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Thank you!
Our campaign has now ended and – thanks to you – we reached our goal with some room to spare. In fact, we are proud to announce that bttn is the 2nd most funded technology project ever from Finland!
We will now go deep into the dungeons and start whipping the elves (just kidding, we wouldn't whip anyone) so that we can ship all your goodies very soon.
T-shirts will be shipped sometime next week and they should reach you around the end of October.
The bttns will be shipped in early November and they should reach you sometime later in the month.
We will also tally all the referrals next week and will start issuing your rewards then.
And if you missed the campaign but still would like to order a bttn or two, do drop us a line.
What Is the
bttn?The bttn is just what it sounds like – a simple Internet connected (either via WiFi or 3G) physical push button that can be used for almost anything using the power of the Internet. Here are some examples:
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You can set the bttn to execute e.g. the following predefined tasks:
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Send messages: email or text messages
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Send social media messages: Tweets or Facebook status updates
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Submit any http get or post request, i.e. control a web page
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Control smart home devices: OpenHome and SmartThings compliant
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Trigger IFTTT recipes or Zapier zaps
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Publish a RSS feed
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Update counters on the web
- Everything else through our REST API
- And much more (no kitchen sink, though)...
Why Did We Create the bttn?
Consider the Internet-of-Things (or Internet-of-Everything as some like to call it): everything – yes, literally everything – will be connected. Lightbulbs will talk to houses will talk to entertainment systems will talk to ... something else.
This massive interconnectedness will fundamentally change how we interact with our environments. We will have unprecedented control over how the things we live with behave and respond to our needs.
Cars will be safer. TV will be better. Homes will be smarter.
There's a catch, though. Your alarm clock may talk to your heater may talk to your coffee machine but something is missing: you.
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Even Fido, the official bttn dog, can use itThe bttn is all about simplicity: making the Internet-of-Things simple, accessible, and – dare we even say it – human again. It is no longer just computer chips talking to computer chips in ones and zeros.
With the bttn, you take charge using the simplest user interface in the world: a modest push-button.
Featured in
Naturally, we think the bttn is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But you don't have to just take our word for it:
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What Is It For?
That's the beauty of the bttn: only your imagination is the limit. You can create very simple or very complicated actions using our back end but using the bttn will always be super simple.
Families can use the bttn for communications, safety, and many, many other uses:
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The bttn can be used for home and office automation to bring a shortcut to our everyday lives:
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The bttn is great for service businesses for streamlining their operations and improving communications:
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For example at a medical office, the assistant or nurse can hit the bttn to let the doctor know next patient is ready.
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Retailers and other businesses can easily build customer surveys using the bttn at a very low cost:
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One bttn press at the office and BAM! Your favorite lunch has been ordered for delivery. Press twice for a hungry friend:
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In fact, the more we have spoken with potential users, the more uses we have discovered. We bet you have some ideas that we haven't even considered yet. Even more use case examples in the media gallery!
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This is Fido's favorite
We'd love to feature your use case in our gallery!
How Does it Work?
The process of setting up and using the bttn is very simple. The initial setup procedure consists of four simple steps:
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If you want to use 3G data, insert a GSM microSIM card with a mobile data plan. Voice and text features of a data plan are not needed. Note: W-CDMA version (available in 2015) required in Japan for 3G.
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Give it power: Put in four AA batteries, or plug in a 5V MicroUSB power adapter (chances are you already have one a compatible cell phone charger lying around in your home). We did not include a charger, as the world is full of wall outlet power sockets of different shapes.
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If you don't want to use 3G data (i.e. no microSIM card is inserted), then Wi-Fi is used. Open your laptop, log in to Wi-Fi access point "bttn", and enter your Wi-Fi network's SSID and password.
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A small green led will light up when the bttn is connected.
Now you can start creating your bttn magic.
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Using any browser, go to the URL my.bt.tn, and create an account using the code provided with your bttn.
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Press the "Settings" button to give your bttn name and location.
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Press the "Configure" button to give your bttn an action.
Now you can either choose one of the many ready-made actions or create your own.
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You can select from predefined actions or create your own
Customizing a pre-made action requires just filling in a some basic information such as a phone number or an email address and the message you want to send.
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It does not get much simpler than this
And you're done. Everything is web-based and you can control, monitor, or configure your
bttn from any web browser no matter where you are.
If you are technically minded...
When a user presses a bttn, it contacts our servers and performs a predefined tasks – like texting someone, sending an email, running a program, turning a device on or off, and so on.
The predefined tasks can be chosen from a ready-made list (with super-easy customization) or you can create your own if you are feeling ambitious.
We've spent a lot of time to make sure that the system is easy enough to use for just about anyone yet it has enough power to satisfy hardcore geeks.
