Dear backers,
Yes it’s time for a new update! We know that many of you are eager to hear about our developments and what happened at Kien HQ since our last update. So let’s get to it!
Hardware
As we discussed in our previous update, the fact that we removed the wireless charging also means that we freed up a lot of space on our main board. For that reason we were able to combine the PCBS that we call the PCB1 and PCB2 into one main PCB.
Some small changes were also made to the PCBs based on the input we got during the the pre-certification tests that were conducted at Quant.
Added high frequency capacitors to the power transformers to reduce EMI. We improved the routing of the power elements. We improved how we give power to the Wi-Fi module. We also added a hardware switch in the Satellite which turns off a specific streaming module when it’s not in use. This will improve the battery life by at least an hour.
Planning
Due to some extra work needed on the redesign of our main board and the summer holidays which limit the velocity of our partners, we are still waiting for the new samples of the redesigned boards from Quant. Those will arrive on August 20. With these boards we will finally be able to start the certifications and shoot the 2.1 demo that we promised you in our previous update.
The certification should last about 6 weeks. There are 3 different certifications that we will obtain. The CE mark in order to sell products in Europe. The FCC mark in order to sell products in the USA. And the Electrical Safety mark which every consumer electronic device has to obtain.
In week 45 (Monday, October 15 to Sunday, October 21, 2018) Jorn and Florent will be going to China for our Pilot Build. The Pilot Build consists of manufacturing 50 Subwoofer and 50 Satellites in order to test our production line and make sure that there are no quality issues. Jorn and Florent will be there to supervise the process and make sure that no potential issue goes unnoticed.
From these 50 Subwoofers and 50 Satellites, we will be sending products to the backers that chose for the Beta Tester package during our Indiegogo campaign.
If no issues are detected, we will ramp-up and start the production of a first batch of 750 Subwoofers and 2000 Satellites.
Charging
We got many questions from you backers about how the speakers will be charged now that we have removed the wireless charging. The answer is simple: we have added a DC connector to the back of the Satellites, similar to the one in the Subwoofer. Every Satellite will be provided with its own power supply.
App
Our app is coming to life! The first build of our app already allowed for setting up the subwoofer and updating firmware of all speakers. Now we’re working on the more interesting features such as changing the sound signature of your speakers to your favorite music genre and the placement of your speaker. Moreover, the Follow Me feature is getting the proper attention!
AirPlay 2
We are in discussion with Apple in order to implement AirPlay 2 in our Subwoofer. After an initial check of our Wi-Fi chipset it seems that it should be compatible with AirPlay 2. More on that later!
And more
At kien we like to work with promising graduates who are eager to learn in a startup environment. Yoann is just that guy! He’s a French embedded software student who is currently doing an internship at our office in Rotterdam. As part of his Master Thesis, he is working on implementing new technologies in our products such as voice control, artificial intelligence, and improved wireless streaming. He joined our team at the end of March and he’ll be graduating at the end of August.
He has made his own development board which includes 2 microphones, an amplifier, and a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/BLE module. With this board you can currently have a conversation with Amazon Alexa, and he is looking at implementing other AI platforms such as Google Assistant.
That’s it for today, the next few weeks will be eventful so we’ll be back with a new update soon.
