The Zspire Blog

We have a hidden special for free shipping within the United States. Use code CPUB (and put it in the notes) and Zspire will pick up your shipping through Jan 31, 2007!

In the wake of new events (external and internal), I’m please to announce a substantial price reduction for the Zspire line. We will sell all of our mice now for US$89.

We hope you enjoy and can be enticed!

One of the posters below had noticed that Bluetooth mice always had trouble on the Mac. Looks like it works much better and smoother on the 10.4.7 release! It’s always worked, but now it feels much smoother - as smooth as it does on the PC. We recommend that you download it.

Here are instructions for Mac OS X 10.4.6 (and should work for all other supported Bluetooth releases). File: MacOSXZspireSetup.pdf

Here are some instructions regarding how to connect using Windows XP Service Pack 2. Before this release, Bluetooth drivers/connections were supplied by the vendor (My Toshiba still uses the ones shipped). However, in SP 2, Microsoft added additional drivers for Bluetooth. Attached is our instructions on how to make it work. The File: Zspire XP Setup

We’ve been quiet, working on getting some new finishes (which we are calling our “Iconic Series”, some website cleanup, and a few new pictures. We’ll have some more press in the next few days as well as getting mice to our first retail outlets.

Take a look at the Buy page - we have some nice new photos for you!

One of the things that we have not mentioned on our front page are our color options. We’ve just updated the buy site to list our products by color, while still allowing you to choose what combinations you would like. We think it makes more sense for both you and us!

We selected a “Hammertone” finish - it looks like little tiny ballpeen hammers tapped into the finish. The texture is very sensual. We will have (non-hammertone) satinlike colors to match the body for the plastic or you can match one of our other colors.

And, sad news - for those waiting for copper - we’re still experimenting on how to make that work correctly. We have some ideas, but we’ve taken it out of the catalog for a little while. It’ll be back - we have some ideas!

Have a great holiday season from all of us at Zspire!

We’re very gratified at the amount of blog and news time we have received. Just this weekend, we have received a lot of hits from Hungary. (For those Hungarians who read this, can you tell me if the paprika shortage is over yet???) Thanks to all of those who have looked at what we are doing and have written about it.

We just got our Bluetooth certification done (http://qualweb.bluetooth.org/Template2.cfm?LinkQualified=QualifiedProducts&Details=Yes&ProductID=3020). FCC and CE should be complete very shortly.

I started playing more with the mouse at my house (Poet and don’t even know it?) I have a small house, and started discovering things about how nice the Bluetooth protocol is. I started going around some curves to see how far it could go away from my laptop and still function. I was surprised that I could turn a few corners and still see the scroll wheel moving pages up and down. Also, some of the linkage functions - I’ve turned my mouse off and then turned it back on and it linked without reconnection on my part. Although it is part of the spec and I shouldn’t have been surprised, we have been playing with 5 or 6 at a time when we’ve been setting up prototypes and I always was reconnecting. It was still pretty neat (when having only one to play with) and the Arthur C. Clarke law is still applies today.

My day (i.e. Non-Zspire) job takes me to a number of interesting places around the U.S. (sometimes Europe and Asia, but I haven’t for a while). I’m going to start bringing the one I’m playing with around with me to see how the reactions go on my trip. I remember when I first saw the Nintendo DS when my car was at the shop. I had heard of it, but had not seen it. It’s always fascinating to see something new….

Two way conversation is always better than two one-way conversations. So, it’s been nice to politely discuss what us as a manufacturer have worked through and to hear and discuss the reactions of others.

One of my friends did some research (Thanks, you know who you are!) to discuss some other notable projects that did not go as people had planned or maybe as they originally thought. Borrowed liberally from Wikipedia :

Unobvious Path to Success

• Lucozade (originally a drink for sick kids, now a sports drink)
• Dell (taking the retailer out of the middle helped succeed)
• Marlboro (originally marketed as a ladies brand, cowboys made them sell)
• Flush Toilets (Leonardo da Vinci drew plans for flushing water closets and was ridiculed. His plans for flying machines and military tanks were also considered nonsense.)
• “American” cheeses (previously synonymous with individually wrapped slices of some icky yellow substance… in last 30 years American cheeses have won awards, are offered in European restaurants, I’ll eat them now, etc.)
• Viagra (originally for relieving high blood pressure, now …)
• Jacuzzi (originally for arthritis patients, remarketed as luxury item for the wealthy)
• Computers (Originally thought to only be a market for 4 or 5 in the world)
• More than 640K RAM (An oldie but goodie)
• The Internet, circa 1991 ( I remember my father telling me in 1988 to stop wasting my time with that Usenet/Internet thing - nothing will come out of it)

And some not so lucky - still defended by some, but didn’t make it to the big time:

Big Hype

• Betamax
• eBook Devices
• Kodak Disc Cameras
• New Coke
• Apple Newton
• Yugo
• Ford Pinto
• Segway
• Zima

How about a few things that are coming that are already provoking thoughts?

Controversial Now

• Nintendo Revolution (Controllers, size, no HDTV)
• Playstation 3 (Will it perform like Sony says)
• DRM (Relevent in the last month)
• The films of Michael Moore

Share your thoughts in the comments. Any other classic products in any of those categories?

Tuesday we passed 3000 visitors to the site. Very exciting for a launch that has been very low key. From around the world, we have seen this spread to many countries and different people very quickly. The power of the Internet never ceases to amaze.

Some Highlights:

• Brazil, Japan, Russia, US - Thanks - you are the top countries we have received hits from. (We love the rest of you too!)
• For those who have been asking when will it get to your country, we need your help. We need people to help us learn some of the things that we’ll need to be a success in your country. Specifically, any regulations that we need to pass as well as potential distributors. We can ship to anywhere in the world, but outside of the US, it will be easier with distributors. Please contact us at retail at zspire.com
• Please email with any questions. We have been trying to respond quickly, and updating either the store or the blog with any answers that we can do quickly (tougher to update the Flash with my limited knowledge of it). Feel free to email at info at zspire.com or iroo at zspire.com.

Thanks to everyone who has commented on what they have seen so far!