Pyra-news May 2016

pyra-news@pyra-handheld.com

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Cases, Colors and eMails
by Michael Mrozek 18 May '16

18 May '16

This will be a short but nice newspost - it's 3am already, and I'm trying to get at least a bit of sleep these days (after having two weeks with almost no sleep since the preorders started...) But I think nevertheless, you'll like it. The main hardware ----------------- First up: Nikolaus is on a relaxing holiday this week, so there won't be much coming from him right now. Most of the hardware has been tested though, tons of software bugs have been squished (which prevented us to test the hardware properly!) with quite some help with the TI kernel guys, we're on the finish line of the hardware design! The plan is to have everything fixed until middle / end of June. That includes implementing the hardware changes into the PCB design files, so that we can order the PCBs afterwards (production of those will take about 6 weeks). Thanks to the preorders, parts with a long leadtime will be ordered upfront, so that they should arrive together with the PCBs as well. After a quick test run, we will be ready to start the mass production anytime them (so hopefully August / September). TAKE THESE PLANS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT THOUGH! While we will hurry, we will not rush. So if there is something within the hardware we need to confirm to be working first, we will do that, even if it delays things a bit. In the end, I don't think you all want Pyras with a serious hardware issue, but would rather wait a bit longer, right? The case -------- Tweakings of the case are almost done. According to my contact in Greece, they will most likely be produced next week (or shortly after), in different colors. This will be the time when we can assemble more prototypes and make pictures of the colors, so we all can decide which one we'll take (black will be one, that's for sure). I can't wait for those :) The prototype orders -------------------- Speaking of prototypes: When we receive the cases, I'll send mails to all prototype orders asking what they would like. We will be able to build prototypes, but the won't have the final keymat yet and not the new touchscreen. They will also have some minor hardware faults which will be fixed for the final release. You will be able to choose whether you still want one of those (it's a pretty neat collectors item) or whether you want to wait until we do the quick test run (which will still be before the mass production happens), as that would be an almost final unit - but of course, you would still get the case in the color you've chosen, so it will always be something special :) Do we have enough money? ------------------------ Well... I got a confusing answer for you: Yes, we have enough money to produce 1000 units and no, we don't have enough money for those yet. While this sounds confusing, here's a quick explanation: As you know, the Preorders come with a downpayment only. That money will be needed to do a downpayment for the production itself. But some parts already need to be paid in full in advance. Once we have about 900 preorders, we have enough funds from the downpayment to start a full production of 1000 units. But you might ask: What will happen if we don't reach 900 preorders? Well, no worries: Then we'll split the production into two batches of 500 units. We can easily fund the production of 500 units already, and once we receive the final payments for only 100 of them, we can already fund the production of the next 500 units. So that would mean, there would be a short break of about 3 - 4 weeks after the first 500 units have been delivered, then we'll continue with the rest. But I think, once we receive the final prototypes and I'll make more videos with those, we'll receive more preorders, so we probably don't need to split the production into two batches. emails... and replies... ------------------------ I have to admit: I'm far behind with those.... sorry for everyone who is still waiting for one. I'm only one guy, trying to fight myself through my normal job, the shop and the emails I receive right now. Thankfully, for the shop I got help, but there are still many things I need to do myself. Next week, I'm on holidays - which means: I'll have time to reply to the emails. I'm planning to catch up with all of them! I will not forget you! You can discuss about that here: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/cases-colors-and-emails.77466/

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Current statistics and some predictions
by Michael Mrozek 13 May '16

