MEATER: The First Truly Wireless Smart Meat Thermometer
Created by Apption Labs
Meater is the only wire-free meat thermometer that will guarantee perfectly cooked meats every time you cook.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
51 | The Phantom Touch Menace
almost 7 years ago
– Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 10:33:27 PM
First and foremost, we thank you for your patience. We know this update is long overdue.
Our intention was to post an update in December when we reached our next MEATER Block milestone – the start of BETA TESTING. When we received our pilot production units in early December, we were hopeful we could send these out as beta units shortly after. But after extensively testing the units, our R&D team discovered a touch panel bug that prevented us from greenlighting beta testing (and providing a proper update with good news!).
More details on the panel bug: sometimes the MEATER Block will register phantom user input that can cause changes in the cook settings. This boils down to a hardware issue, which we’re actively fixing.
What is the problem?
Phantom touch events detected by the touch chip due to RF noise.
Why didn’t you catch this before?
The bug stems from the tuning and antenna improvements that we made for the pilot production units to fix previous WiFi and Bluetooth issues. While the new hardware did improve Bluetooth and WiFi performance, it has also brought about the touch chip issue.
What we’re doing to resolve the phantom user input:
Resolving the touch chip issue is our top priority. We are working with the producers of the touch chip component to implement the solution.
How will this impact my MEATER Block?
• Our next step is testing the functionality of the hardware fix.
• This fix will be retro-fitted into our beta test units, so we can go into beta testing sooner. • Production units will have the updated circuit change should it prove to be the solution. • We will have to repeat some of the compliance tests (EMI and ESD) because of the hardware change, however, we do not expect to face significant delays with certification based on previous tests already done by the compliance test company.
Here’s a snapshot of our progress in the past month:
Implemented functions into the MEATER Block hardware:
• Bluetooth/WiFi app pairing
• Stand alone cook functions (MEATER Block without MEATER app connectivity)
• iOS app functionalities, e.g. cook history, cook setups, alerts
• Field upgrade feature
• Optimized BLE/WiFi antenna
• Optimized alert volume
Current issues being tackled:
• Touch chip bug • Android connectivity and functions (this does not hinder beta testing with iOS users)
Delivery:
Since we can’t account for the bugs that may arise over the course of beta testing, it is hard to estimate when we can move into mass production. Our development team is working tirelessly towards completion of the MEATER Block with a goal of fulfilling every pledge to all of our MEATER Block backers this year. Before we provide a delivery date, we want to be sure it will be a date we can meet and therefore will hold off until we’ve hit the mass production milestone.
We will ship MEATER Blocks to our crowdfunding backers before pre-orders on MEATER.com. In addition to the pledges raised by our backers, support from our supplier, external investors, and investments from the creators will allow us to perfect and deliver MEATER Block rewards.
One of our goals this year is to be more transparent and provide updates regardless of the news (good or bad). We understand even clearer now that it is better to provide information of the obstacles in development than leaving our backers in the dark until we have significant progress. At the same time, it makes us reluctant to share those kinks for fear of negativity and loss of support from backers despite working diligently to finish the product. With that said, in our effort to provide transparency and commitment to monthly updates, we ask for your support even if the update does not show the progress you were hoping for. Your positive energy will help keep our lines of communication open and give us confidence to share information and answer questions.
The next planned update will be to announce that we’ve commenced beta testing. However, if any issues arise that affect the plan we will be sure to keep you in the loop next month.
Left: Downloading updates to the Block with your phone! Right: Our engineering team finding and crushing bugs.
Achieved MIlestones:
• Beta testing of the single unit MEATER
• First Kickstarter MEATER units shipped in March
• Completion of single unit pledges (if you haven’t completed your BackerKit survey, please do so! ☺)
• Official launch of MEATER.com in October
• Regular app updates for Android and iOS to improve cooking experience
• Block re-design with better BLE chipset
• Pilot production batch of MEATER Blocks produced in November • MEATER Cloud operational and served customers through the huge holiday cooking season • Established mass production supply chain
• Established customer support for 10,000+ users on the field • Fulfillment network delivered to over 80 countries
Upcoming Milestones:
• Beta testing MEATER Block • Second pilot run (w/HW changes) • Hardware freeze
• Mass production
• Finish compliance testing
• Software freeze • Begin delivery
A special thanks to the Block backers we met and spoke to along the way. We heard your concerns and are taking action. If we’ve not spoken to you yet, we look forward to changing that in the future. We’re grateful for your support and look forward to making 2018 the best year yet!
