Has mass production started?

[andrewl]

The battery matter was addressed in the Sept 12 update:

"Our aspiration was for the Gemini to have an 8000 mAh battery.

We could not fit the 8000 mAh battery in the dimensions we set for the device, as one of our backers noticed early on in the campaign.
Keeping the aspiration of 8000 mAh we tried to find the largest off the shelf removable battery that would fit the device. We were finding batteries with capacity of around 3000 mAh and this was not satisfactory.

We proceeded to look at other solution making the battery replaceable, but not removable in the sense of not requiring any device maintenance.

In the end we decided to create our own custom battery that can fit the space.  

The battery is not removable, but is replaceable. Having a removable battery would make the device thicker and we did not want that either. The battery can be replaced, as it plugs in neatly into the side PCB. Replacement batteries will be available.

The battery size has been measured at 4220 mAh and we are yet to do the final longevity tests (talk time and standby time)

Even at 4220 mAh, the Gemini regular battery is still one of the largest batteries on a mobile phone device.

We are still keen to cater for an even larger battery and we are considering to introduce an large battery add-on that would come with a thicker base cover to cater for the larger battery volume, making the dimensions of the device much thicker.  "

[Alius]

I thought it was also mentioned that a substantially larger battery might have required the Gemini to be stowed in checked baggage for certain flights.  I am hoping to take mine with me on an international flight in about 6 months, and if I wouldn't be allowed to keep it with me on the plane, I would be less than pleased.

[andrewl]

I thought it was also mentioned that a substantially larger battery might have required the Gemini to be stowed in checked baggage for certain flights.  I am hoping to take mine with me on an international flight in about 6 months, and if I wouldn't be allowed to keep it with me on the plane, I would be less than pleased.

It's strange because the IATA and FAA rules forbid Li-Ion in equipment or loose in checked hold baggage, they insist that they are in carry-on bags.
Their nominal limit per passenger is 100Wh which at 5V is 20000mAh for loose uninstalled, or in a device so you would be OK with 8000 or 4220.

There was a temporary restriction on devices over a certain size between particular destinations in the summer and this may have influenced the decision and the overall size of the Gemini but that restriction is mostly gone now, there are laptops on every flight I've been on lately.

[Pdajah]

Based on the perks for devices, it looks like Planet Computers were expecting a ceiling of about 15000 device orders in addition to the batch for the very early backers. Without other sales channels I can't see them reaching 15000 sales. But without such volumes I can't see them continuing to developing a V2 device.

[BSTM]

We are still keen to cater for an even larger battery and we are considering to introduce an large battery add-on that would come with a thicker base cover to cater for the larger battery volume, making the dimensions of the device much thicker.  "

That was in September.

At the November London backers meeting I asked about this and got no warm vibes at all that anything would happen. They don't hold a comon view on if this is needed or not - or they didnt then. That said, they have been under great pressure to get the unit into production of course - higher priority one would say. That said (2), but that hasnt stoped them working on the camera add-on.

The others thing that came out of the London Backers mtg was the lack of keyboard backlighting. It took an age to actualy get to be able to play with a unit and in the gloom of the bar I suddenly found I couldn't actualy see the legends on the keycaps and do anything useful. Not a deal breaker perhaps, but an inconvience that ought to be corrected in another iteration.

We are where we are and the mobile phone reviewers will make of the Gemini what they do. I look forward to getting my unit and truly hope it is good enough to be my daily driver.

[BSTM]

I thought it was also mentioned that a substantially larger battery might have required the Gemini to be stowed in checked baggage for certain flights.  I am hoping to take mine with me on an international flight in about 6 months, and if I wouldn't be allowed to keep it with me on the plane, I would be less than pleased.

It's strange because the IATA and FAA rules forbid Li-Ion in equipment or loose in checked hold baggage, they insist that they are in carry-on bags.
Their nominal limit per passenger is 100Wh which at 5V is 20000mAh for loose uninstalled, or in a device so you would be OK with 8000 or 4220.

There was a temporary restriction on devices over a certain size between particular destinations in the summer and this may have influenced the decision and the overall size of the Gemini but that restriction is mostly gone now, there are laptops on every flight I've been on lately.

