New kick ass device !!! www.umbo.us

[Morgoroth]

Hi guys, actually I'm working on a new project called UMBO, we are testing the first prototype and just released the web page, we are aiming to a Kickstarter campaign, but not before polishing the web page.

What we want with the project is to start designing the home of the future, the device is controlled by gesture control and ready to be integrated in short time with some voice services. We overpower the hardware to make it durable and able to get constant updates without changing the hardware.

If there is any suggestion for the website, I'll encourage to do it through the site, and any other suggestion through here.

www.umbo.us

BTW, with the code JCORDOVAE you will have 100USD of discount, just for few days, srsly, we need to get those reviews and statistics.

Now, talking as a user of this forum for a while probably is a risk to expose the device here in prototyping stage and with so many scams on hardware world. The idea is to get ideas from people of this forum to make the best product possible and understand how to give security about a product.

Thanks in advance,

JP

[ataradov]

Seems kind of pointless. Also, show this thing in realistic environments, not on ideally clean stock pictures of walls that don't exist anywhere.

Also, where are the power wires? "Designers" seem to always forget the mess that power wires create, it ruins their perfect renders.

Right now I put that into 100% scam or naive creators category.

[trophosphere]

Nice looking website. The intention/function of the device is readily recognized within a couple of seconds upon visiting the website. Your FAQ seems to link back to the same page. How is the contrast in real-life during broad day-light especially if the sun is shining into the room in the background?

[lwatts666]

I just love the way its shown projecting areas DARKER than the background. Must be using LADs (Light Absorbing Diodes)...

[dr.diesel]

"We all dream about the home of the future, with automatically displayed content on our walls and intuitive gesture control for easy navigation"

This might be the last place I'd dream to see content.

[jancumps]

How do you project something that's darker than the background in the kitchen photo?

[Corporate666]

It looks like a neat device and I think it would likely do well on Kickstarter.

But to echo what was said above, one thing you must NEVER do is lie about your product.  And by showing rendered/photoshopped pictures that show your product doing something it cannot do, you're lying about your product.

That guarantees that customers will be disappointed, because there is a 100% chance they will be disappointed when they see that the reality doesn't match the claims.  It also turns off people who understand that the claims you're making aren't real, because they realize you - as technical people - know you are making false claims, and this paints you in a bad light, because you are knowingly lying to your customers.

It probably seems like I am overstating the point, but I don't think so.  Making false claims about what your product is or can do is one of the most fundamental no-no's of marketing a product.  You should never ever do that, ever. 

And following on that, I think you should get rid of all renders and photoshops until you have a finalized device.  You're setting your customers up for disappointment at the moment, by ensuring what you deliver will be substantially inferior to what you are promising.  You want to go the other way.  Under promise and over deliver. 

[Corporate666]

Visual deception.

I bought an Acer K132 LED projector that I use for 3D scanning.

It is substantially larger than the proposed device above.  It is nowhere near as bright (based on the ambient brightness, projected image brightness and projected image size), and my Acer has an internal fan that runs at a pretty good clip to keep the LED's cool to achieve that brightness.  It also cost $360.

Add in substantial internal processing, a camera and more... and from a small startup who has nowhere near the economies of scale of Acer.  I think it is a very risky proposition.  I noticed they are taking orders (or pre-orders?).  I am not sure if they are charging credit cards, but if they are actually processing charges, I hope they are very very clear about the rules on that - because every merchant agreement prohibits me from charging cards unless I can ship a tangible product within 30 days.

[jancumps]

I hope they are very very clear about the rules on that

there's a link on the pre-order form that throws a 404 Not Found:
http://www.umbo.us/terms

[Cliff Matthews]

Besides the obvious PS-ing and no power cables on a power-hungry device..
How do you propose to keep this thing cool while it competes with ambient light?

[jancumps]

The OP should disable the page that takes the credit card info until he has a working terms and conditions link on it.
The same for the privacy. A credit card page with an invalid privacy link. Come on.
http://www.umbo.us/privacy

[jancumps]

First time that we're asked for our address and credit card info by a fellow forum member, to pre-purchase something that can't work as depicted, under unknown sales terms, with unknown privacy rules.

[sleemanj]

The OP should disable the page

The OP should disable the site

   1. Magic anti-projector technology. 
   2. Highly unlikely form factor for required light output.
   3. Specifications of "Optical Engine, Quad-Core Processor, WiFi & Bluetooth" - no mention of any actual specifications, the least of which would be what looks to be the very high resolution and lumen output for a very compact projector.

if you are going to post your project to the EEVBlog forums, at least try to understand that this is a technical audience, we are not blinded by marketing nonsense.

[ovnr]

Yeah, this sets off the scam detector pretty well.

It'll probably do splendidly on KS though, because people are morons.

[ataradov]

It is also not clear what reviews and statistics we can offer at that generous $100 discount on a product that does not exist?