50 | The MEATshank Redemption
about 7 years ago
– Sat, Oct 28, 2017 at 01:49:13 AM
Hey there MEATER lovers!
App update
We’ve been working hard to make improvements to the MEATER app, and are focused on continually improving our overall user experience. A couple weeks ago, we released an update that provides improved support for customers using iOS 11 or iOS 8.
Single units now available:
We recently completed pre-order fulfillment for the single unit MEATER, and have begun offering the product for immediate sale. If you’re interested in purchasing a single unit MEATER, you can do so on our online store!
Since development on the single unit MEATER has wrapped, future updates (including the remainder of this one) will focus solely on MEATER Block development progress.
BLOCK UPDATE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Question: When is the Block shipping?
Answer: We’re not quite ready to provide a definitive ship date for the MEATER Block. Since development has taken longer than expected, we don’t want to commit to a ship date until we're sure it can be met.
We’ll be able to provide a ship date for the Block once we achieve firmware and hardware that meet the same high standards of quality that we insisted upon for the single unit MEATER.
Once this happens, we’ll provide a breakdown for when batches will be shipping out to various pre-order channels (i.e. Kickstarter, Indiegogo, meater.com.) These ship dates will be both realistically achievable, and fairly close to the announcement date, as at that point the product will be nearly ready to ship.
Question: What’s taking so long?
Answer: Before we could dig into development of the MEATER Block, we needed to first complete the design of the MEATER probe, as it is a key component of the Block.
When we started this project, there was no meat thermometer on the market that was both truly wireless and able to stand up to the heat of repeated cooks. After all, who would have thought that you could place a high-tech piece of monitoring equipment on a hot grill without it ending up roasted?
At the time, many people thought that such a thermometer was an impossibility. Flash forward two years, and we’ve been able to achieve exactly that. However, creating a totally new product takes time, as unforeseeable issues are a normal part of any development process.
Since the Block doesn’t need to physically withstand the heat produced by your grill or oven, we don’t anticipate running into the same issues we encountered with development of the MEATER probe.
We can’t send out probes to Block backers until the product is completed, as users will need the Block in order to charge their probes. However, since we have the probe design finalized, one of the more difficult pieces of the development equation has already been solved.
Question: What’s currently being worked on?
Answer: Production line setup and bug squashing.
PRODUCTION LINE SETUP
Next week, several members of the Apption Labs team are visiting Taiwan, to oversee production of a test batch of MEATER Block units.
The main purpose of the visit is to work out any potential manufacturing bugs prior to the start of mass production. We plan to continue production trials until we’re fully satisfied with the process, at which point we’ll be able to schedule our first batch of units to be mass-produced.
BUG SQUASHING
As was the case in the last few updates, we’re still working internally to fix known bugs in the MEATER Block’s firmware. Since we first announced that we were bug hunting, we’ve managed to fix 266 notable bugs, bringing us significantly closer to our end goal.
Question: What’s going on with beta testing?
Answer: While we’ve managed to solve a considerable amount of the bugs we’ve encountered, there are still some high-priority bugs that need to be resolved before we can begin beta testing.
Since we’re about to produce a test batch of Blocks, we plan to to use these to expedite the beta testing process. This will lead to stronger test feedback, as testers will be using production hardware that more closely resembles the final product than the handmade engineering units we’ve been using for internal tests.
Using Blocks from our test batch also allows us to expand beta testing to a larger amount of testers. At this time, we’ve compiled our full list of beta testers, and will distribute Blocks as soon as we feel confident that all major firmware bugs we’re aware of have been sorted out.
Question: Can you ship my probes now and the Block later?
Answer: Unfortunately, we can’t supply Block backers with their probes prior to the completion of the MEATER Block.
MEATER Block probes are configured slightly differently than single unit MEATER probes, so the probes we currently have in stock are different from the probes that Block backers will receive.
In addition to this, the Block acts as the probes' charger, so customers would be unable to recharge their probes until we also ship them the MEATER Block.
Question: Why are you selling single units when the Block has yet to be completed?
Answer: At this time, we’ve finished fulfillment of single unit pre-orders placed on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and meater.com. This has allowed us to begin offering the single unit MEATER for immediate sale.
