A new year, a new update! This update will be aimed at looking forward: what’ll be in store for 2021, and what are we working on at the moment?
In this update:
- New products: Gazzew Silent Linear switches, Gazzew Boba U4 RGB switches;
- Some news about MBK keycaps;
- A note for British customers on Brexit;
- The state of pending orders;
- The plans for 2021.
New Products
Gazzew Pink Silent Linear Switches
You’ve been able to get Gazzew’s tactile Boba switches at splitkb.com for a while now, and now I have the honor to present you a new switch developed by Gazzew in cooperation with Outemu: the Pink Silent Linear! Available in three weights of 52g, 62g and 68g, you’re sure to find a switch you like.
Gazzew Boba U4 Silent Tactile RGB Switches
Available for a hot few moments across the pond, and now in stock at splitkb.com too: Boba U4 switches with a clear top! The clear tops allow for more light to pass through when your keyboard has bottom-mounted RGB LEDs. Of course, they’ll also work without RGB.
Tenting Puck
While it hasn’t seen a proper introduction yet, the first batch is now in production and will be available by February. You can sign up for updates on the product page to be the first to know when they’re in stock!
With the tenting puck, you’ll be able to tent select splitkb.com keyboards, starting with the Kyria rev1.3.
MBK Keycaps
The new MBK keycaps with legends are now available in a group buy that runs until February 15th!
Now available, legended MBK keycaps! And additionally, blank MBK keycaps are also available for preorder. There’s a lot to love, so be sure to check out the options while they’re available!
A note on the Brexit
The 1st of January has passed, and that means that the breakup between Great Britain and the European Union has become a fact. What does this mean for you?
- I have registered myself with the government of the United Kingdom and will pay VAT to the UK. This means that you will pay any VAT owed on items you import directly to me, instead of to your local customs authority.
- I have registered myself with the Dutch and British customs authorities. This means that items you import will pass through customs more quickly.
- I am holding British orders until my registration has been finalised by the customs authorities and the government. According to estimates I was given, these should be completed by February 2021. By holding your orders until my registration has been finalized, your packages should not incur additional fees when passing through customs.
My goal is to remain open to British customers, and to allow you to purchase items at splitkb.com worry-free like you were used to in 2020. This also means that I strive to prevent any additional fees being imposed on British orders, and with the steps outlined above I should accomplish that.
Order progress
- As usual these days, orders for in-stock items are shipping within three work days, thanks to the hard work of Monique!
- A handful of Zima group buy orders still need some attention before they can ship out. I’ll be contacting those with affected orders soon. If you have an order and wonder what the status is, don’t hesitate to reach out too.
- I am finding myself unable to source the proper keycaps for the Corne LP group buy. While the first run did come with the keycaps shown, by the time the second run was up, Kailh had stopped production on the keycaps. I have chosen to upgrade the keycaps to MBK keycaps instead, and will be contacting customers with affected orders this week. It turns out that selling group buys with many components has some risk to it, and I’ll take that with me when running future group buys so those will run more smoothly.
- Corne LP assembled builds are facing some delays due to the Brexit. I used the services of Tom, a builder in this community, to have the Cornes assembled. I am currently looking for fitting alternatives and will send an update to those affected once I have an appropriate solution.
- Custom Kyrias, which was a service I used to offer in 2020, are coming to a close. My top priority for this month and the next is to finalize all pending orders, so that I have a clean slate to work from soon.
The state of 2021
2020 has come to an end, and now we’re already two weeks into January. It marks the end of the first full year of splitkb.com, and has seen the start of a small company grow into… still a small company!
First things first, I need a clean slate to work from. I had hoped to achieve this by the end of last year, but found myself having to spend a lot of time on making arrangements for Monique, my helper, to be able to help me. I also spent a lot of time on learning about and preparing for the Brexit, which I wanted to make seamless for current and future British customers.
Once I’ve wrapped up pending orders, that’ll give me the time and peace of mind to work on several projects. First, I have worked with the designer of the Torn keyboard to get it available on splitkb.com, and that will be one of the things I’m hoping to make available in the first quarter of 2021.
Two more projects, the Elora and the Aysu, will see vastly accelerated development once I have a clear schedule. I will likely make early preview versions available for those who are technically inclined and want to support early development, and am hoping to make the final versions available by the second quarter of 2021.
I’ll want to stock more keycaps and switches as the year progresses, to give a wider selection to choose from. I have no news on this aspect at the moment, but I’ll be sure to post on all the channels once I do. The same goes for projects after the Elora and the Aysu - I have many ideas, and not enough time, so you’ll have to wait on that ;)
Wrapping up
And that’s a wrap. I’ll have much more news to share over the rest of 2021, and I hope you’ll be there to join me in this adventure!
As always, thank you very much for reading these blog posts. You can join the Discord server to chat with over 1800 other people, and check out the Instagram page for some pretty pictures. See you next time!
