Brace yourselves... (an announcement from WelchCorp)

As mentioned in my previous post, it's been quite a while since we updated you on new goings-on here at WelchCorp. It should come as no surprise, then, that Big Things^tm have been afoot!

Hot on the heels of our unprecedented success with the launch of our maiden project, the Eleanor, our boys in the lab have been hard at work for the past several months on a new product - codenamed Clover¹, during the internal development phases - that we think you'll be very interested in.


The lead developer from the Eleanor is back on board, and while we believe that his past work speaks for itself, he's promised that his current project will be just as unique, just as perfect, and just as awesome as his first endeavor with us. He's working long hours, designing and then building every single part of Clover with exacting detail and purpose. We can't wait to see the final product!

During the development phase, Clover must remain in the restricted lab fashioned for its creation, but we have been allowed limited peeks inside. The only photographs we've managed to sneak out have been fairly grainy, blurry, and low-res², but we have been able to identify an external antenna, making Clover truly a revolutionary product for us!

It's important to note that Clover is not designed as a replacement for the existing Eleanor installation you may be familiar with. While it is possible to place each of the two components in its own sandbox environment, the two are designed to be installed concurrently, as their coexistence improves resource sharing and allows access to the existing development framework.

The Clover is expected to launch mid-November this year under its official product designation. Availability will be limited at first, but we expect to be able to put a Clover in the hands of anyone who wants to hold one by the first quarter of 2014.




¹ - Also referred to as 'Squid', in some markets.

² - Seriously, it's like we hired Mr Blurrycam to take our pre-release photos. We'll get pre-production images out soon, but not until we know what we're looking at!

A status update from WelchCorp

It's well past time that we here at WelchCorp update you, our consumers, about the current goings-on and plans up-and-coming. Our apologies for the long silence - let's hope the news makes up for it!
For starters, an update on our inaugural project, the Eleanor:

Development on the Eleanor continues to surpass all expectations - it seems like new features are added on a daily basis! Here's a short list of new features we've seen emerge since our last update:

ROCK ON, MIIIIILK!

• Walking! ¹
• Communication! ²
• Actual sleep!
• Opening doors! (with handles)
• Disassembling her nighttime sleep giraffe!
• Drinking from a cup (sorta)
• Logic! ³

And it's not just the software side of the house that's been hard at work - the Eleanor's hardware is seeing regular updates, as well. The current hardware spec is:

• Height: 31.25"
• Weight: 22lb 13oz
• Head Diameter: 18.75"

And now, to further distract you from how long it's been since our last update - look at how awesome and adorable Eleanor is!

When I wear this bonnet, I am awash in innocence.

Who? Me?

Yup. That's my little lady!

¹ - Yeah, it's been a really long time since our last update! I've got her application for toddler status lying around here somewhere - I'll make sure to post that sometime soon. (Spoiler: She got the promotion)

² - We're starting to be able to distinguish some verbal communication ("dog" and "dad" sound a lot alike, as do "that" and "cat", but they're consistently similar, at least), and signs for "please", "up", "drink", "food", "more", "bath", "sleep", "all done", and "milk" are showing up more and more. We're also seeing a lot of nodding for "yes" and "no", in response to questions. Any day now, she'll be sassing us!

³ - That's right, we're all done for. Logical thinking has emerged. Some examples:

• Eveningtime? Microwave dings? That must be my milk, so it must be time for my bath. I'll head over to the hallway to save time.
• I'm feeling snackish. When Mom's on the couch, she normally has snacks on the end table that I can't reach. I'll just head over there, look starved, and sign "please" - she can't resist!
• Snacks on the table in front of me? Awesome! Hands are not required!

Those are dried cranberries.
She's not headbanging.
... yet.

Two-month Post-Launch Report

Getting some hands-on time with the Eleanor

The Eleanor launched just over two months ago to rave reviews, and - as your management representative on the inside¹ - I bring you this Post-Launch Report:

Expert Reviews

Recent reports from the experts place the Eleanor in the top 10% based on all major market indicators (height, weight, head circumference). We couldn't be more pleased.


Edit: Sorry for all the formatting issues with the initial post. Last time I use the 'Interpret typed HTML' option in Blogger instead of adding the code directly.

Accessories and features...

The first few weeks of the Eleanor's life in the hands of the public have been fantastic - we've gotten some great feedback from the hands-on testing that's been performed so far.

