Teams App Support is Live!
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Jul 07, 2021 at 11:12:21 AM

🎉  New Feature: Full Teams App Support (Beta)
  Until today we’ve had Teams support via the Chrome Browser. That decision has resulted in countless emails from Windows users telling us that they don’t use Chrome! So I’m excited to announce we now have Teams App support live in the app.

🔨 Production Update

We’re approaching the final stretch. The plastic enclosures have been textured one last time, the new microchips have been tested, the rubber base is final, and the packaging designed. We’re currently waiting on our firmware to be loaded onto our microchips and then we hit the production line. The timeline for delivery is murky until we get the factory line running and the final product goes through rigorous Quality Assurance (QA) but we appreciate everyone's patience as we navigated the global microchip shortage.  

🎁  Progress on Packaging and Logistics
 Last time we showed off the packaging insert. Now we’ve finalized the interior and exterior of the box for our new button. Our fulfillment center is set up in Utah, our shipping agreement in place, our barcodes are registered, and we've submitted for FCC approval. Most backers have submitted their shipping address but if you're one of the 108 remaining folks who have yet to complete your shipping survey, please check your email! 

Updates on manufacturing, software, and shipping.
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Jun 04, 2021 at 12:49:20 PM

Product Updates

🌎 A Global Microchip Shortage Can't Stop Us!

If you're following the news you probably heard that we're in the midst of a Global Microchip shortage. Everyone from Tesla to mütesync is feeling it, and production lines have been disrupted.  As a result it took us longer than we planned to secure the microchips we need. The good news is that we eventually did get our hands on the microchips we need.  Even better, they have arrived in our production facility. Whew! 

🔨 Texturing the Button Enclosure 

The "enclosure" is the plastic shell of the button that holds the inner electronic components. In our last update we showed you the first buttons to come out of our industrial mold. Since then, we had the steel molds "textured" to add a matte finish to the button. To get the button finish perfect, we are now tweaking the settings and testing the finished product. 

📦 Progress on Packaging
In addition to the button itself, we're finalizing the packaging.  During the process we are trying to avoid plastic packaging as much as possible. We were excited to see the first custom packaging insert come off our production line. Photos don't do it justice. Check out the video on our Instagram page. 

📜 Certification
I'm happy to announce our hardware was just certified by independent, third-party, Arrow Electronics. It's great to get validation from a Fortune-500, electronics giant that has helped design and build thousands of electronics products.

💾 Software Updates
In addition to the 1,000 backers who pre-ordered the new mute button, we also have hundreds of new mütesync users using our free "Virtual Button," and our existing physical mute button.  With the feedback we get from those hundreds of users, our mütesync app just keeps getting better.  This week we released a software update that included many stability fixes for Windows and improvements to our beta features: Video Toggle and Start on Launch. We post regular updates on our Release Notes page.

Shipping and Order Info

🚚 Please Provide Your Shipping Address

Soon you will receive an email from mütesync asking you to provide your shipping address. Having your shipping address now helps us plan logistics for the actual ship date. You will have a chance to confirm, and change if needed, your shipping address prior to orders being shipped.  

📅 Shipping Date

Based on when you backed, you were given a shipping estimate of June, July, or August.  While we are making great progress,  we're pushing our estimate back by one month. And of course, this is still an estimate. We will continue to provide regular updates so you're informed along the ride!

🛒 Now Offering Discounted Add-ons

In the email you receive you will also have the option to "add-on" a few different items: 

• An additional mute button
• A yellow/black braided USB-A or USB-C cord. Reminder: each button already ships with a white rubber USB-C to USB-C cord. 
• If you just can't wait to start muting, you can add one of our current mute button models. It's the button we've been selling since late 2020 and we're discounting our remaining stock deeply to make room for our new buttons.  This add-on will ship immediately.  

We did it! Thanks for helping fund mütesync.
almost 3 years ago – Tue, May 18, 2021 at 03:23:30 PM

🎉 We did it! We raised $55K from over 900 backers.  

Thank you! These funds, coupled with funding we raised outside of Kickstarter, have enabled us to give the manufacturing team the green light. We've been working on production for month and with these new funds we're full steam ahead. We'll continue to provide regular updates here and on our Instagram page. Soon you will also receive an email from us that includes a survey to collect your mailing address.  Thank you again for your support! 

⚙️ Manufacturing Progress: Button Enclosures

In our last update we mentioned that we had just manufactured our first enclosure using our industrial tooling. We’ve continued to tweak the injection molding process so our enclosures are just as awesome as the handmade prototypes. As you see in the photo on the right, the sample has some "splay" in the plastic (red arrow). The newest sample (left) is smooth! With the enclosure shape final, we’ll now move on to texturing the mold of the button enclosure. This means sandblasting the steel so the final product has a smooth matte finish.

  🎥 Bonus Feature: Video Toggle

Many of our backers wanted to convert the mute button into a video toggle. I'm happy to announce we've now added a toggle in the preferences that changes the button to work with video instead of audio. All three light colors are customizable, but by default they are:
 

•  Light off: Not in a meeting
•  Yellow: In a meeting, camera off 
•  Red: In a meeting, camera on

Manufacturing Progress, Bonus Feature, and Q&A
almost 3 years ago – Fri, May 14, 2021 at 06:15:23 AM

 ⚙️ Manufacturing Progress: Button Enclosures

Moving from the 3D-printed prototypes we've been using for the last few months to scaled manufacturing is an exciting next step. It entails building out our injection molding tooling, making a few sample buttons, and then running various tests to fine tune the process. After the last run we found a few more tweaks to make but the button enclosures are getting close! 

💡 Bonus Feature Coming: Integrate with your smart bulbs via smart homes

Want to change the lamp red when your mic is live? We're working on support for popular smart bulbs like Philips Hue and Wyze via platforms like SmartThings and HomeAssistant. Comment below to let us know your smart home system of choice!

Q&A

You've raised well over your $10K goal. What's next? 

Let's hit 100K! Every additional kickstarter pledge helps cover the costs it takes to bring our mute button to life. Between prototyping, marketing, manufacturing, assembly, testing, packaging, shipping and more, our costs will exceed $100K. Today Tom and I have bootstrapped (self-funded) everything but every pledge we get enables us to add more features without having to secure a bank loan. Please keep sharing the mütesync Kickstarter with your friends and coworkers!

What type of USB cord is it?

The button ships with a USB-C to USB-C cord.  However, the plug is external so it's easy to swap out a USB-C to USB-A (Standard) cord. Or you can use a USB-C to USB-A dongle. The button works perfectly regardless of the type of USB you use.

Funded in less than 10 hours!
about 3 years ago – Fri, Apr 23, 2021 at 11:41:48 AM

🙌 Thank you for backing our project! In less than half a day we blew past our Kickstarter target. In addition to providing the funding we'll need to manufacture the product, your feedback and support has been absolutely inspiring. 

We've been working on this project for months and today made it all worth it. We'll provide regular updates as we continue this 30-day Kickstarter and bring the mute button to life!