We had finally received our first pre-production samples from our factory. They looked pretty cute and the initial reaction from people was that we were onto a very unique and fun product. The flower device concept had at this point also been showcased on Coroflot, where it reached quite a gathering.
Shortly thereafter Kevin Hall, writer at NBC/SyFy Channels tech and gadget blog Dvice, had written an article about it that spread like wildfire through the internet and was translated into tons of languages within a week. It was at this point very clear that if we were to choose one of the devices to proceed with, the truly flower shaped version was it.
It was also evident to us that the concept was good, BUT we quickly realized some concerns. Our flowers were not reusable; the fragrances were not refillable and once the fragrance oil had evaporated it became nothing but a plastic flower decoration attached to a laptop. Another issue was the lack of an universal standard as to the USB port position on all computers. Some ports were vertical, others were horizontal and the rest were just plain upside down. Our flower device was not adjustable, which meant it would only work with the one orientation we chose, eliminating those tech savvy Apple users whose ports were upside down.
I went back to the drawing board and rendered up a new flower product. I designed an aluminum cylindrical refill cartridge with room for at least three times more fragrance oil. If we were about to start from scratch, why not boost the life span and quality of our product! And since it was now refillable, we decided that each product should come with 3 refills. We scaled up our flower significantly and added the rotatable stem to make it universal.
We made a new prototype, tested out the new functionality and we were pleased with the results. We decided to lay low on this new product and a few months went by before I was contacted by Jens Eriksson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting. I had known Jens since my early childhood in Sweden; he was my best friends’ older brother and a proven entrepreneur and businessman in Europe.
Here are some images of our final version USB Scent Flower™, first shots of plastic injection. This is when we make sure that all parts fits together properly. Potential changes are made by revising the injection mold.
Jens expressed an interest in starting up a company with me and start producing and selling our USB Scent Flower™. I welcomed the partnership and together we founded USB Flower Ltd.
Almost a year later, our product is now available for sale in several countries around the world, including through our own website where we offer worldwide shipping. The response has been great and we look forward to reveal some additional exciting news in a near future.
Stay in the loop by following our development here on our blog, our Facebook page, our Twitter page and our USB Scent Flower™ blog.
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