Canary Backer and Pre-Order Update – October 17

Canary Backer and Pre-Order Update – October 17

This month, we’re seeing the hard work and sleepless nights all come together. It’s energizing to be so close to getting Canary into your hands. Our whole team has been heads-down—fine-tuning our firmware, securing our infrastructure, and tweaking the mobile app—to ensure that every interaction with Canary is amazing when backers and pre-order customers start receiving devices later this month. In fact, everything has been flying by so quickly that we got behind on our backer update schedule, so we wanted to take a quick breather to let you know what’s happening here at Canary HQ.

Shipping update

First things first: When—and how—will you be getting your device? We’re happy to say that the first Canary units will begin shipping to backers next week. We’ll begin with several hundred units, and gradually increase to sending thousands of units each week.

We designed this staggered rollout process specifically to ensure a smooth transition as we ramp up overall production. This plan will have us shipping units out over the span of eight weeks. It’s a little different than our outline from August, but it’s an important adjustment to allow us to follow best practices for scaling.

We’re incredibly close—thanks again for backing us and being patient as we put the finishing touches on Canary.

canary_mass_production

Mass production has started!

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve begun mass production of Canary. Our assembly line is humming along and Canary devices are being built as we write this.

In addition to creating a line that can assemble devices quickly, we’ve also developed a series of automated test stations throughout the line to make sure every device is working the way it should without variations in quality. Each station captures the test results in a database that lets us track a device from its component parts to assembly, all the way to you. This robust tracking gives us deep visibility into manufacturing and hardware, even months after a device has been produced. Once a device is assembled and tested, it gets packaged and prepared for shipping at the end of each week.

And speaking of packaging…

Packaging Sneak Peek

As you all know, design is very important to us, so it’ll come as no surprise that we put a lot of work into designing beautiful packaging. We’re really happy with how it turned out, and want  to give you a sneak peek of what you can expect.

2014-box

We wanted to be as thoughtful about the unboxing experience as we were about the design of the device itself. Every last detail—from the Soft Touch coating of the sleeve down to the way the cables are nested in the paper pulp tray—is meant to enhance the overall Canary experience right from the start.

While aesthetics are important to us, they weren’t our only consideration. We chose recycled paper pulp for the inner tray because it’s environmentally friendly and it doesn’t off-gas like some other materials do.

canary_paper_pulp

What’s next

The next few weeks will be busy, but we’re almost there. As a reminder, if you need to update your shipping address, just send an email to support@canary.is with your new address.

Thank you for your continued support.

—The Canary Team