Today the awesome website of the Wand Makers, thewandcompany.com launched its french version. Very impressive work by a friend of theirs of translating all the text and by Chris Barnardo of recreating all the artwork in French. Just click on the small flags on the index page or the langauge selection in the upper left corner to switch languages.
thewandcompany in french
I never knew that “wand” in french is “baguette (magique)” the same as the famous bread, it certailny means “staff”.
Here is a short quote from the fabulous letter of Lord Byron:
Cher lecteur
Qui d’entre nous n’a jamais rêvé au moins une fois au fond de son cœur de posséder une baguette magique bien à lui et d’utiliser son pouvoir? Je ne parle pas des charlataneries et autres tours de passe-passe de pseudo magiciens de cabarets; non, je parle bien de vraie et grande magie permettant d’agir à distance. J’ai parcouru le monde à la recherche de puissants ingrédients et d’obscurs mécanismes qui, savamment combinés, pourraient doter le plus novice apprenti du pouvoir de contrôler tout objet dan sa maison.
…
Si vous devenez l’un des privilégiés à posséder un exemplaire des quelques baguettes Kymera venant à être conçues, vous me rejoindrez au sein des pionniers du nouvel âge de la magie et ensemble, nous nous exercerons mutuellement, dans la joie, à ne plus sombrer dans le morne et préhistorique réflexe de presser les touches d’une télécommande.
Votre humble serviteur et aventurier pour la vie,
Sir Richard Barons
The beautiful manual was translated some time ago and is also available from there.
Nach monatelanger Suche ist eine deutsche Abschrift des Kymera Zauberstab Handbuchs in den Ruinen eines alten Klosters entdeckt worden. Der Zauberstab-Macher Chris Barnardo hat sich dann daran gemacht, die alte Schriftrolle akribisch zu restaurieren.
Wir sind stolz die Replik dieser Restauration jetzt der Öffentlichkeit präsentieren zu können. Sie können eine hochauflösende Vorschau dieser Meisterleistung hier herunterladen.
Deutsches Zauberstab Handbuch
Wenn Sie in den nächsten Monaten einen Kymera Zauberstab erwerben erhalten Sie eine Original-Replik dieses seltenen Schriftstückes zu Ihrem Schmuckstück dazu.
P.S. Nur eine Sache erscheint uns seltsam. Der Inhalt der uralten Schriftrolle stimmt fast genau mit unserer Übersetzung des Original-Manuskripts überein. Wer weiss…
We are proud and happy to announce the first accessory product for the Kymera Magic Wand.
Wand in the Pocket
Some time ago we published information about Wand Pouches in the making and now we’re able to offer them to you.
The Wand Makers were kind enough to offer us the chance to present the wand pouches to you first.
Pouches for the Kymera Wand
So here they are – available first in an amazing fine red Chinese silken fabric, embroidered with golden dragons. Your wand slides into the pouch easily and is hidden and protected by some powerful charms the Wandmakers put into the golden threads.
This pocket is not only for the lucky Kymera wand owner but for everyone who has a magic wand of his own. It is also the perfect gift for every aspiring or experienced wizard you happen to know.
The pockets are available for just EUR 9,95. When you order them with your wand they’re included in the free shipping offer, otherwise we ask for a flat 2 EUR worldwide shipping fee.
So don’t hesitate and “Pocket Your Wand”
Order Pocket for your Wand
Order Wand with Pocket
Envelope with pouch
Please bear in mind:
That wand’s batteries should be isolated, i.e. turned round or taken out before
transporting the wand. As because it is a motion sensitive piece of
equipment, transport activates it, uses up the batteries and can put the
wand in to various modes including a sequence which completes a factory
reset.
thanks for all the great comments and your participation. Especially Alex, Paul Higginbotham and Yetórico for their really impressive comments. I’ll do a roundup post these days of all the ideas you’ve written down.
Unfortunately there can be only one winner.
The winner of our December Giveaway promotion was selected with a swift flick of the Kymera Wand and it selected:
Austin
Congratulations to you. Please send us your postal address and your wand will leave ASAP. Hopefully you’ll have much fun with it. Please report back on your experience.
Michael
I’ve just decided as a new years gift, that whoever commented on the post and orders a wand within January with the email address used for the comment gets a 10% discount on the retail price of the Kymera Wand. Please note that you’re eligible for the discount in your order form.
If you didn’t win, just enter our new January drawing which is about twittering adequate incantations.
To celebrate the closing of an great year, we’d like to give ONE Kymera Wand to our readers for
FREE!
As we want to learn what you‘re thinking about the Kymera Wand,
all you have to do is to make a sensible comment on this post with one of the following topics:
creative application of the Kymera Wand (e.g. control iRobot Roomba)
missing or completely new features for a wish list for the Kymera Wand
interesting accessories
improvements to this site
suggestions for coverage, pictures, videos
Please make sure that you don’t repeat things people have already posted, those duplications will not be considered.
