Neptune (company)

Neptune Computer Inc., commonly known simply as Neptune, is a Canadian privately held consumer electronics and wearable technology company founded in 2013 by Simon Tian in Montreal, Canada, and currently based in Toronto and San Francisco.[1][2] As of late 2017, the company has raised around $6 million from private investors as well as a total of more than $2 million from crowdfunding sources alone.[2][3][4]

Neptune
Private
IndustryConsumer electronics
FoundedJanuary 23, 2013 (2013-01-23)
FounderSimon Tian
Headquarters
Toronto, Ontario
,
Canada
Key people
Simon Tian (CEO)
Ramesh Mantha (CTO)
Steve Mann (Chief Scientist)
ProductsNeptune Pine
Neptune Suite
Websitewww.neptune.co

Neptune's first product, the Neptune Pine, was first announced in 2013 through a Kickstarter campaign, which proceeded to raise more than $800,000 in 30 days.[5] The device started shipping to backers in August 2014, and eventually became widely available through Best Buy and Amazon, generating around $5 million in total retail sales.[6][7][3] The Pine was prominently featured in the 2017 film The Fate of the Furious, the CBS TV series Extant produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Halle Berry, as well as the music video for the song Smartphones by Trey Songz.

History

Neptune was started by Simon Tian in January 2013. Before even building a prototype or incorporating a company, Tian posted some conceptual drawings of a smartwatch, the Neptune Pine, on a website he built using Weebly, issued a press release though PRWeb announcing the product, and proceeded to receive more than 20,000 orders for the device in a few weeks.

Tian then dropped out of school and traveled to China to meet with contract manufacturers to have the device developed. In November 2013, he launched a crowdfunding campaign for the Pine on Kickstarter. Within 27 hours, the campaign reached its funding goal of $100,000, and ultimately went on to raise more than $800,000 in 30 days.

The device started shipping by August 2014, and eventually became widely available through Best Buy and Amazon, generating around $5 million in total retail sales for the company.[3] It was prominently featured in the 2017 film The Fate of the Furious, the CBS TV series Extant produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Halle Berry, and the music video for Smartphones by Trey Songz. The Pine has gotten mixed reviews from the press, generally praising its extensive set of features, while criticizing its large size.

In March 2015, Neptune announced the Neptune Suite through an Indiegogo campaign, raising $1.2 million in a month. Christopher Mims of the Wall Street Journal described the Suite as "a literal interpretation of the fact that a smartwatch, smartphone and tablet are all just different size windows on the same set of apps and services." Daniel Cooper of Engadget commented on the ambitious nature of the product vision, writing, "Technology is all about big ideas, and this one from Simon Tian will probably need its own aircraft hangar." Cliff Kuang of Wired called the Suite "a taste of what computing should be in 2025", and the Verge wrote, "the idea of putting all the brains and power of mobile computing into something attached to your body instead of in a pocket or bag is wildly attractive."

In 2017, Steve Mann, the inventor of the world's first general purpose wearable computer as well as high-dynamic-range imaging (HDR), joined the company as a Chief Scientist. He is commonly referred to as the "father of wearable computing" by the mainstream press.[8] As of 2018, Neptune is still actively developing the product and aim to release the suite in Q2 2019.[3][9]

gollark: I mean, we had [REDACTED] incidents with it, but that was just due to me unplugging it.
gollark: No, not really.
gollark: I have a tablet with postmarketOS on it, so theoretically that could run an APIONET node.
gollark: My Raspberry Pi is on eternally.
gollark: > running an apionet node on a raspberry pi is almost certainly a terrible ideaWhy?

References
  1. "Neptune Computer | CrunchBase". www.crunchbase.com.
  2. "How a Canadian whiz kid plans to upend the smartphone market". The Globe and Mail.
  3. "Neptune". angel.co.
  4. "Neptune Suite - One Hub, Infinite Possibilities". Indiegogo.
  5. "Neptune Pine: Smartwatch. Reinvented". Kickstarter.
  6. Best Buy Canada. "Neptune Pine 16GB Smartwatch with GPS - Large - Black".
  7. "NEPTUNE Pine 16GB Smartwatch - Retail Packaging - Black: Amazon.ca: Cell Phones & Accessories". www.amazon.ca.
  8. Schofield, Jack (2001-08-02). "From man to borg - Is this the future?". the Guardian.
  9. Neptune (2018-05-18). "Updates From Neptune". Neptune. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
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