[fsaezc]

Nice looking website. The intention/function of the device is readily recognized within a couple of seconds upon visiting the website. Your FAQ seems to link back to the same page. How is the contrast in real-life during broad day-light especially if the sun is shining into the room in the background?

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you were able to understand the value prop within a couple of seconds.
All the pictures you see will be actual videos of the user experience with the product running so it will be clearer in a few weeks.

We're a little behind with the videos but hopefully they will make it even clearer.

FAQ are being uploaded tomorrow! Sorry, we're like soft launching and gathering feedback.

Re: contrast/brightness... the whole LUMEN talk is very special, as some projectors use different measuring types of LUMENS so overall you can hear anywhere from 50 to 1000 lumens but the human eye see the lumens differently... for this extent, our finalized MP product will have between 110 and 300 lumens, but to be clear, we will upload real product videos so you understand the contrast + the final specs of the optical engine. Thanks!!

[fsaezc]

How do you project something that's darker than the background in the kitchen photo?

Hi Jancumps... as you can imagine, those are photo-realisitc renders. We'll be uploading the final photos with actual product working very soon.
Take a look of the bedtime video, thats the working prototype. Thanks!

[ataradov]

as you can imagine, those are photo-realisitc renders.

I can't imagine that. That photo realism contradicts laws of physics.

Take a look of the bedtime video, thats the working prototype.

So this thing does not work during the daytime?

[fsaezc]

It looks like a neat device and I think it would likely do well on Kickstarter.

But to echo what was said above, one thing you must NEVER do is lie about your product.  And by showing rendered/photoshopped pictures that show your product doing something it cannot do, you're lying about your product.

That guarantees that customers will be disappointed, because there is a 100% chance they will be disappointed when they see that the reality doesn't match the claims.  It also turns off people who understand that the claims you're making aren't real, because they realize you - as technical people - know you are making false claims, and this paints you in a bad light, because you are knowingly lying to your customers.

It probably seems like I am overstating the point, but I don't think so.  Making false claims about what your product is or can do is one of the most fundamental no-no's of marketing a product.  You should never ever do that, ever. 

And following on that, I think you should get rid of all renders and photoshops until you have a finalized device.  You're setting your customers up for disappointment at the moment, by ensuring what you deliver will be substantially inferior to what you are promising.  You want to go the other way.  Under promise and over deliver.

Thanks for the nice words.

Have you ever seen Apple videos?... do you think those are the working product? Ha! Nope, they're renders.
So I disagree with your comment.

The main idea of launching a website with renders is to validate the value proposition, customers won't be disappointed with a render-page, they will be only if the product doesn't meet the value prop, which we're working extremely hard not to go on that route.

Our product can do all what we're claiming. Want to swing by a try it? Ping me.

We will change the renders on our next photo/video session, but guess what?... we've pre-sold over $10k in just few hours directly on our site... so we're actually validating the need for a device like this... and also, our orders are 100% refundable

thanks for the feedback! After all... time will tel...

[sleemanj]

So what is your answer fsaezc when a customer says

"hello, I put my umbo on my kitchen counter exactly like shown in your photo, and... I can not see any black, in fact, I can't see anything in daylight I have to close all my curtains and make the room dark"

do you say "that was just a render, you did not think it was real did you!"

[fsaezc]

as you can imagine, those are photo-realisitc renders.

I can't imagine that. That photo realism contradicts laws of physics.

haha good point, but you know what I mean.

Take a look of the bedtime video, thats the working prototype.

So this thing does not work during the daytime?

It does, I'll ping you once we update the content of the site.  thanks for your comments.

[ataradov]

Have you ever seen Apple videos?... do you think those are the working product? Ha! Nope, they're renders.
So I disagree with your comment.

Apple has a proven track record of delivering a working product.

we've pre-sold over $10k in just few hours directly on our site

That's like 35 units. Obviously there are at least this many people with no ability for critical thinking. Things will change once people actually get the product and publish bad reviews. And they will be bad, just based on technical impossibility of claimed performance.

[ataradov]

It does, I'll ping you once we update the content of the site.  thanks for your comments.

Just show us a picture taken at a daytime. No need for professional photographers, simple phone camera picture will be enough.

[fsaezc]

Besides the obvious PS-ing and no power cables on a power-hungry device..
How do you propose to keep this thing cool while it competes with ambient light?

Hi Cliff, we'll be updating the media on the site shortly.
This is a power-hungry device as you say, it doesn't use battery, it uses USB-C power connector.
We hope to make these points clearer this week.
thanks!

[fsaezc]

So what is your answer fsaezc when a customer says

"hello, I put my umbo on my kitchen counter exactly like shown in your photo, and... I can not see any black, in fact, I can't see anything in daylight I have to close all my curtains and make the room dark"

do you say "that was just a render, you did not think it was real did you!"

We're working so when this product is shipped, there is no way to get that question.