Announcing Pricing & Availability

January 5th, 2008

The company has a lot to announce today, and I'll start with the topic that gets the most questions: pricing. But, before I get there, I want to take a moment to introduce a new concept in pricing for consumer electronics devices: the Early Adopter Discount.

Just as it sounds, the BUG Early Adopter Discount is going take a shift away from tradition, and actually reward the first wave of customers with a 13% (or greater) discount on products for the first 60 days of sales. Retail pricing for the first run of products is as follows:

  • * BUGbase $349 ($299 w/discount)
  • * LCD module $119 ($99 w/discount)
  • * GPS module $99 ($79 w/discount)
  • * Camera module $79 ($69 w/discount)
  • * Motion detector / Accelerometer $59 ($49 w/discount)

There will be an additional discount to customers who purchase the base plus all four modules, which we'll announce on the 21st.

In addition to the Early Adopter Discount, we are announcing a second pricing program called BUG+EDU. BUG+EDU is actually a series of programs and promotions aimed at introducing BUG to the education market. Different programs will be established for primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions, as well as for individual students. We believe the BUG is a great platform for aspiring engineering students as well as kids who just like to tinker. BUG+EDU will hopefully get more units into the hands of those who will really use their imagination to drive the next generation of cool gadgets.

Also important, the Bug Labs online store will be open for business starting Monday, January 21st. At this point we will begin taking pre-orders for the BUGbase and all four BUGmodules. We will begin fulfilling orders on or before March 17th, and will ship based on the dates the orders were originally received. Our initial rollout will only include domestic orders, but we aim to fulfill internationally later in the year.

Lastly, because we want to encourage users to make the most of their BUG, we are pleased to announce the Von Hippel module, a new addition to the collection of BUGmodules. Named after MIT professor and "Democratizing Innovation" author Eric Von Hippel, the Von Hippel BUGmodule adds an interface of inputs and outputs to the BUG, allowing users to "hack" their BUG even further. Professor Von Hippel's book was a big inspiration for the foundation of Bug Labs, so having his name associated with our products is an exciting accomplishment. Final pricing and timing for the Von Hippel BUGmodule is not yet set, but we are targeting the first quarter as well.

We are looking forward to a great 2008!