Table/Phone stands

[EricParticipant]

We are currently looking into your product to see how it can be applied to retail applications. I noticed from your flojack-mini extender video that it can be used with NFC enabled devices like Nexus4/7 by hooking it off the built-in NFC readers.

I’m thinking of doing the same thing, but unable to find the combination of parts to make it retail ready. (stand for tablet/phone like the ones in the video).

Where do you get the parts and do you have the contacts to them?

Would love to find out more because I think local merchant would love to deploy solutions like these in their premises.

Thank you.

[RichardKeymaster]

Hey Eric, thanks for your question.  We’ve tried out a bunch of different mounting solutions for tablets, phones, and other devices.  We’ve even built our own custom models with our 3D printer:

The best accessory for the money has been the Rocketfish table stand.  At $15, it’s cheap and robust.  Perfect for a lean trial of a retail concept.  Because of the way it grasps the tablet it works equally well with the iPad and Nexus 10.  Also the FloJack and FloJack Mini fit nicely between the anchor points to allow for easy NFC scanning.

If you’re looking for something a bit more protected where you need the Home and Power bottons concealed then you will have to pay a bit more.  The cheapest options I’ve found are from Lilitab in San Francisco, CA.  Their faceplates are plastic but the chasis are heavy metal to keep it from moving when tapping or swiping.  At $350, it’s a solid solution that will stand the test of time.  (Watch out for the pesky iOS 5-finger swipe that will make pranksters turn your interactive experience upside down.)

If you’re in Europe, an equally awesome tablet stand maker is BouncePad with their expensive line of products.  Met up with these folks in UK last year at the ScreenMediaExpo and thought their design and quality was top notch.  Their faceplates and chasis are all metal so you must be cautious when setting up an NFC application using their products.  You can drill a 1.25″ whole in the upper right of the faceplate or have the FloJack extend from the side of the unit.  In all cases, it will require a little massaging to get your setup to work well and not fall apart while being used.

Hope that helps.

[EricParticipant]

Thanks for the prompt reply Richard. Much appreciated.

I’m also curious about the phone stand in the video as well. I looked everywhere, but I couldn’t find a stand similar to the ones you have in your flowjack-mini demo.

Is there something like that out there for tablet as well?!? We are explore various option that is easy for customers to interact/understand but at the same time, limit the real estate occupied.

We are looking to extend the  reach of the builtin NFC functionality of the Nexus 4/7, so we are looking to find/build a custom stand. Are there any companies out there that does that sorta thing or do we just need to build one ourselves?

Thanks!

[RichardKeymaster]

Hey Eric, the phone stand (Nexus S) in the video was a 3D printed model we made in-house.  Some simple shots of it here:

The base was designed to fit a Anker 8400mAh battery pack to give the installation some weight while providing extra power to the Nexus S devices.  The best fit cable we found for this was a right angle microUSB on Amazon.  If you have access to a 3D printer (Solidoodle, MakerBot, PrinterBot, Cubify, etc) then you can print out a few for yourself.  Here are the STL files you will need:

• http://www.dropbox.com/s/c2nv5c9o64s3np9/nexus_reader_bottom3.stl
• http://www.dropbox.com/s/6m27viivxbgrb4z/nexus_reader_front3.stl
• http://www.dropbox.com/s/vo1zvht77ndyh4t/nexus_strap3.stl

 

Let me know if you have issues assembling it.  Pretty straight forward but be prepared to use some Crazy Glue to make it all sturdy.

[EricParticipant]

Thanks so much for your help Richard. Much appreciated.

We have already pre-ordered your FloJack iOS for testing, but we are also interested in testing your NFC Band-aid / FloJack mini combo.

Your online shopping site only sells 10in cable (NFC Band-aid), but we are interested in extending it upto 3feet. From what I read on your site, this is possible. How can we order this?

How can we setup the “3 FloJack mini” combo like your demo? The NFC Band-aid only have one outlet, so how can one go about attaching >1 FloJack mini on it?

Can we order thees custom components for testing? Can we specify those requirements in our order on your site? Any discounts on multiple orders of FloJack mini?

One last thing, we are thinking of developing a Android solution using your FloJack device, but your Android driver is lacking at the moment. We are interested in partnering with your company to speed up the development of this driver. Let me know how you guys want to proceed with this.

Thanks!

[Author]

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