"Smach Z is Back!" ...?

[rygD]

Lemme know if it is worth reading, or even better, give us the highlights.

 

[vcoleiro1]

Someone posted on Neogaf some details Smach had posted detiling the companies they are now working with (In replacement of Rhomb.io)

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=245874190&postcount=391

Smach Z also posted a comment on their KS campaign page in reply to Stopdropretros last youtube video.
Pretty reasonable stuff (although didn't address why the KS page says the prototype used clickarm) .
However, the bit about having given Rhomb.io $280K is worrying, they got $480K Euro from the KS campaign and $660KUSD from Indiegogo. If $280K miinimum(I'm sure there were other expenses to others along the way) of that is now gone, I wonder if they have enough to now redesign the board etc and build the thing .


"
Hi TheInaneRambler,

Oh, no… here we go again… I think there is nothing new in the video, all this information has been already explained in the forums. However, this is the summary of the points that I have seen in the new video:

- Yes, we have payed all the invoices to ImasD (80K for the prototype + 200K for the development work done so far).

- No, we haven't all the materials from ImasD, they won’t send us any material until our development contract gets closed. Both companies are in a litigation about that.

- As Pedro explained, they weren’t using any Lynx tablet hack. They used standard components that can be used in Lynx tablet or any other devices, and that bought from a hardware provider. If the guy of the vide would know how to use Google, he would find that the same component has been used by many other brands, like Qumo, Reeder, Cube Iwork, Pipo,…

- Yes, I sent a DMCA claim to stop publishing confidential photos that were post only on the private forums. It’s my work to do that for any confidential photo published, it doesn't matter if it's of the a photo of the open prototype or any other.

- Yes, we’re working with Cirque, using Cirque components (photo of the devkit: https://tinyurl.com/cirquedevkit)

- No, we don’t have nothing to do with PGS Labs, we were working on our project and the prototype was created long time before their scam campaign was published.

- Regarding the “idea man” accusation, he is right, we’re not hardware developers ourselves. As we explained SMACH Team comes from the game development industry (Computer Engineers), I’ve worked on about 25 published titles.

- It’s true that we were at “mercy of manufactures”, you always are at mercy of someone if you don’t have all your resources in-house, and we can’t afford that for a new project. Fortunately, the new way to work with our new partners is different than with ImasD, now they’re integrated with our team and we’re more in control than before.

I’d rather prefer forgetting about that guy theories and focus on working on the project but if you have any other specific questions about that don’t hesitate to ask us in the forum: https://forum.smachz.com"

 

[Faust]

Qumo, Reeder, Cube Iwork, Pipo,…" funny fact, all those brand are Chinese companies that use almost the same motherboard with the same ports displayed the same way. They are basically confirming by negating.

Envoyé de mon 6039Y en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[vcoleiro1]

Can anyone read the latest Smach Z Kickstarter update posted today?

 

[elwing]

The fact that updates are for backers only clearly shows that this product is dubious...

 

[MJPIA]

We’re making an update with the summary of the month progression. All this info have been already published in the forums, this is just a summary of the most important stuff, so if you want to check info more frequently remember to log into the forum.

August has been a month to rebuild the basis of the project with the new team and start working in the good direction, so we’re happy with that. However, it has been also a slow month working with third parties due to summer Holidays.

A NEW CONTROLLER BOARD DESIGN RAISES (and PCB WIP)

We’ve been working on design a new controller board and now it’s complete. This was one of the tasks that was already done by the previous ODM but unfortunately their design was using a microcontroller too expensive. We need to reduce the cost of the components per unit, it’s too high now, so changing this component was important. Designing a new controller board allows us to work on the final PCB from this board base while we have a first version to start working on firmwares and integrations.

Additionally, the WIFI & bluetooth was not properly integrated and now it’s prepared to evolve the current design into the final device PCB.The new design has been already sent for manufacturing. Until it arrives, our programmer works with a development board with the same PIC Microcontroller.

BACK TO 35MM

If you remember, we originally designed the SMACH Z with smaller touchpads (35mm), because in our opinion it was a size big enough to play well and it allows to have a more compact design. However, during the development we encounter the problem that 35mm haptics were not custom parts and they cost a lot more money, because we had to create them only for us. Also the previous ODM company needed more room for the electronics, so we decided to go with the 40mm touchpads.