Right now, our engineering team’s main focus is to resolve the remaining bugs in the Block’s firmware. This work is done separately from production and distribution, and is not hindered in any way by our continued production of the single unit MEATER.
On the contrary, ongoing manufacturing of the single unit MEATER actually works in support of Block production. Since our supplier is currently ready to produce probes, we can avoid the problems and delays inherent in ramping up production once we’re ready to begin manufacturing the MEATER Block.
When we begin production of the Block, we will prioritize the manufacturing of Blocks and Block probes over production of the single unit MEATER, so that resources will be funnelled towards Block distribution.
We’ve tried our best to answer all the questions we see most frequently asked, but if you’re curious about something we didn’t mention, feel free to email us at [email protected], and we’ll get back to you with a response as soon as we possibly can.
49 | Sear & Roasting in Las Vegas
about 7 years ago
– Tue, Sep 12, 2017 at 12:00:04 AM
#meatermade and Win $50
Now that more MEATERs are out in the wild, we’re encouraging our backers to post pictures on Instagram for a chance to win a $50 store credit to meater.com. All you need to do is:
Follow our @meatergram account
Take a picture of your food with MEATER in the picture
Tag the photo with #meatermade
The prize-winning photo will be announced every Tuesday and will be featured on our @meatergram and Facebook accounts.
See the full contest rules here - Contest Rules.
Congratulations to last week's Instagram #meatermade winner! We’ll be announcing a new winner tomorrow, so stay tuned!
Remember to hashtag #meatermade on Instagram with your cooks using MEATER for a chance to win!
MEATER Block update
There’s been great progress with MEATER Block development as we're working every day to finalize the product's design. Here are some snippets of recent advancements:
• Hardware: We validated the hardware last month, which gave us insight into the minor modifications we need still need to implement to improve wireless performance and manufacturability. • Firmware: All the functions for the Bluetooth and WiFi chip have been implemented but require additional testing. Basic features work including: MEATER Link, the OLED display, touch capacitive interface, speaker, probe pairing, and connection to the app. We’re constantly fixing bugs to ensure that the final user experience is smooth and intuitive. • Embedded Development: We just finished the code allowing for field firmware updates through the app. Once completed, users will be able to update the MEATER Block firmware using the MEATER app. We're still testing this feature, as it needs to be properly implemented to ensure that your MEATER Block can continue to run cutting-edge software, but we've recently made some significant breakthroughs.
• Manufacturing Design: We just received the updated hardware design that will be used for manufacturing. We are currently reviewing and validating the modifications.
• Packaging Design: We’re taking as much care with the packaging on the MEATER Block as we did with the single MEATER. We are currently considering a few different designs, and will have a final design chosen soon.
• Compliance: We’ve sent the MEATER Block to the compliance lab (the same one that tested the MEATER probe) for pre-testing. They’re currently testing the product so that we can submit MEATER Block for FCC certification. We’ll announce more progress updates soon.
• Beta Testing: We still have to do more internal testing (and cooking) before we are ready to send MEATER Blocks to beta testers. As soon as the field upgradeability feature is ready to go, we can consider starting the beta testing phase. Barring any major issues, we’re looking to start beta testing in 2 to 3 weeks.
• Production: We’ve already purchased all the major components needed to build MEATER Blocks. Once we freeze the design (after we've tested the product and are happy with all major functions) we’ll be able to move into production quickly.
• Delivery: Any estimates we provide now may potentially change, so we would rather give you a more accurate date once we’ve finalized the product's design. As soon as we know a concrete date, we'll share that information with you.
We empathize with our MEATER Block backers, and have tried our best to figure out a way to get the product out sooner. However, any ideas we proposed meant either cutting corners or removing features. We do not want to produce a sub-par product, especially since you’ve been waiting for so long. We have your best interest in mind, and are working tirelessly to make MEATER the best cooking tool in the market. If you have any specific concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for your patience!
We're continuing fulfillment of crowdfunding pre-orders of single unit MEATERs and if you haven't responded to the BackerKit survey yet, please do so we can get your MEATER to you! MEATER Block backers will be sent the survey when the Block is in production.
If you have any issues with your shipment please contact [email protected] and we’ll be happy to assist you!