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We integrate with a whole lot of channels and services
The bttn communicates with bt.tn servers, which then trigger the pre-set action. The actions can be counter updates, web page updates, twitter tweets, RSS feeds, IFTTT triggers, email, SMS messaging, or any combination thereof.
Bttn’s multiple patent-pending system
offers a wide variety of ready-made drag-and-drop actions as well as wizards
for simply and quickly defining new actions.
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You can easily control several bttns
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Using the bttn to trigger an IFTTT recipe is just a matter of a few clicks
Beautiful by Design
We gave an internationally known industrial
designer the task of making the bttn beautiful, functional, and robust. Harri
Koskinen's earlier work includes the iconic Block lamp and we think we may have
another icon on our hands.
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Designed in Finland by Harri Koskinen
The bttn works in connection with e.g. IFTTT, and Zapier, making the thousands of great integrations and already created accessible with a simple push of a button. Whenever these (and other) services evolve, we evolve.
What Is in It?
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Please note that battery life depends on usage conditions and patterns
OpenHome and bttn
We are particularly excited about the possibilities of the bttn in the Smart Home. So, we have joined OpenHome Labs, a program launched by connected home leader Icontrol Networks. When funded, bttn will work seamlessly with all devices and services bearing the OpenHome logo.
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The bttn plays nice with OpenHome and your smart home
What Difference Does My Contribution Make?
By contributing, you help us get to the market faster, smoother, and safer. You ensure you and others get the bttn sooner.
Contributing also gives a clear signal to us that we are doing something that matters to you – this sort of validation is extremely important to us.
We've set an initial goal of $50,000 for the campaign. With this funding we can proceed quickly with our manufacturing and get some quality products out very soon. Should we fall short of the goal, we will still proceed with manufacturing but the schedule is likely to stretch and we most likely have to start with smaller volumes, which increases manufacturing price and the eventual consumer price.
And What Do Our Backers Get?
We have created a wide variety of perks ranging from our undying gratitude (which you can earn with surprisingly little money) to a company-wide battery of bttns to your very own custom Configuration Wizard on our server.
See the right side bar for a detailed list of the perks we offer. If you have an idea for an even better perk, let us know. We just might use your idea!
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You can select your bttn in one of the four colors. Or, maybe, get the whole series.
And, of course, there is a super-duper cool t-shirt available. We think it looks pretty fab. We hope you agree...
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Press the bttn and Magic Happens™
Your Reward for Referring Friends
There are social media buttons at the top of this page. When you click on them, they send a tweet or a Facebook post or a Google+ message with a special URL that leads to this campaign. What is special about that URL is that if your friend makes a contribution, you will be credited with an assist (right, technically it is a referral).
We keep track of the referrals and we will reward you with a $10 credit towards your contributions for each referral. Because of Indiegogo rules, we cannot give you cash but if you make 3 referrals, you can get a t-shirt for free. If you make 10 referrals, you get a free bttn. And so on.
The only real catch is that you need to be either logged into Indiegogo OR you need to send the message in connection with your own contribution (the tools will be available on the contribution page) in order for the system to track the referral.
When you are sending your referral message, you can save the URL and reuse it. You do not have to be logged in when reusing the URL; it is enough that you are logged in when you create it.
The bttn story
We are based in Helsinki, Finland, which is one of the hotbeds of European tech startups.
We've
often been asked how we came up with the idea for the bttn. As many of the
greatest inventions or services (no, we are not on that level yet but we are
working on it) the bttn grew out of a series of case discoveries.
Two years ago our Founder Harri was sitting with some of his friends at a restaurant terrace in Helsinki, Finland. They wondered why - in the otherwise ready-made world - there were no action buttons at the tables, which could be used to signal waitresses. At the same time, one of them shared his worry about how he could help his 75 year old mother, living alone in her house, to make it day-to-day.
Thus began the bttn journey. Harri is a serial entrepreneur and making new things is in his blood. He started talking to some of his trusted friends, potential recruits and some potential early backers. Things came together quickly – everybody loved the idea – and the company was started in the Autumn of 2013.
First prototypes came out in early 2014 and now we are preparing for our first mass production run.
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Risks & Challenges
Developing new stuff is always a little risky. We think our risks are manageable as we have undergone several hardware revisions already, we have a seasoned team, the prototypes works well, and we have a very tightly focused goal. However, the risks include:
- Quality issues in production
- Potential component shortages
- Key team members being run over by the number 7B tram
We are keeping a very tight track on our production in order to mitigate any risks. Furthermore, our team never crosses the road in one group in order to avoid catastrophic tram-related accidents.
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Other Ways You Can Help
If you like what we do but are not in a position to make a contribution, we'd still like to hear from you. Referrals to friends, feature suggestions, and rah-rah messages are all received with great pleasure.
