u/crop_octagon

We managed to get all of the Early Access units shipped out late last week, and some of them have already arrived in the hands of our supporters. We've already seen some 3D prints and some early revisions of the firmware from the community, which is always nice to see.

The Bean is a unique design in that the hardware and the firmware are both the first of their kind to be used in a QMK-powered application. Because of that, there are some technical risks to iron out.

To that end, our Early Access units allow us to solicit feedback from a wider audience at an early point in time, so we're going to hold off on shipping the first Tier A units for at least two weeks while we gather information. If there are bugs to fix or optimisations to implement, we should be able to within that timeframe.

In the meantime, our shop is cranking out Beans as fast as we can.

Stay tuned.

In case you don't know, a "pointing stick" or "nub mouse" is the little dot in the middle of most laptop keyboards. They're compact, but many of them aren't very good. They put a lot of strain on your fingertips and hand tendons, and they can be a bit finicky to use.

Today, I get to share with you a design for a pointing stick that will take this afterthought of a computer peripheral to its full potential.

The Bean uses the Texas Instruments TMGA5273 magnetic sensor, a high-fidelity magnetic sensor. It's capable of detecting touches as small as 3 microns, or a ten-thousandth of an inch. It runs at 1,000Hz or higher, so the Bean has the ability to detect even the finest and smallest of touches.

The Bean's pointing stick also moves quite a bit. Instead of rocking in place and requiring high levels of input force, the Bean's nub travels in a diameter of 11 millimeters, or 7/16". That means that you can be accurate, and also not tire out your hand or finger from extensive high-force usage.

The Bean also sports four buttons with Omron D2LS-21 switches for crisp, snappy clicks.

And, of course, the Bean's design files will be fully open-sourced, with all mechanical, electrical, and firmware files being available for download and modification from the beginning. The entire case will be 3D-printable, and the firmware will run with QMK and VIA.

We'll be releasing the design files for the Bean on 6 May 2026 at 7:00AM ET (here's a countdown timer for you).

We'll also be opening up a preorder for fully-assembled Beans for $69CAD. We have a small batch of Beans that are ready to ship immediately. If you manage to snag a preorder in our Early Access tier, it'll ship out within a few days.

Questions and comments are welcome!

This is a side project we've been working on for a little bit. It's a tutorial on how to make your own printable decal for the Adept. If you've got some sticker paper, access to a good colour printer, and some time, you can make one for your own Adept.

Here's the blog post with all of the details.