The enclosure, codenamed "Cradle"

The crack design team at Dad B's Workshop put together an amazing enclosure for our little treasure. It's got several great features:

• Stylish wood finish ('cause it's wood)
• Full-circle protection to keep the Eleanor protected while in Standby mode - no falling off of counters or getting lost in dresser drawers here!
• Slatted modular design to allow for add-ons to be installed (see the hanging giraffe in the photo for an example)
• Frame mounted on a pivot to allow a good range of motion and shock absorption

Shot of the "Cradle" in action

We've gotten to test this enclosure out with the Eleanor a few times so far, and I have to say, it's working out great!

One thing we have noticed in our post-launch testing is that the Eleanor seems to have issues going into Standby mode between the hours of 12 and 4 AM. We've spent several hours attempting to diagnose the cause of this issue, and have come to the conclusion that this is not a bug, but rather a 'feature' programmed into the Eleanor's design. Why, we aren't sure, but it's definitely something we're working through. We hope to resolve this through one of our future software updates.

Aside from the Standby issue, we've had the expected amount of core dumps and leaks to clean up, and are working through those one at a time. More news as news is available.

Launch day!

We've all been anxiously awaiting the release of our much-anticipated and groundbreaking Freckle 1.0, the first release milestone for the Freckle product family. As many of you already know, we had to push back our initial release timeline by a few days in order to ensure full product readiness at launch. But, after a 20-hour final production push to bring the Freckle to market, I'm glad to say that the wait is over.

We are now pleased to announce that the Gold Release Candidate of the Freckle 1.0 product has passed final approval and is in full production! In our previous announcement, we promised to reveal the final naming decision at launch, so allow me to introduce to you our pride and joy: Eleanor Quinn Welch

Fresh off the production line

We've been working on the Eleanor for quite some time, and we're quite pleased with the specifications of the final product:

• Length: 20 inches
• Weight: 8 pounds 7 ounces
• Hands 2
• Feet: 2
• Fingers: 10
• Toes: 10

But what, you may ask, differentiates the Eleanor from any other similar product on the market? Take a look at some of these advanced features we've included:

• Blue eyes
• Sandy hair
• Nommable toes
• Pinchable cheeks
• Enhanced lung capacity
• And a face like Winston Churchill himself!

Not only that, but we already have a series of updates planned and in development, which will be released over time. Features such as crawling, walking, and talking will be added over time, and those are only a few of the surprises in store.

Of course, as with any new product release, we're anticipating our fair share of core dumps, memory leaks, debugging, and other post-launch activity which will lead to many late hours and sleepless nights, but we will remain committed to making the Eleanor the absolute best product in her class.

We know you're all just as excited to get your hands on the Eleanor as we have been, but supplies are very limited. One thing's for certain - when the Eleanor is available in your area, don't miss your chance to experience how awesome she is.

Project Update

I'm pleased to announce an update on the development of our much-anticipated project (Freckle 1.0). We've just gotten a peek at the alpha hardware revision, and have some new details to share.

The current hardware weighs in at a sprightly 11 ounces, but as new components are added to flesh out the functionality of Freckle 1.0, we expect that to rise toward industry standards, so stay tuned for updates!

One major question that came up regularly during development meetings was what kind of antenna support and form factor to expect, and today we got to see for ourselves. The lead developer on the project (Mr. Yah Weh) felt it was best that we focus on growing a broad, so the antenna has been installed internally. Now that we have that information, we can start work on protective cases, color choices, and other accessory planning that should keep us busy for some time to come (including discussion around the final name for the product, which we'll announce at launch time).

Development is still occurring at a rapid pace, with all hardware updates occurring in a protective environment, so we still haven't had the chance for any hands-on testing - we don't anticipate availability of a complete model until just a few days prior to public release - but we're still tickled pink AND purple about the future.

Teaser Ad

As some of you may or may not know, my wife and I have been working on a special project for some time, with many struggles and successes along the way. It therefore pleases me to no end to announce that Linnea is currently compiling a human from source code. While she has been the principal developer on the project for the past 13 weeks, I did contribute significant blocks of code to get the project started, and should receive a developer credit on the final product.

We’re very excited about Freckle 1.0 (the internal codename for the project), and I can tell you that we're planning several thrilling features, which we plan to announce throughout the development cycle. At this time, the project is not able to accommodate requests for additional features, as the rapid pace of development has the project team tied up for the foreseeable future.

The expected launch date of Freckle 1.0 is early April 2012. Stay tuned for updates!