Great post. There was a temporary restriction but it seemed very confused and more associated with laptops (and tablets?) rather than phones. Meanwhile some Chinese phone makers are really picking up on what some want in a phone - The latest Ulefone has a 6080mAh battery with 6inch screen 13MP camera and 9.9mm thick. £165 + taxes...
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ulefone-po...earbest-2874463

[andrewl]

Great post. There was a temporary restriction but it seemed very confused and more associated with laptops (and tablets?) rather than phones. Meanwhile some Chinese phone makers are really picking up on what some want in a phone - The latest Ulefone has a 6080mAh battery with 6inch screen 13MP camera and 9.9mm thick. £165 + taxes...
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ulefone-po...earbest-2874463

I checked out the cabin device ban on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions/electronic-devices-and-electrical-items). They give the maximum device dimensions for certain destinations as:

Quote: "if they’re larger than any of these measurements:"

16cm in length
9.3cm in width
1.5cm in depth (thickness)

Gemini specifications on IndieGogo:

Measure: 17.14 cm x 7.93 cm x 1.51 cm

Interesting on the length.

As for batteries. I wish they could all be specified in Wh for comparison, because of Ohms law a difference in operating voltage makes it difficult to compare batteries capacities between different devices. A 6080 mAh battery at 3.3V is about 20Wh but 30Wh at 5V. 4220mAh 5V battery at 3.3V is 21Wh (6364mAh).

[Varti]

I checked out the cabin device ban on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions/electronic-devices-and-electrical-items). They give the maximum device dimensions for certain destinations as: (...)

Thanksfully, those destinations are only a few: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Varti

[rogalian]

Great post. There was a temporary restriction but it seemed very confused and more associated with laptops (and tablets?) rather than phones. Meanwhile some Chinese phone makers are really picking up on what some want in a phone - The latest Ulefone has a 6080mAh battery with 6inch screen 13MP camera and 9.9mm thick. £165 + taxes...
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ulefone-po...earbest-2874463

Can't stand gadgets with non-easily-replaceable batteries. Use an LG V20 myself with a ZeroLemon 10000mAh replacement battery. Before that a G4 with the equivalent ZeroLemon for that. Prior to that a Nexus 5 with the "add-on" ZeroLemon case which was generally a horrendous experience all round. And in the distance of time a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (again with a big old extended battery).

Even though I've got an "all-in" perk (and the flipping camera too) I've no desire to carry the Gemini around for the phone functions. It's not quite flexible enough a form factor to handle being a phone 100% of the time for me, whereas the V20 does that fantastically well while being just about usable with one hand, Dual SIM allowing me to get rid of separate work/personal phones too.

(Order number 2620 so fingers crossed I'm in the first wave)

[speculatrix]

be careful about promised battery capacity from some of those cheap Chinese vendors... this Doogee one promises 12,000mAH but when Chris@TechTablets took it apart, that's not what he found
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF3B80BZwcQ

on another phone, he found that the second of a twin camera arrangement didn't work and might even have been a dummy!

[Grench]

@BSTM
The battery is said to be replaceable, so there's hope Planet or some 3rd party might come up with a larger replacement battery that fits the form factor. Same for the external camera, since it's an add-on; the choice of 5MP might have been dictated by space constraints, which in turn might have been due to the last-minute changes done in the PCB layout. If the inclusion of the camera would have been planned from the start, a higher quality one might have been used instead.

Varti

Yep - some hope for a bigger battery. But I dont think that will help sell the device to those who will review it properly over the coming weeks or 'average users' comparing specs. Unless Planet actualy say soemthing on the subject. The reason they havnt, I think, is because thickning the underside of the case would destroy the current keyboard tilting geometry.  So it's not easy, but nothing is impossible one would hope.

I would rather have a 3/4lb Gemini in my pocket and a 1lb battery in my travel bag than to have a 1.75lb Gemini.   I think they got the balance right.  4000mAh is still a lot of battery.

[speculatrix]

we might get lucky and a third party could produce a better camera module which is plug compatible.

I suspect that the Gemini will do OK for battery for many people, since the clamshell will remain closed for longer meaning the display is off more than a typical smartphone?

It would be interesting if somebody comes up with an external e-ink display. Remember the Yotaphone? https://yotaphone.com/gb-en/
That would allow the G to show status messages and alerts without draining the battery.

[tielemans.jorim]

This is the last update I got yesterday:

Shipping will start in Jan (right at end of). We will then have to try to ramp up mass production as quickly as possible to get as many units as we can out before Chinese NY.

I would hope that your unit is part of that first shipment but can’t 100% promise given uncertainties of this being the first one the factory will really be increasing production of Gemini

[Kiriririn]

This is the last update I got yesterday:

Shipping will start in Jan (right at end of). We will then have to try to ramp up mass production as quickly as possible to get as many units as we can out before Chinese NY.

I would hope that your unit is part of that first shipment but can’t 100% promise given uncertainties of this being the first one the factory will really be increasing production of Gemini

Where did you get this update?

[eliyahu]

Where did you get this update?

they posted a full update on indiegogo this morning regarding mass production runs and initial shipping: http://indiegogo.com/projects/gemini-pda-a...-phone#/updates

-- eliyahu