Production schedule update

It's been a little while and things have been busy streamlining the production effort. It was quite an experience to see how much continuous interaction is required with suppliers and vendors to keep things going at a steady pace and to get them to meet deadlines.

Here is an update on the status of various items:

• Housing:
  The mold making is in full progress. The first production samples are due in the week of September 15 (next week).
• USB cable
  The first 100pcs are expected on September 10 (tomorrow) and the remaining ones by October 10.
• Bi-color LED
  Estimated time of arrival for the LED is September 15 (next week).
• GPS engine
  The GPS engine will be delivered early in the week of September 22.
• Antenna
  The antenna tuning process has been completed and we are now waiting for a committed ship date for the production units. A test report is expected back within the next few days.
• PCB boards
  Yesterday, a purchase order was placed for the production PCB boards and board assembly. The PCB panels are due back by September 23.
• PCB board assembly
  The start of assembly of the PCB boards is scheduled for September 25.
• Estimated arrival of the first GPS modules
  We are expecting the first assembled GPS modules back on October 8.

In the meantime, I wanted to see how much interest there is for one or more additional USB cables from your site. Every module will ship with one micro USB cable included, but for myself I have found it handy to have a few cables around: one for the car, one that is attached to the computer and one that is plugged into the Apple AC charger. These USB cables are 6ft long and thus a lot more convenient than the short Apple sync cables which are barely 4ft.

As the lead-time on these cables is fairly long (9-11 weeks), I would like to see how many people are interested in one or more additional USB cables and possibly get things started off early. Each additional cable will cost $4.50. If there is a lot of interest, I can get the price down to $4.00.

Note: we are talking about a micro-USB cable here (not a regular mini-USB). One side of the cable is a standard USB-A plug for the charger/computer, the other side a micro USB-B plug for the module.

I have placed another poll in the left column where you can voice your opinion. Also feel free to post additional comments.