— Pat @ 9:57 am
OK, now that I have a deal in place with PEZ, I feel better about sharing. Here is what happened while I was invisible.
- I dumped the idea of using a Chinese or Korean OEM/ODM. Language barriers, time zone, distance, high volumes, etc. Instead I am using an American electronic design firm and mechanical design firm to develop the product and then I will use contract manufacturing to build it. It will cost a lot more up front but it will give me a lot more control.
- I selected an electronic design firm in Austin, TX. It is a small firm but they have an outstanding reputation. I have been very happy with them so far. The fact that they are in Austin is helpful because two of the top three MP3 player SoC firms (SigmaTel and Samsung) have Austin offices.
- We selected Samsung for the SoC (I will write a separate post about this decision.)
- My 1 year old son started walking.
- The first version will be 512mb.
- There will be six buttons along one of the skinny sides.
- There will be an LCD screen.
- The head will be removeable and compatible with existing PEZ heads.
- The first production run will be small and made in the USA.
- The first production run will be early summer.
- Supports MP3, WMA, OGG, USB 2.0, mounts as flash drive.
- No voice record, no FM tuner, no Bluetooth, no Janus (Napster to Go.)
- Will be sold direct to consumer from this website (may go into retail channels later.)
The things I am working on right now.
- Bank loan. If you want to feel humbled fill out a personal financial statement and find out your net worth. Like George Bailey, I am worth more dead than alive.
- Marketing plan. I will have more posts about this but let’s just say that I am going to need your help with marketing.
- Getting rid of the remaining inventory from Secondhand Monkeys. Have I told you lately that I hate eBay?