ThinkFlood Recalls Lot Of RedEye Mini IR Dongles For iPod, iPad And iPhone
Well, this isn't the way you'd like to usher in a major product launch
that you've been hyping for months. But in fairness, we would rather a
company come forward and announce a recall versus not doing anything at
all, and that is exactly what ThinkFlood has done with the RedEye Mini.
The company's newest IR dongle, which is meant to fit into iPad, iPod
touch and iPhone products in order to give them universal remote
capabilities, was just launched last week. But now, a bunch of those
first units to get shipped out are heading back.
The RedEye Mini Lot CO101 has experienced a full recall, with the company finding that there is a "huge likelihood" that those units will fail. Consumers who have ended up with a CO101 unit can opt to receive either a replacement unit from the next lot (D0102) or a full refund of their purchase. According to the company, the failures are "the result of vibrations which cause wiring between the headphone jack and the mini’s printed circuit board to break or to create short circuits with other components." In the first design, headphone jack is soldered directly to the printed circuit board, preventing the printed circuit board from moving relative to the headphone jack. The manufacturer of the C0101 lot felt that it was too difficult to solder the headphone jack to the printed circuit board in this fashion. As a result, ThinkFlood approved a design change that would allow the circuit board to be secured to the plastic enclosure by a permanent adhesive, thus keeping the printed circuit board fixed and preventing vibrations from stressing the wiring.
Then, the company began to see a huge amount of failures in the field with circuit boards coming loose, so they're making this decision now. You can visit the link below to see about your options, but it sounds like early adopters will be taken care of.
The RedEye Mini Lot CO101 has experienced a full recall, with the company finding that there is a "huge likelihood" that those units will fail. Consumers who have ended up with a CO101 unit can opt to receive either a replacement unit from the next lot (D0102) or a full refund of their purchase. According to the company, the failures are "the result of vibrations which cause wiring between the headphone jack and the mini’s printed circuit board to break or to create short circuits with other components." In the first design, headphone jack is soldered directly to the printed circuit board, preventing the printed circuit board from moving relative to the headphone jack. The manufacturer of the C0101 lot felt that it was too difficult to solder the headphone jack to the printed circuit board in this fashion. As a result, ThinkFlood approved a design change that would allow the circuit board to be secured to the plastic enclosure by a permanent adhesive, thus keeping the printed circuit board fixed and preventing vibrations from stressing the wiring.
Then, the company began to see a huge amount of failures in the field with circuit boards coming loose, so they're making this decision now. You can visit the link below to see about your options, but it sounds like early adopters will be taken care of.
