[Chip]

More news from the development team for the new year:

We have made a couple tweaks to the MK2 board design that was sent to all the devs, and we should have a MK3 prototype in a week or so. If everything is fine with that board, it will go into mass production very shortly thereafter. We could have just used the MK2 board and left the minor bugs in as "quirks", but with all the other delays, it was worth it to do one more revision and get it perfect.

The cases will be going into mass production on the 15th. That's our deadline for making any last minute tweaks, and it looks like we'll be in great shape for that. We already have the new LCD ribbon cable for these cases and it's working nicely.

The keypads will go into mass production in the next week or two at the latest. The keypad layout will be very similar to the one on the original renders. I am told there will only be "minor changes" between the render and the final layout. There may be separate layouts available for the middle east and Asian regions, but all other regions will have the same standard layout for now. It is very likely that alternate keymats (including blank mats) will be made available for a small price at some point in the near future.

We now have the SGX video drivers in their entirety. We're just waiting for a few documents to come back signed and then we can release both the binary part and the open source driver shim to the public. Expect OpenGL ES demos soon.

Reorders are happening now, slowly. We're sending out details and a reorder URL to customers one at a time, starting with US customers. Some have already been sent, and the rest are on the way. We're doing it slowly to avoid any potential problems with the CC processor and to avoid overwhelming the sales ladies. Do not worry, everybody will have the opportunity to reorder in time to get their Pandora.

We are meeting with the bank this week to fix the Amex situation. They cannot simply sit on the money forever, and we're not accepting any more of their stall tactics. If the bank simply refuses to rectify the situation, there is a backup plan. Anybody who paid for a Pandora will get one, no matter what the bank does. One way or another, this situation will be remedied this week.


We're coming down the final stretch.

[Eternalodyssey]

Werd I'm #1! Thanks for the update, Chip. Hopefully this may appease some of the hungry wolves as of late.

This post has been edited by Eternalodyssey: 03 January 2009 - 10:38 PM

[Racemaniac]

sounds like great news, some final dates for the start of production.
with those dates, shouldn't you also be able to tell when we'll see the first fully assembled pandora, and when the first ones are expected to ship?

[Yigguth]

super cool

[joseluisjazz]

yippie ka yay!

fingers crossed for february...

[mali]

Thanks for this great update

[adamorjames]

Thanks

[emcp]

thanks
however, any clues on what the quirks were
just out of curiosity

also i never got sent a refund email but i got the refund, and never contacted anyone yet

ill probably just wait and see if i get a reorder email, and then contact them
or should i contact them now

thanks

[wardred]

Thanks Chip. It sounds like things are finally coming together!

Edit:
I hope that all goes smooth from here on out, and that you're able to make money on future runs so that you can release as many rounds of them as people are willing to purchase.

On round 3 or 4 I might consider buying a second one to try some network programming between two of these guys. Wish I could do that now, but trying to be responsible with ye' ol' bank account with this economy.

This post has been edited by wardred: 03 January 2009 - 11:07 PM

[masoukishi]

awesome news! i guess ill be checking my email on an hourly basis now

[rmm21]

Fantastic news to hear Chip.

[Caine]

Good news. Thanks for the update Chip.

The keypads will go into mass production in the next week or two at the latest. The keypad layout will be very similar to the one on the original renders. I am told there will only be "minor changes" between the render and the final layout.

Ouch No offence intended, but the original render is the one I really disliked (the Fn+key combos are horrible). That'll be software remapping for me.

It is very likely that alternate keymats (including blank mats) will be made available for a small price at some point in the near future.

A blank mat doesn't sound bad to me, Das keyboard style

[gmhuntr7]

Hey Chip, I don't suppose you would know (or anyone else) if in the event something does work out with Amex, would it be possible to cancel the dispute inquiry for a chargeback?

[krooked]

Thanks for the update!
cant wait

It is very likely that alternate keymats (including blank mats) will be made available for a small price at some point in the near future.

A blank mat doesn't sound bad to me, Das keyboard style

agreed

[Chip]

Hey Chip, I don't suppose you would know (or anyone else) if in the event something does work out with Amex, would it be possible to cancel the dispute inquiry for a chargeback?

That's up to Amex.