Recently, Cirque has added the 35mm size to the custom parts catalogue, due to the new VR Steam controller, allowing us to buy that size at the same price than 40mm. Also, the new development team has confirmed us that they don’t need as much room for the electronics, so we can go back to the original SMACH Z design.

We asked Cirque for some samples of the 35mm size and we have been testing them. They work as good as the 40mm, so we have decided to go with 35mm. This imply also modifying the mechanical model, but that was already planned because the current one needs corrections and modifications.

CORE INTEGRATION

We’ve started to work with the latest documentation and we’re now able to determine a more accurate project plan schedule, during the next month.

Thanks!

 

[leafar]

there is another missing part.
In the other hand, we finally got full access to the new SoC technical information, we’ve started to work with the latest documentation and we’re now able to determine a more accurate project plan schedule.

 

[vcoleiro1]

Thanks MJPIA

I wonder how they will make up the 280K they lost to Imasd. That is 27% of all the funds they collected from KS and IG. I wonder if they salvaged anything from that or it was a complete write off.
Did they mention anything about getting further investment $ ?

 

[MJPIA]

Thanks MJPIA

I wonder how they will make up the 280K they lost to Imasd. That is 27% of all the funds they collected from KS and IG. I wonder if they salvaged anything from that or it was a complete write off.
Did they mention anything about getting further investment $ ?

I'm under a NDA so I can't really talk about anything that happens on the forum especially since they have been tracking down and banning anyone who has violated it.

 

[rygD]

Closed forums, and banning people that share info, seems a bit off imo...maybe it is somewhat innocent, and they are trying to prevent another company making and selling a similar product before this one is finished.

 

[vcoleiro1]

Someone has let me know of a mistake I made in the calculation above re: the percentage they lost of the crowdfunding cash. Apparently the amount listed on the Indiegogo site already accounts for funds raised on Kickstartter . Weird , I know.

Anyway, the total funding they raised is either $661K USD or $728K USD. There seems to be some issue with the KS component reported on IGG - might be the exchange rate has changed since

Anyway that $280K they lost to imasd could be Euro or USD, meaning it could be $280K USD or $336K USD.

So it means they lost somewhere between 38% and 51%.of their crowdfunding. I say lost, but they may have salvaged something out the work imasd did.

Add to that crowdfunding and payement fees of around 8% and they have lost either 46% or 59%

That to me sounds like they may need further investment to carry on. But who knows, maybe they over estimated the amount they needed. I seriously doubt it. Lets not forget there would have also been other business expsense over time as well . Not sure if they are taking a salary , paying an office lease , hired other contractors etc


Yeah, so if they haven't got further investment from somewhere, they could be nearing empty by now. And they still have to develop the thing with a new HW partner, buy parts, molds, and manufacture like 1600 units or so and ship them off.

 

[vcoleiro1]

I didn't notice this before, but the Smach Z Kickstarter page mantions they have investors. So even though they lost a bit of money in the failed Imasd venture, they should have investor funding that hopefully covers it and more.

Here is what it says on their KS page:

"The investors backing SMACH Z are Mola Factory and other undisclosed private investors. Mola is a tech venture holding focused on the Internet and technology companies to give them financial support and know-how. For more information: www.mola.com"

 

[vcoleiro1]

Apparently due to rising part costs etc, Smach Z have raised the retail price of the Smach Z as follows:

Smach Z Standard version will retail for: $699 USD

Smach Z Pro version will retail for: $899 USD

In Australia that equates to $891 AUD for the standard and $1146 AUD for the Pro


Absolutely bonkers


..

 

[WizardStan]

So... basically the same as a Pyra now.

 

[vcoleiro1]

I have heard they also quote the Euro costs as being 899 Euro for the Pro and 699 Euro for the Standard.
So that would make it a lot more expensive than the Pyra. Unknown if that includes VAT

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

It going to be launched before the Pyra.

 

[Inimuk]

so this went up:
... and the smach z guys were not amused (understandably; who wouldn't protest against being called a scammer?).

Also this

 

[elwing]

Great videos!

 

[WizardStan]

I have heard they also quote the Euro costs as being 899 Euro for the Pro and 699 Euro for the Standard.
So that would make it a lot more expensive than the Pyra. Unknown if that includes VAT

It's almost like a niche market device made by a small company costs a lot of money to produce or something. Who could've seen that?

 

[EvilDragon]

Naaaah, niche devices can't cost lots of money. And they can't take a while.
That's impossible!