Its hardware engineers have designed products using technologies from ultra-low power 8-bit microcontrollers through to high end 64-bit microprocessors. 

The software team has embedded Linux and Windows CE expertise at bootloader, kernel, and application levels – and includes some of the most experienced Windows CE developers in Europe. 

The applications team have developed cutting-edge programs for a vast range of mobile devices – from legacy handsets such as Windows Mobile, right through to Android and the iPhone. 

With an international client list spanning the UK, the US and Europe, the company has successfully designed a range of products that customers have since brought to market. 

What does this mean for small businesses? 

“ByteSnap was a startup 15 years ago, so it’s been quite good to have that first-hand experience,” said Dunstan Power, Director, ByteSnap Design. “We’ve worked with a lot of startups, and they usually have the most interesting projects. 

“Fundamentally, startups are wrapped around an idea and it’s usually one BIG idea. In my experience, they are very keen to get straight into creating proof of concepts and, in fact, they usually come to us having done a proof of concept in some description and they’re very keen to plough ahead on all the exciting techy stuff. 

“But, sometimes, they need more challenge early on. A typical error is that they haven’t costed out getting to market sufficiently. This particularly applies to first time startups.” 

Feasibility study  

One of the key services that ByteSnap can offer small businesses is a feasibility study. This is essentially taking a startup’s concept and pulling out what the key risks are. 

The team at ByteSnap conduct feasibility analysis through a set of pre-design activities. These are critical when defining a product specification and enables documenting of potential design challenges and risks.  

ByteSnap’s general approach to a product feasibility study includes the following steps: 

1. Establishing features & functionality  

2. Establishing technical specification  

3. Comparison of competing technologies & platforms 

4. Identifying risks & advising on solutions 

5. Identifying standards, certificates & statutory approvals  

6. Analysing NRE (non-recurring engineering) & manufacturing cost 

7. Development costs & milestones 

“A good example is battery life,” explains Power. “[A startup] has a product which does something like home automation, but the battery is only going to last three days – no one wants to change the battery every three days. 

“We could do a fairly low-cost, maybe five-day feasibility study where we just address those particular concerns. So, we’d be looking at what is actually the realistic battery life and what is achievable. You’re not going to get the exact numbers but … it’s the sort of low-cost thing you can do at the start of a project which stops you wasting loads of money later on.” 

A helping hand  

One example of a company that ByteSnap has assisted is a smart home security startup called Cocoon. Cocoon is a technology company transforming the home security market by designing products that help people feel safe. It secured investment from the likes of Aviva Ventures and Breed Reply Investments. 

Cocoon enlisted ByteSnap Design as it needed to work with experts in both electronics design and software on embedded platforms.  

Cocoon was developing a high-spec yet simple-to-use product that consumers could use to replace or compliment a traditional alarm technology. 

Following an investigation into the various system on chips (SoC) on the market, Cocoon’s in-house specialists chose NXP/Freescale iMX6 for its availability and technical support. The next step was to bring in technical expertise from ByteSnap to develop the electronics and Linux board support package (BSP) laying the foundation for Cocoon’s security application. 

The design presented particular challenges. It had to meet demanding video, Wi-Fi and audio performance targets at a commercial price point and was mechanically tightly constrained and atheistically pleasing without sacrificing performance. 

ByteSnap initially developed a prototype sensor board that interfaced directly to an off-the-shelf iMX6 development board. This allowed ByteSnap’s software team to develop the BSP, and Cocoon’s application team to progress application work, without having to wait for the bespoke electronics to be ready. It also flushed out some early technical issues, saving time at the product development stage. 

Dan Conlon, Product Management at Cocoon said they were “very pleased with ByteSnap Design” and that “their expertise helped us bring our product to market in a short time frame.” The team also stated other advantages of working with ByteSnap which included a UK-based team, rather than using offshore resources, confidence that the hardware in the new security device was stable and access to a very knowledgeable technical team that offered sound advice.  

Support for the little guy (or girl) 

Dunstan Power feels that it’s their experience that is one of the main reasons why startups should approach ByteSnap for assistance.  

“We’re sort of battle-hardened troops … We’ve got a lot of experience helping startups get to market. 

“We [also] deal with big companies as well so we can take learnings from those and cross pollinate that into startups.” 

Power also feels that they themselves have learnt a lot from working with so many startups.  

“We’ve worked with some serial entrepreneurs who have been through multiple startups and it’s really good to work with those guys because you pick up a lot of good practices and they’re always challenging themselves.  

“And [as mentioned before], the first-time startups usually bring a lot of dynamism, enthusiasm, and hard work, which is quite inspirational.  

“It’s not all been easy, and we’ve probably made some of the same mistakes that our customers have made [but] we’ve learnt a lot on the journey. And I know that some of that learning is definitely from seeing other people’s projects.”