Astrohaus Launching New Distraction-Free Writing Tool Featuring E Ink

by Ashwin Ramanujam of Astrohaus

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Freewrite Traveler, our newest product in the Freewrite line of distraction-free tools.  It is the world’s first E Ink laptop. Traveler is currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo, and the campaign has gotten off to a blistering start: 28 minutes after launching the campaign, we had already surpassed the $50,000 funding goal With a gorgeous 6” E Ink screen, tactile scissor-switch keyboard, and compact clamshell design, Traveler has been designed to be the ultimate writing tool for writers on the go.  The Freewrite slogan has always been ‘Set your story free’.  Now with Traveler, you can ‘Set your story free, whenever and wherever inspiration strikes’.

Three years ago, we launched the Freewrite Smart Typewriter – a critically acclaimed writing tool that combined old school simplicity with modern functionality like an E Ink display and automatic cloud syncing.  The premise is simple: modern devices like laptops and cell phones are multipurpose tools that make it exceedingly difficult to focus on the simple task of writing.  Studies have shown that a single interruption can cause a 25-minute delay to return to the original task. When writers can write encumbered, they enter into a flow state in which their productivity and creativity peak. We’ve seen this in action: writers who use Freewrite see their hourly word output double.The original Freewrite helped revolutionize distraction-free writing, and over 45 million words have been written on Freewrites to date including several published books and screenplays.   A large driver of Freewrite’s success is our unique application of an E Ink screen.  While E Ink has typically been associated with readers, we’ve seen that writers can benefit just as well. E Ink provides three significant benefits for writers:

1. 1. It is easy on the eyes and can greatly reduce eye strain for writers who would otherwise be working on laptops or other devices with harsh LCDs for hours on end.

   2. Since E Ink displays mimic paper, they are easy to read in direct sunlight.  This is especially useful for writers who like to write outside and get inspired by their environment.

   3. Using an E Ink screen is extremely power efficient, which has allowed us to create a device that can run up to 30 hours on a single charge.  Longer battery life = longer writing marathons = increased productivity and creativity

When the time came to design our new device, we certainly considered other display options.  Traveler was meant to be a smaller, more portable version of the Freewrite, perhaps E Ink wasn’t the best option?  We posed this question to our loyal Freewrite community, and the response we got was overwhelming:  E Ink is a must have!  Moving to a traditional LCD option would diminish the writing experience our community has grown to love, so we took their feedback to heart.Traveler is the natural successor to the original Freewrite, building on what made the original so successful.  We maintained the E Ink screen, long battery life, cloud syncing, and multilingual support from the original Freewrite.  We took our customers’ feedback over the last 3 years and developed some new features as well, including hotkey enabled arrow keys to allow for simple editing, and a document launcher that allows you to quickly navigate through folders.  All of this is packed into a small folding form factor that is roughly half the size and weight of the original Freewrite and is designed to be the perfect everyday carrying companion.  This is the ultimate distraction-free writing tool for writers on the go. It doesn’t matter whether you’re at home, on your commute, in the woods, or on a plane. You don’t have to worry about not being able to see in the sun, or not having enough battery life.  When you want to write, simply open Traveler and start writing, whenever and wherever inspiration strikes.

We launched the Traveler Indiegogo campaign on October 2; in just one week we’ve raised over $300,000!  We’re incredibly thankful for the overwhelming support we’ve gotten from the writing community, and we’re excited to continue creating pioneering E Ink writing tools.

Traveler is officially open for pre-orders at a 45% discount here.  Deals are moving quickly!   If you have any questions prior to ordering, reach out to hello@astrohaus.com, we’re happy to help.