any of us expected such amazing support from so many communities so quickly. It has been a ton of fun sharing it all with you and we look forward to continuing to do it.  We ask now for a tad of patience while we make BUG the best it can be.  Rest assured we'll keep you in the loop every step of the way. Thanks and stay tuned for CES where we'll get specific with a firm ship date, pricing, and some other fun news!