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Hi backers,
We’re in full swing with shipping and our Android P update just rolled out!
1. North America - Shipment from the US warehouse is continuing, 65% completed by now, including shipping for other North American countries (Canada Mexico).
2. Europe - Accessories for EU just arrived to custom clearance on Monday, so going through clearance right now. We anticipate it should complete the clearance process by early next week.
3. Asia and Rest of World - We just started shipment from our Hong Kong warehouse this week. It is a slow start, as the warehouse is learning to package the shipments. The pace will pick up as the team on the ground gets familiarized and things start rolling.
Please contact [email protected] with support questions and issues - and thank you for your patience. We're dealing with a ton of inbound questions as backers work through shipping logistics, get their orders, and set up their Superbooks.
Many of you have been anxiously awaiting a working Android P solution. Happy to say that the fix is live and updated in the Google Play store. More details on how freeform windowing works in these blog posts:
Freeform Window Instructions for Android O & P
Updated Resolution Change Instructions
One issue we've been dealing with is that in certain countries (outside of EU and US), we are unable to directly deal with VAT as our 3rd party logistics company uses carriers such as UPS, Fedex, etc. Customs in each country will simply slap on a value and charge a tax to the recipient, and UPS, Fedex and certain other carriers just accept it and pass it on without providing us the option to manage it. In the US and EU, we work with specific brokers that help us 1) ensure the tax is very low and 2) allow us to cover it.
For backers that get such a notice from carriers, please email us at [email protected]. We will provide you with the documentation to send to the carrier and guidance on how to deal with the issue with carriers. Since we have over 160 countries, it is very difficult to initiate this on our end. Please help others on Backer Slack if you successfully overcome customs issues in your country.
Superbook team
Hi backers,
Let’s cut to the chase.
First piece of good news: Our ocean shipments are now in North America and will be in Europe and Asia within the next week.
Second piece of good news: We are resuming shipping in the North America starting today. Hong Kong and Europe will start shipping out by mid-September, as we are just going through the ports.
Third piece of good news: We will be rolling out an update to Sentio Desktop app in the Google Play store next week, which will have software for upgrading the firmware on Superbooks, resolving many of the early bugs including issues with power delivery, connections, etc.
YOUR ACTION NEEDED: Download or update your Sentio Desktop app from the Google Play Store next week when the new update is out. Make sure to download the new version of the app before you start playing with your Superbook so that we can do a firmware update on the device.
Finally, just to start your weekend on a fun note, I wanted to share the reason why our inbound shipment was delayed.
As many of you know, the US has imposed a 25% tariff on goods made in China, a policy that was announced earlier this year. When our latest US shipment was going out (with all of the cords, accessories, and Superbooks), we were told that Superbook and the trade code fell under the list, which would go into affect “sometime in August”. Our shipment was scheduled to arrive August 10th.
So we were pretty nervous.
Around the time it arrived, we found out that the list wouldn’t go into affect until August 23rd. Phew! Or so we thought. Once the shipment landed at US Customs, it was held up for inspection. This was odd, because our previous shipments had gone through without issue. Still, this was on August 15th. No problem right? Should only take a day or two to clear up.
One day became many days, and we were growing extremely concerned. 25% tariff on a shipment our size is … a lot of money. Not only that, we also had to pay a few thousand just for the inspection itself.
We found ourselves on the morning of the 22nd with still no response from the customs and 8 hours away from having to pay the heavy tariff. At 10 AM we were notified of a formal detention notice. Customs wanted to get the UL certification for our power cord (something that we should add is publicly available on the UL website). Finally, after a few hours of back and forth on paperwork, we were notified that the shipment was released.
We escaped the tariff by only a couple hours.
Happy Weekend.
Love,
Andrew, Gordon, and the entire Superbook team
Hi backers and supporters,
Wanted to give everyone a quick update as we are finishing up the last of the 1080p batches for shipment.
1. US / North America shipments on their way! The last 1080p shipments are currently in the ocean, going from Hong Kong to the US. They’re expected to arrive between the first and second week of August, barring any delay at customs. Once they arrive, they - along with the other 6k units in the Gilroy warehouse - will all be shipped together as all of our accessories and chargers for the other 6k units are in this inbound shipment.
2. Europe's 1080p units are completing production this week. We are just short a few hundred units, which are expected to be finished by the end of this week. We should be able to send out for ocean freight next week, arriving within 3-4 weeks in the Netherlands.
3. Some HK / Rest of World units are being moved to EU shipment batch. This allows our EU backers to get their units sooner due to the additional needed time for ocean freight. The remaining HK 1080p units are targeted for completion next week, shipping out just before the US units.
4. New Community Wiki site! New wiki site added to help backers share information with each other on device compatibility and testing. Please add to the Wiki as you start using your Superbook. The new site can be found at https://sentio.wikia.com/wiki/Supported_device
5. Some early firmware issues uncovered this week with USB_PD charging being unstable on some of the 800 Superbooks shipped out. We are in the process of investigation, targeting a firmware fix for the instability in the 2nd firmware update patch.
By request, we’re opening up address updating for a few more days. Address updating will close on Sunday August 5th, 2018 at midnight PST time. Please take this opportunity to update your address as well as mark your address as confirmed. We will prioritize sending out orders with confirmed addresses, as we ran into quite a number of instances in the last batch of shipments that were sent to an old address.
Go into your backer portal, click on your order, and in the Order Information area, click on the 'CONFIRM ORDER' button.
Thanks to all of you who have received and recorded your unboxing experiences. Please share them with us and the community on Slack or by emailing us at [email protected].
Here is one of our favorites:
Andrew, Gordon, and the entire Superbook team
Hi backers, supporters, and people who have been unreasonably patient with us,
First and most important, 100 units shipped yesterday. 300 units are shipping today, and overall 800 are shipping out this week. Baby steps.
If your order shipped out, then you should receive an email confirmation of such. These are delivered via USPS in the US. Our 'Getting Started Guide' can be found here.
Second, there are a total of 6,300 units in the US. Most of these units do not have chargers (see prior problem we had with distributor). Those chargers will come in the July ocean freight shipment, and those units will ship out in July.
Third, firmware charging is now working for a good chunk of popular phones (Samsung Note 8, 8+, Pixel, OnePlus 3T, LG V20, Huawei Mate 9, HTC 10, etc). Please note: Charging compatibility list will grow, as will charging and battery capabilities. Those will be rolled out in firmware updates that will happen via the Sentio Desktop Android app.
Fourth, Sentio Desktop has its latest release on the App Store, and we’ve begun work updating it for Android P. This should be ready by Android P launch (fingers crossed).
Many backers have asked us for photo evidence of things. Rightfully so. Here they are (also please scroll beyond the photos for more important info):
Some other important updates on manufacturing:
Since again, we’ve had a few more weeks go by than anticipated, we're going to ask all of our backers and pre-orders to verify their shipping address. Go into your backer portal, click on your order, and in the Order Information area, click on the 'CONFIRM ORDER' button.
If your address isn't correct, please let [email protected] know right away so we avoid sending the order to the wrong address.
Finally, I wanted to mention that while manufacturing kicked our collective butts, it was harder yet to ask you each time to wait for us. We’re pretty grateful that you guys have been amazingly supportive and provided us with sometimes undeserved kindness.
Andrew, Gordon, and the entire Superbook team