The drawing will take place on the last day of the year, December 31st.
Good luck to all of you.
Magical Christmas and a Fantastic New Year to all of YOU
Carl and Pete had wand waving fun in their show #46, controlling the TV in the recording room.
The transcript with some pictures is available as is the podcast itself.
Carl:
I always thought you were a geek – what with the glasses and the bow tie, you all right, Harry? Have you ever seen that picture of Pete on the website – he does look like Harry Potter! You’re such a geek! But this is great, I like the toy.
Carl:
Can you get this to control your wife? – when you thrust it forward, and you get her to go “ouch!” I don’t know, I’m sure someone out there has got a wife that needs controlling.
Carl:
I think this is phenomenal, but I actually see another application with this, because you know like some people, it’s like I remember my gran getting old, and she used to have trouble with her remote, pointing it in the right direction, but this would be brilliant – she was good at waving sticks at people, hitting you over the head with a walking stick, and all that stuff.
The interview from Daily Mail online is a very in depth article. It also includes business information on achieved and intended sales.
Chris Barnardo the Creator of the Kymera Magic Wand
The £49.95 gadget was created by Chris Barnardo and Richard Blakesley, whose website has received over one million hits. Over 10,000 wands have sold in 10 weeks since launch in 41 countries and it is on target to sell 200,000 by the end of 2010.
Father-of-four Chris, 47, of Bishop Stortford, said he came across the idea after seeing how enthralled his children were by the Harry Potter series.
He said: ‘Adults and children love the thought of magic and living in a fantasy world, and this lets them live a little bit of that in their own front room.
the wandmakers are proud to present the first accessory to the Kymera Wand. It is a pouch fit for such a fine piece of wandmaking. It can not only hold the Kymera wand but any other wand you own, which is at most 370 mm (14.5 inch) long. The pouches will be on sale in different colors from the beginning of December. So you can wrap your Kymera Wand christmas giveaway in a fitting sheet.
Despite only being launched three weeks ago, the wand is already beginning
to get noticed on the conference circuit. The Kymera Wand has been selected
by PopTech, (the world’s premier innovation and new thinking event) to be
one of the handful of technologies that gets present to delegates as
products that will make a difference in the world next year. PopTech 2009:
America Reimagined runs from October 21 – 24 in Camden, Maine, USA.
Update:
Wandmaker Chris Barnardo is currently on his way to Camden where the Wand is being showcased.
The wand was shown and got great attention,
So many people came up to me and after about two minutes chatting suddenly said… “Ahh you’re
the Wand Guy!” I must have had that aha moment about 30 times and always
followed by a warm hearty handshake.
here are some tweets:
The_WandCompany: What a great few days; PopTech 2009 is over now, but the wand has made a load of new friends and in lots of ways I’ll be sad to leave
CostaVidaFred: @The_WandCompany I want a wand #PopTech
The_WandCompany: The wand presented to PopTech, lots of support, outside gorgeous late afternoon New England sunlight is filtered through maple leaves
bastholm: Read more about the mad wizard universal remote control on www.wand-control.com #poptech
kevinrussell: @valeskaUX re: chimera wand http://bit.ly/QDp8z (expand) ( @PopTech live on www.livestream.com/poptech ) http://ff.im/anGOJ
poptech: RT @dickrowan: “Magic” wand for controlling radio frequency devices like your TV remote. Seen at #poptech. http://bit.ly/2FO08h (expand)
dickrowan: “Magic” wand for controlling radio frequency devices like your TV remote. Seen at #poptech. http://bit.ly/2FO08h (expand) . Got to get one of these.
valeskaUX: @poptech where do I get one of those awesome magic wand?
innoceansedge: who Doesn’t want one?? RT @barkwheats: @poptech what was the name of that wand you’re giving away?
bastholm: Someone actually developed a wand that you can teach to control your home electronics Harry Potter style. So, so awesome #poptech
RafeFurst: @poptech where do we get one of those magic wand home remote controllers?
barkwheats: @poptech what was the name of that wand you’re giving away?
WandMaker Chris Barnardo’s thoughts can now also be listened to at this stream of twittering messages. So now there is a second source to listen to besides the kymerawand mumblings.
He also put new gorgeous pictures of the Wand online on the Gallery. These should make your eyes gleam with greed and your mouth watery.
Photo Plate taken of the Kymera Wand
Update: I added the twitter stream of the wandmakers to this site in the sidebar at the lower right.
Unfortunately we had a hardware failure and were left standing in the weekends rain by the hosting providers. But now everything is online and working again.
