At CES 2008, Neowin talked to a company called Bug Labs. They have created the BUGBase which allows for different add on modules (touch screen LCD, GPS, accelerometer, and web cam currently) to be plugged in and programmed to the users desire. It has built in RAM, CPU, Li-Ion battery, USB, Ethernet, mmc, serial interface, and a small LCD with button controls. The idea is simple: give the resources to the consumers to become the creators.
Even in the early stages, Bug Labs has a large community actively developing new ways to use and interact with the BUGBase and modules. A few neat programs developed so far are a security system that detects motion and uploads an image to flickr, GPSAlarm that sets off an alarm based on proximity rather than time, and several others you can browse here or in their forums
Neowin had the opportunity to have a chat with Jeremy from BugLabs. Click Read More to check on how Bug Labs has progressed since January at CES!
The BUG+EDU program recently launched, how well has that been doing? It sounds like an amazing idea to help the students (I would have loved that back when I was in classes!)
JT: We"ve actually been on the quieter side regarding BUG+EDU right now, mainly because we"ve had a low inventory of units. We didn"t really want to get too loud if we weren"t going to be able to fulfill orders on-demand. Thankfully our production is ramping up and by September this won"t be an issue and you"ll see us start getting more visible with the program again. That said, we"ve had quite a few interested students and educators get in touch, and we"ve been crafting programs with them.
Open houses? Beer? That doesn"t sound like a typical company! It seems BugLabs is embracing the community way beyond other companies. How well have the past open houses been with the community?
JT: We definitely aren"t, and don"t want to be a typical company! Our success hinges completely on building a broad developer community, getting out in front of people, and learning everything we can about what people really want to do with the platform. Our open houses and BUG+ events were all well received, and we plan to do a lot more of them in the future!
How are the other attachments (touch screen, mini keyboard, audio) coming along, are they still expected anytime soon?
JT: The current LCD is a touch-screen, but we"re also working on a bigger LCD module. The audio module will be available in the next couple of months, and we"re shooting for the keyboard later this year. We also have a series of connectivity modules coming, one each for WiFi, 3G, and mesh networking.
Do you have the next batch of attachments decided yet?
JT: In addition to the ones mentioned above, we"re working on a series of different sensors (thermal, weather/environmental, etc) and also different accessories. We"ll have serial, Ethernet, and other cables and "docks" available later this year.
I read about the security system that posts to Twitter (pretty neat!), what would be some of the most surprising/out there/amazing things you have seen the community develop so far?
JT: We"re really still in the early stages of community development, so I think my favorite is a port of Space Invaders that uses the accelerometer for controls. Very cool.
We here at Neowin would like to thank Jeremy for taking his time to answer our questions!