We Don't Make the Rules

It's one thing to come up with an idea. It is totally something else to make it real.

Nutshell's elegant leather Smartphone Folder/Holder
holds Phones plus HD accessories

This is a sneak-peek at a development based on the Walnut, our all-in-one combination phone wallet/credit-card/note carrier covered in genuine leather with a protective phone platform built right in.

But we don't make the rules. You do.
And sometimes you tell us what you want and give us another idea.
Like this.

So - unlike the Walnut this folder has nothing inside...except for not one but two protective phone platforms and a lining that accepts a pad and lets you place the phone/accessory combination inside the folder which ever way works best - for you.

With a platform size of 5 1/2" tall x 3" wide this folder will hold an amazing number of current Smartphones.  And because we have deliberately made the folder with a generous 1" spine, it will easily fold over and close on a heavy duty and large sized accessory -  like a battery or rugged protection cover - no problems at all.

 

Take a look at our Picasa images on the project.

Tell us what you think.
Better still, tell us you want one.

This little beauty will retail for USD$39.95.
We consider that's an attractive MSRP - for a slice of genuine leather and some sharp Kiwi protective innovation. And we'll sharpen the pencil.

We have given it an internal SKU: WN53750.
But that's not really a name - is it? 
So...what on earth are we going to call it?
Any ideas?

Post Vegas...scoping out the Amazon and Other Tales of Discovery

You can read my CES/Las Vegas Blog here. It's where I do my best to provide a day-by-day oversight of my travels through CES - the International Consumer Electronics Show and through Las Vegas.

Nutshell Update #1
Nutshell has a new manufacturer. Well, what I really mean it that our manufacturer has a new owner.

The old one had some major problems with his house and family and the stress finally got to him; he bailed just before Christmas. The new owner is a get-go gung-ho chap with a degree in business and marketing who is hot-to-trot when it comes to growing his business; and that includes the Nutshell.

We make up a very sizable portion of his annual revenue and obviously we are comfortable with the existing arrangement, the folk who make Nutshell every day are still engaged (although their terms of employment may have changed).

But as an immediate result some of our order processes have been thrown into a bit of a muddle; not only the annual down-under Christmas holiday shutdown and go-slow, but also new processes and new ideas running over old and established procedures do not always make for comfortable bed fellows - as we all know too well.

The result is that some orders are getting delivered later than we would wish. We are communicating these delays to our affected customers, and most all are comfortable enough to give us wiggle room to move and let the new system settle down. If you haven't been contacted and you feel we are dragging the chain, please send us a note and let us know.

Nutshell Update #2

We are having to design a new range of product to meet the newer, taller design of smartphones coming from most all the major manufacturers. 

Samsung, Motorola, HTC and even Casio have all recently released new product that is as wide as our existing mainstream range of #208 belt cases, but taller. The #208 works best with devices up to about 125 mm in length, and these new devices extend out to 130 mm and more in length (to cater for wider more panoramic screens), which  means that while the #208 cases will still contain these new 'phones, it also means the #208 cases do not provide as total coverage as we would like.

One problem has always been getting our hands on the latest designs to enable us to make absolutely sure our cases will fit. One result of visiting CES was that contacts made within the Chinese manufacturing community have led us to several outlets for dummy phones. Viola! No more hassles and worries about making the correct connections. Or that is what we though initially.

However, the best laid plans etc...
Currently it is the Chinese New Year/Spring Festival...an annual event that basically shuts China down from Mid January through until early February. As a result we are still waiting on a lineup of several dummy phones that will give us a leg-up on our design process. Once we get those we will be back in the race with a vengeance, but until then we are in a holding pattern not of our own making.

These are the sort of errors and omissions that always pop up when you least expect them. Waiting, waiting, waiting is not a game we play well, but it is one we are used to.

Nutshell Update #3
We have commenced shipping a range of product into Amazon's supply chain. Currently we are limiting these to our popular #258, #260 and #208 belt case range with the magnetic tab or flap and either the steel belt clip or the multiway belt loop - as well as the smartphone wallet. According to the sales reports all the products are gradually gaining some momentum.

If you need a case for a phone that fits into one of the above case sizes, and you don't want to wait for it to be delivered from down under, then you should go to Amazon's wireless accessory category and hunt for Nutshell. I know there is product there, because we keep shipping it. In small quantities. For now. They will grow.

And you can help us make them grow.

While you are on Amazon hunting for Nutshells, you may care to put in a good word about Nutshell in the places where you can add product reviews. Not that I would ever be exhorting you to do anything that you may not naturally do, but every little bit helps. Right?

Till next time.
Take care.
And thanks for being a valued Nutshell customer.

Let Us All Take the High Road

Recently I went to CES in Las Vegas to both look at developments in the world of mobile, and to learn how to be a good Amazon Vendor.

Abandon Hope All Ye Who enter Here?
Anything but...

Nutshell has started shipping products into several of Amazon's US fulfillment centers and is still working out exactly what being an Amazon partner really meant.

There are some who say I should count my fingers every night before I go to sleep; others say my achievement is something very special and to be applauded.

Me? I say it really is a learning game. It is like nothing I have ever been involved with before and, like a gaping maw, Amazon is there to be filled with product; over 157 million online members and counting.

Vegas itself, and CES, was an amazing experience. I may have problems equating it to its unofficial title of Sin City, but as a Disneyland for Adults, there is little doubts it would be difficult to find an comparison.


In the light of day the Strip is a place of wonderment, and at light it comes alive with a riotous display of neon and animation that surely beggars belief.

Vegas is a Fairytale world where dreams may come true.

To follow my tour to Vegas, and get a glimpse inside CES and Amazon, read this blog. 

As I expected there was a plethora of leather cases for mobiles. In abundance. Every colour, and style you could think of.

Well, not quite. Nothing in the lineup that I saw could hold a candle to the Nutshell. Where our products are made from generous cuts of natural hide leather, most every case I saw at CES was constructed from leather than has been finely split (almost to ciggies paper thin) and then lacquered over to present a brightly colored face to the world.

Sure...they did look good hanging on the racks, but as sure as eggs is eggs, they would last but a short time in the real world before starting to look tarnished and worn and frayed an unloved. Unlike the Nutshell, which just keeps getting better with age.

There really is something about being the creator of a product that continues to win accolades from its users. Those who give us feed back don't just like their Nutshell. They LOVE their Nutshell.

How many other manufacturers can honestly hold that claim up to the light?