Missed the Kickstarter? See what all the buzz is about >

October has been a very busy and exciting month as a lot of hardware and software developments advance. We are seemingly on track for the 5Q launch in January, with a delay in schedule for the early access keyboard for the Exclusive Innovator backers.

Big news in this update:

• Electrical and mechanical progress
• Sneak peek at the RGB+ lighting effects
• Sneak peek at the Q app software
• Q app software capabilities include first streaming signals from Zappier directly to the 5Q
• 5Q Project Timeline update
• Personal peek at the members of the team

5Q Hardware Update: 

The last month has been a busy one for both our electrical and mechanical design teams. The electrical design has moved from our mock up version to the actual form factor board that will go into production. The design is full debugged and operational and the work effort to layout the production board and integrate into the chassis without creating any interferences is almost complete.

Mechanically, we have completed the rapid prototype of the chassis parts and have been busy fixing a few detail issues found through this process. In fact, we had to re-architect the sidelight LED EE/ME structure to allow for some manufacturing concerns to be addressed. We are wrapping up the final bits and will be releasing the hardtools within a few days.

Here’s also a sneak peek into our RGB+ backlighting with the wave light effect on the mock up board. Our Gamma Zulu switches allow our RGB+ technology to centralize and focus ultra-bright lighting without bleeding.

  

Q App Software Update: 

Our Q app desktop software has been progressing fairly well. Here’s what the software is currently capable of doing:

• Stream signals from IFTTT and Zappier, directly into your 5Q’s LEDs
• Configure keyboard LED lighting profiles and trigger effects on various keys
• Share, browse, and install profiles with the community on a marketplace integrated with the Q app

Here’s another sneak peek of what our Q app desktop looks like. There’s more to come, but you’ll have an idea of how it’s set up:

Project Timeline Updates:

 

We will ask confirmation for final shipping addresses and special layout requests sometime in December or before we ship.

Other News:

In other news, we are also developing a mobile version of our Q app that will let you stay in the know while you are away from your 5Q keyboard. This will be available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

We would like to confirm the news from our last update that the font on the keyboard is indeed final. That being said our project is still going strong and expected to ship in January without major delays.

Meet Some of the Guys on our Dream Team