MEATER Link and MEATER Cloud
We're receiving higher volumes of feedback and it makes us extremely excited to know more backers are receiving and enjoying their MEATERs. Thank you for all the feedback we're getting! We read all of them. :)
One of the main concerns people have is the Bluetooth range that is limited depending on the various grills and smokers out there. Our development team is extensively researching solutions to improve the range for future generations of MEATER. Currently, if you have a second smart device, we highly suggest using the MEATER Link/Cloud feature that is already built into the app. If you need help setting it up, watch this short video. Additionally, here are tips you can use to improve your Bluetooth range.
If you have any questions, comments, or just want to say howdy, don't hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] and our team will work as swiftly as we can to make sure you're cooking the best that you can. :)
48 | All Eyez On MEAT
over 7 years ago
– Sun, Aug 13, 2017 at 01:17:43 AM
#meatermade
Hey hey, everybody! We're so ecstatic that more of you are receiving your MEATERs. If you've got your MEATER, a steak just hanging out in the fridge, and an appetite, let's get to cookin'! :) We couldn't help but #repost on Instagram some of these delectable cooks our awesome backers have posted. Don't forget to hashtag #meatermade with any posts you make of your cooks and share it with the world (or at least your hungry followers), and you may get featured in our MEATER-lover reposts!
Fulfillment
With the exception of backers we'd already shipped to prior to working with BackerKit, all Kickstarter backers who pledged for single probe MEATERs have received the survey! Please respond back as fast as you can humanly click your mouse and your MEATER should be leaving the warehouse soon.
For international (not in the USA) shipments, we smoothed out issues with our fulfillment company and a huge chunk of MEATERs are set to be shipped out tomorrow. All single MEATERs are either waiting for their BackerKit surveys to be answered or on their way to you. Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.
Our testing so far has produced great results - the hardware validation and firmware integration with full functionality of the new chipsets are complete. This has allowed us to move forward to...
OUR FIRST COOK WITH THE MEATER BLOCK!!
Indicators help identify your probes.
Setting up the MEATER Block thru the app.
Cooking 4 steaks at once, each to a pirates' liking!
The MEATER Block as the Bluetooth to WiFi bridge, via MEATER Link.
Our next steps are to start compliance testing and continue squashing bugs so we can get to our beta testing phase. We'll keep you updated with our test results and progress!
That's all for now, thanks always for supporting our campaign to build MEATER, which keeps an eye on the meat for you!
47 | Silence of the Lamb Chops
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 10:57:53 PM
Hello MEATER backers!
Over the course of 2 months, we have delivered MEATERs to thousands of backers. We are delighted to see you using the product, cooking and sharing cook results from everyone ranging from experienced pit masters to new meat enthusiasts. We have also been busy supporting you, reviewing your feedback, and listening to your suggestions. Thank you for all this feedback!
Using what we’ve learned, we created the meater.com support page to help answer your most common questions and help you get the most out of your MEATER.
We’re constantly improving the MEATER cooking experience based on customer feedback. Here are a few new features you can find in the update:
The MEATER app can now remind you to put your probe back into the charger when it notices that you’re done using it.
You can disable the ‘5 minutes remaining’ custom alert that is automatically added to all your cooks. Disable it in the “Settings” menu.
We’ve updated the Guided Cook meat options to make it easier to find the your meat cut.
Fixed an issue where MEATER sometimes briefly provided an incorrect time estimate.
We have produced all single MEATER units for Kickstarter backers and received these at our fulfillment partner warehouses. This logistical process has had some glitches and delays, partially caused by backer last minute address changes or missing addresses.
Despite these delays we will be able to finish shipping all USA MEATER deliveries next week.
In parallel we are progressing with our international fulfillment partner and will be starting shipments to international destinations (i.e. outside of the USA). International fulfillment will be done in 2 batches: 1st smaller batch to test the process with this new fulfillment provider and then a 2nd batch to fulfill all international backers starting as early as next week.
Please be on the lookout for an email from our friends at Backerkit to confirm your shipping address.
There’s significant progress with the MEATER Block. Most of the HW functions including BLE, WiFi, power, and capacitive touch control have been verified. Based on the results, we’re ready to move forward with the next phase in parallel:
Start 3rd party compliance testing (e.g. FCC and CE).
Produce new PCB layout specifically to help make MEATER Block easy to mass produce.
Finalize firmware integration with the new hardware.
The MEATER probes modeling their unique identifiers. Ooh la la!
The next milestone is to wrap up functional testing so we can get these units out to beta testers which we estimate to begin no later than September. Meanwhile, we will move to the next phase outlined above so we can get to the pilot production run.
Thank you so much friends. Until the next update, stay cool!