13 May '16

As preorders are running fine so far, I could take the time to create a LibreOffice document that helps me predict production costs, funds, etc. The document is actually pretty complex. It takes the live orders into account and uses the percentage of each unit sold for predictions of future production run. It makes an ideal calculation (no failure rate) as well as a worst calculation (5% failure rate). It also deducts the percentage lost from payment fees (e.g. credit cards). So, here's a litte calculation from the Live-Statistics :) Is it enough to fund the production? Is it enough to continue the production afterwards? Here's a prediction! In case you're in a hurry and don't want the details: We got enough preorders already to at least produce the preordered ones! To produce 1000 Pyras, additional 220 - 280 orders are needed. To produce 1500 Pyras, additional 325 - 480 orders are needed. After we sold 1500 Pyras, we can afford to produce a little batch of 500 without any preorderings. Once we sold 3000 Pyras, I can finally pay all the debts back to the Pyra investors! After the first 950 - 1000 delivered orders, there will be a delay before the production continues (we can only afford those units once we received the final payments for the first 1000, so we can't order more LCDs before). So much for the short info, here's the detailed one: Is the current production safe? ------------------------------- The minimum production number we can start with is 500. We passed that number long ago. Currently while I'm posting this, we're sitiing at 621 orders. That means I would need to be able to manufacturer at least 656 units (5% failure rate is the max one). Those 656 units need a downpayment of about 125k EUR to GC. I also have some more additional costs (like finishing the molds, etc.). But we also received downpayments for the 621 ordered Pyras and already paid for the LCDs and batteries a long time ago. If I add all that up (my own funds, the downpayments, the pre-production costs, etc.), we've got enough to start the production of those 656 units! So these are safe, yes! What I didn't include there yet are the additional costs to get a new touchscreen - which are a whopping 30k EUR (as we need to buy at least 4000 of them). To do that, we would need a few more preorders (but only 10). So we're close here as well! What's needed for the production of 1000 units? ----------------------------------------------- To be able to produce 1000 units, we still need some more preorders. If we want to produce 1000 Pyras (and get the new touchscreen as well), we need an additional 220 to 280 preorders (depending on how many new or pre-preorderers order those units, etc.) That would be a total of 844 - 950 orders (depending on the failure rate as well). It would be great if we could produce 1000 Pyras at once, so hopefully we'll get more pre-orders when I've got finished prototypes and can do more videos. Once the first 1000 Pyras have been shipped, there will most probably be a little delay (unless we get at least a total of abour 1300 preorders,), as I need to buy 1000 more LCDs. Batch 2: 500 Pyras more (a total of 1500 Pyras) ----------------------------------------------- As you can see, 1000 Pyras are NOT enough yet to produce more units without any further preorders. Once we've cleared and fully sold the first 1000 Pyras, we need at least 125 - 200 preorders before we can step up to 1500 units. That should be possible though, once Pyras have been released and are out in the wild, it's probably easier selling the second batch (or do some Kickstarter / IndieGogo). Batch 3: 500 Pyras more (a total of 2000 Pyras) ----------------------------------------------- Once we've reached 1500 sold units, we can finally start producting small batches to put them directly in stock. That would be a really, really great milestone! ... and then? ------------- Well, while 1500 sold Pyras get us enough funds back to produce them from stock, we still have to pay back 300k EUR to our investors who supported us when the Pandora was in an almost bottomless pit. To be able to do that, we need to sell a total of 3000 units. If we can achieve that, I'll be a happy camper. Finally! I know (and always knew) it would be hard - but let's hope we can pull that through! So... I hope you like the little prediction. Most important thing for you is probably that we already have enough preorders to get things running at all :) Let me know if something is not clear or you have any further questions. You can discuss about that here: https://www.pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/current-statistics-and-some-pr…

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What a great start - prepare for the next level!
by Michael Mrozek 05 May '16

05 May '16

We had a really, really succesful start and reached over 500 orders after a few days already (and 600 if you count in the remaining pre-preorders!) You can always find a live statistic here: http://p.rdw.se/pyra-preorder.html That means: We already passed the absolute minimum number needed for a small mass production run of 500. After only a couple of days! You guys absolutely rock! Of course, we're now aiming for the next goal... producing 1000 units. With 750 preorders, we should have enough to start the production of those. Right now, sales are slowing down a bit, which is totally normal for crowdfunding projects. 1. Let's spread the word! ------------------------- Up until now, we have NOT approached any newssites in order to give the regular readers and long-time-followers the chance to grab one of the first units. But now the time has come to spread the word and let others know! That's why we created a PressKit which includes many free-to-use pictures as well as texts that explain the motivation and idea behind the Pyra. You can find (and share) it here: http://cloud.openpandora.org/index.php/s/a0Q0TXV8gh5NLAC You can use them anywhere you like: Spread the words via Social Media, forums, etc.! You can also help translating the texts of the PressKit, head to this thread to help out: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/posts/1376979/ And while you're at it, let us know which newssites you think we should approach at this thread here: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/media-and-press-who-should-we-cont… 2. About voucher codes and pre-pre-order voucher codes and BitCoins ------------------------------------------------------------------- I made a small mistake setting up the pre-order and therefore, if you ordered May 1st within the first hour, you didn't receive a pre-order voucher code. Don't panic! I'm currently creating them manually and you'll receive it eventually! And if you didn't receive anything until Sunday night, drop me a PM or email (evildragon(a)openpandora.org). About pre-preorder vouchers: Sane as the Pre-Order voucher, the codes are NOT in your account but have been sent to you via eMail. In case you can't find your pre-pre-order voucher code anymore, please do contact me, I can resend it to you. If you pre-ordered via BitCoins: This will take a few days. I've got a limit of 1000 EUR per day with BitPay (but absolutely no transfer costs), so that's 1 - 3 orders per day. If you try to pay and receive an error from BitPay, it means my limit for the day is already reached. Simply wait until I resend the email to you - I'm now handling this manually, so in case you haven't received a mail to complete your BitCoin payment: Don't panic! :) 3. Some information about the LCD --------------------------------- Even though I was mostly busy replying to mails and working on the PressKit, I tried running a few games on the Pyra Prototype that have ghosting issues on the Pandora: Like Phoenix (Atari 2600) where the bullets are nearly invisible, and Sonic 2 and 3, where the green trees turn the sky black with scrolling. I wanted to record that on video for you, however, the camera can only do 25fps which is horrible for recording screens that run with 60fps. But I can tell you: Pyras LCD is WAY better in that regards. I haven't seen ANY ghosting, it's a crisp and clean image! And: Scanline-Simulation looks a LOT better as well, due to the higher resolution. They look great! That's it for now! Back to replying emails - and hopefully, I'll find time to do some videos soon :) You can discuss about that here: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/what-a-great-start-prepare-for-the…

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Pyra-news May 2016