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Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

cobattery.com

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Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#21

Post by vpontis »

jamesred wrote: post #18

Is the battery held in by friction and the connector? If so does it ever fall out? How do you deal with the lightning port being used the headphone jack?

> Is the battery held in by friction and the connector? If so does it ever fall out?

Yea, it's just friction and the pogo pins at the bottom! It took us a long time to get that fit quite right but now it never falls out. I'll give you a refund and let you keep CoBattery if you buy it and can shake out the battery :)

> How do you deal with the lightning port being used the headphone jack?

I actually have the iPhone 7 and I've totally switched to Bluetooth earbuds. And you can actually pull out the connector if you do want to plug in, but it's definitely a better experience to just move to Bluetooth.

We are working on a version of CoBattery that will have an old-style audio jack. But it's tough to source the audio-lightning components!

Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#22

Post by vpontis »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #19
vpontis wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha, well I'll take the first part as a compliment! We are actually proud that our case is slimmer than most other battery cases on the market. We didn't want our case to be bulky so we designed our own custom lightning connector that snugly fits the phone: https://cobattery.com/connector What don't you like about the case's look?

Everything. The case looks like a giraffe's tongue, and giraffes suck. Just kidding. The case looks fine. I'd briefly wonder whether dropping it on the metal connector at the bottom would damage it, and I'd prefer the battery color match the case, but those are just nitpicks.

What!? Giraffes are awesome...

We have found the metal connector to be pretty resistant. But we have one year full warranty, so if anything breaks for any reason we will send you a replacement immediately. :)

Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#23

Post by rebootthesystem »

You need to put this through UL, FCC, CE and TUV testing before selling it. Depending on where you intend to sell it you might need to pay for acceptance of the above certificates. For example, Brazil has it's own certifications but they will accept CE for a fee, etc.

Have you gone through compliance testing?

Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#24

Post by marcosdumay »

vpontis wrote: post #20
ShirsenduK wrote: post #15

The Da Vinci is _not_ a Makerbot knockoff. Its a printer based on open source designs of Reprap. Makerbot should never get credit for it after they chose to leave the community. Markerbot is actually a Reprap ripoff! That said, I will be waiting for the next set of articles. This is good! :)

Ha you are clearly more knowledgeable about 3D printers than I am :). Reprap for anyone reading this is totally awesome. I didn't include it in my post but Reprap is an open source 3D-printer that can make itself... It's basically the hardware version of the singularity: http://reprap.org/

Well, it can kinda "make itself".

Electronics and strong materials (steel mostly) are not included, and it takes quite a bit of assembly.

But yes, it awesome.

Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#25

Post by juliendorra »

vpontis wrote: post #20
ShirsenduK wrote: post #15

The Da Vinci is _not_ a Makerbot knockoff. Its a printer based on open source designs of Reprap. Makerbot should never get credit for it after they chose to leave the community. Markerbot is actually a Reprap ripoff! That said, I will be waiting for the next set of articles. This is good! :)

Ha you are clearly more knowledgeable about 3D printers than I am :). Reprap for anyone reading this is totally awesome. I didn't include it in my post but Reprap is an open source 3D-printer that can make itself... It's basically the hardware version of the singularity: http://reprap.org/

The most interesting thing about reprap is that it is a long lasting community who does (real) open innovation. There open innovation is not a buzzword. The reprap community didn't invent 3D printing, but they lowered the price and access and are the single (ahem, multiple) cause of the present flood of low cost, reliable 3D printers. They experimented, took many false paths, and continue to push in new direction. They also are the origin of many growing companies : Aleph, Prusa, even the French Dagoma…

Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#26

Post by superioritycplx »

nik736 wrote: post #5

Well the idea is obviously OK but it looks really bad in my opinion. Who buys an iPhone and uses this gigantic, bad looking case for day-to-day usage? How many of those have you sold already?

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MGQM2LL/A/iphone-6-6s-smar...

Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#27

Post by slededit »

rebootthesystem wrote: post #23

You need to put this through UL, FCC, CE and TUV testing before selling it. Depending on where you intend to sell it you might need to pay for acceptance of the above certificates. For example, Brazil has it's own certifications but they will accept CE for a fee, etc. Have you gone through compliance testing?

You don't need to do FCC testing if you don't have an oscillator.

Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#28

Post by jwr »

As a hardware developer, I'm surprised you actually bought a 3d printer. I found that Shapeways and Materialise work really well, and the quality of their SLS prints is basically impossible to match using a desktop FDM printer. Plus, there is no fuss: upload a model, click "order" and get your print in a couple of days.

I'm really interested in the next chapters, especially about dealing with manufacturers, working on injection molding design, choosing your materials, etc.

Also, thanks for writing this! There is too little information on building hardware out there. Nothing like the software world, and each beginning hardware developer has to start on his/her own.

Re: Starting a Hardware Company with $60K

#30

Post by vpontis »

jwr wrote: post #28

As a hardware developer, I'm surprised you actually bought a 3d printer. I found that Shapeways and Materialise work really well, and the quality of their SLS prints is basically impossible to match using a desktop FDM printer. Plus, there is no fuss: upload a model, click "order" and get your print in a couple of days. I'm really interested in the next chapters, especially about dealing with manufacturers, working o…

Hey jwr!

We found that buying a 3D printer was essential. They only cost a few hundred dollars and instead of getting a piece for $50 in a couple days, we can print something for a couple dollars in a few hours.

For testing the final design, we still use 3D print services to get really nice prints. But for the initial iteration it's nice to do it as quickly and as cheaply as possible.

Sidenote: We also rigged up a system so that we can run the 3D printer over night and print multiple parts. We will probably write a post on that.

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