We’re glad we could help the Wand Makers to put the Instructional Videos online onto their Manual Page. Just hit the typewriter buttons for the instructional cards to appear.
For some days now the reserved wands have been shipping from The Wand Company. Many customers should have received theirs right now. This user site is mentioned in the shipping mail, thanks for that Wand Makers.
Wands Now Shipping
Subject: Your Kymera Wand now shipped
From: "The Wand Company"
Dear Michael
Your wand has been dispatched.
Yes, you have waited (very patiently), yes you are excited (very
excited) and yes now you will be one of the first people (the very
first) in the world to own a Kymera Wand. You are a pioneer of a new
way of controlling your regular home audio and televisions, iPod docks
and even light switches using gesture based remote controls. Your
Kymera gives you the experience that many a magician and wizard has
craved for years.
Using your wand will take some practice so make sure you also become
one of the first experts at using it.
1) Remember to practise, (practice makes perfect).
2) Remember to hold your wand level and steady for at least half a
second before doing a gesture.
3) Make sure your gestures are short, precise and well defined.
4) Remember to have a look at the manual - it is not long or boring
and it will help you get the most out of your beautiful Kymera Wand.
Please keep up with www.thewandcompany.com for the latest information
from your favourite wand makers, write to us and tell us what you
think of your wand, and tell us any cool stories you have about how
you have amazed people - we’d love to hear about your experience. Of
course we’re always here to help if you need assistance with some
tricky gestures or spells, but please remember there are only a few of
us so always be patient when waiting for an answer, because we will
want to reply to you personally.
Why not join the growing community of wand users at
www.wand-control.com and help build the wand experience.
Whatever you do, have fun and remember Sir Richard Barons’ moto, "Life
is Magic".
All the best
Chris
__________________________________________
Your order reference was xxxxxxxxxxxx
I showed the Wand to the people at the first tutorial. They were really impressed and said that it could become the next generation presentation tool. Its not as boring as the current pieces and really well made.
The balance, careful finishing and supporting materials were also appreciated.
One idea (perhaps for the presentation / hackable version). Use a gesture or a differnet mode to set a timer that lets the wand vibrate when the time is due. So perhaps use a new gesture to enter this timer mode and then use for instance tapping to setup the timer to x minutes. (double tapping is tens and single tapping is onces). Present the time by pulsing the tens (decimal) and after a pause pulsing the ones.
The holster also got some attention, making it a perfect acessory for the wand.
P.S: I noticed that I need a cap (made from a felt tip pen) for the wand to not remote control other people’s Macs when walking around.
Thank you for your patience, your wait has now been rewarded and you are about to be one of the first people in the world to own (or be able to give as a present) the amazing new Kymera Wand buttonless, motion sensitive remote control.
PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL CAREFULLY, as it will help to make sure your order is processed quickly and efficiently:
At the bottom of this email, there is your own special payment link; clicking on this link will take you to the first step of the payment process. When you get there you will see that we have been able to fill out the form for you (using the details you provided when you reserved your wand). These details include the number of wands that you reserved. PLEASE CHECK THESE DETAILS CAREFULLY. We accept that you might want to ship to a different address than that of the registered card holder, but the billing address you fill in here and the registered card holder’s address must match for the sale to proceed.
GIFT MESSAGE
You may enter a gift message of up to 200 characters. Please note that this message will be printed on the OUTSIDE of the mailing box. Please do not use any offensive or derogatory language in your gift message. Messages deemed to be offensive will be deleted and the order will be shipped without a message in that case.
REVIEW YOUR ORDER DETAILS
When you are happy that your details are correct click PROCEED and you will be taken to a review page.
PAYMENT PAGE
Once you are sure that your details are correct, click PROCEED again and you will be transferred to the SagePay secure server where you will be able to pay using a range of credit and debit cards. Once you have paid you will be given a unique payment reference; please keep this for your records.
Universal Electronics the one of the world’s largest remote control companies considers licensing The Wand Company technology and shows the wand on their stand at the annual IBC show in Amsterdam recently. The wand was a huge success at the show.
Chris Barnardo, co-inventor of the wand attended the show as The Wand Company representative on Universal Electronics’ stand.
“The wand was definitely a hit. ” Said Barnardo. “It proved to be a crowd pleaser and everyone was queuing to have a go.”
Universal took over serious 50 commercial enquiries about the wand, but at present there are no plans to sell the wand through high street retail. “The only place to get it will be online for a good while yet, ” Barnardo added.
Just received the first handmade cast brass feathered snake wand stand. It's absolutely gorgeous... expect pictures soon09:59:05 PM February 11, 2010from web
Sitting at Gatwick Airport waiting for a flight to Las Vegas - Consumer Electronics Show (CES) - currently snowed in... aaarrrgggg12:03:37 PM January 06, 2010from web
