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Show HN: Our new $149 hackable Bluetooth wristwatch
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- karanbhangui 16y agoYou guys make Waterloo proud!
- markszcz 16y agoAwesome!!!! They even look good too. I might think about getting one and whip up an Android library for people to use. Question to anyone reading this. What would be a good use to notify users? There was an article on HN about startups using a visual dashboard: http://mygengo.com/talk/blog/why-your-startup-needs-a-visual-dashboard/ http://mygengo.com/talk/blog/why-your-startup-needs-a-visual... I think something like that would be cool to have. Hook into your KPI's and have that information right there on your wrist.
- erohead 16y agoWe've even got a sample Android project to get you started. Download the SDK and example apps: http://www.getinpulse.com/images/pulse_sdk100.zip http://www.getinpulse.com/images/pulse_sdk100.zip
- markszcz 16y agoAwesome thanks! I just checked the specs, "4 days depending on display/Bluetooth use" Even if its two days of full time use, thats great.
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- rmah 16y agoThe devices look cool from a technical perspective. It could use a few more sensors (GPS, gyro/movement, temp, etc.) but I'm sure that will come. The only problem, I think, is that they're not very stylish. A bit too large/clunky looking. I'm not sure how to fix that while keeping the display a useful size. But that what geniuses like you guys are for!
- markszcz 16y agoI think these look much better then putting the Apple Nano on your wrist: http://bit.ly/hnLUkQ http://bit.ly/hnLUkQ To each their own though. =) As for applications, yeh GPS, Gyro would be great.
- 6ren 16y agoHere's the TikTok/LunaTik link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-multi-touch-watch-kits http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunati... They raised $941,718 from users, so there's definitely a market for style. It's touchscreen, costly (nano+holder) and non-hackable.
- brk 16y agoIf they really take off, I'm sure the design could become much smaller and more elegant over time. I ordered one to hack about with. If it becomes part of my daily routine I'll probably have my jeweler in Detroit hook up a more attractive case and band for it. Agree on the sensors, it would be nice to at the very least have a dead-simple accelerometer, but I also know what goes into bringing a piece of hardware like this to market. The $150 price point probably doesn't leave a ton of margin, and it's just on the cusp of not having to be a "considered purchase" for people. Adding more stuff would drive up the manufacturing cost and price into something that starts to become a $399 product and the number of experimenters who will buy one on a whim drops dramatically.
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- JonnieCache 16y agoFor comparison: Texas Instruments sell something called the EZ430 Chronos watch, which has a much lower-res display, a proprietary RF protocol with a USB transceiver, and a bunch more sensors including 3-axis accelerometers, pressure and temperature. It is based on the MSP430 microprocessor which is much less powerful than this thing, its capped at 16mhz or something IIRC and only has around 8K of program space. It is however about a third of the price. http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos
- gnok 16y agoWow! I've always been looking for something of this sort but I've never found one. Thanks for the link!
- erohead 16y agoYup, but we've got Bluetooth, a fantastic OLED screen, and example Python, Android, Blackberry code! Also, we're right here on HN to answer your questions!
- ck2 16y agoCan the watchband be removed to make it a pendant (or pocket watch) ? Looks too big for a woman's wrist? Can't find actual dimensions...
- jdabney 16y agoThere is a picture of a woman wearing the watch on the their blog. Looks a little big but not bad.
- ck2 16y agoAh thanks for pointing that out, didn't read the blog. I think I'd still rather wear it like you would a security badge with a lanyard or like the old-school mini-pagers in your pocket with a chain.
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- jonny_eh 16y agoThis is mind blowing. Any plans for iOS support? Jailbreak or otherwise?
- alexsb92 16y agoHey, we actually do have iOS support, but yeah the device has to be jailbroken. You can read the FAQ here www.getinpulse.com/faq
- jonny_eh 16y agoThe FAQ doesn't mention any jailbreak support. It just says that there's no iOS support :(
- jonbennett 16y agoFAQ has been updated. We provide example code for jailbroken iPhone in our SDK.
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- dkersten 16y agoA bit expensive for a watch, but still very very cool!
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- aubergene 16y agoAre you looking for investors?
- Rhapso 16y agohmmm, I am interested in seeing more detailed battery life information including for more "active" use.
- alexsb92 16y agohttp://www.getinpulse.com/faq/ http://www.getinpulse.com/faq/ The first question under Inpulse category will answer it. That's in case you haven't seen that one already.
- doron 16y agoI am totally getting one, soonish. I confess, i have a Watch fetish :(
- erohead 16y agoBetter get one quick! First batch is moving...
- johnrob 16y agoAny idea how big the range of the bluetooth is? I'm curious how far away I can be from the other device I'd like to communicate with.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoLooks very nice. If it had a couple more buttons, it would be great for a workout tracker. Give it more buttons and I'll buy it.
- dminor 16y agoWhat I really need is a stylish women's watch so my wife can know when her phone is buzzing in her purse!
- nano81 16y agoWhile it doesn't appear to be a women's watch, this might interest you: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=sony+ericsson+watch\&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=3385409835421323450&ei=sslaTey-GIGBlAeZlLTKDA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCMQ8wIwAQ# http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=sony+eric...
- nl 16y agoBluetooth bracelets are available and pretty cheap. Haven't tried them, but: http://www.dealextreme.com/c/bluetooth-headsets-508?search=bluetooth%20bracelet http://www.dealextreme.com/c/bluetooth-headsets-508?search=b...
- pclark 16y agoDoes this run multiple applications or do you have to plug it in each time you want to run a different app?
- erohead 16y agoOne app at a time, right now...but we're working on getting multiple apps running as well! Good point.
- Bossman 16y agoSo I can't have a watch and notification app running on the watch? Guess you'd have to make them into one application? If you do get that working, does that mean new hardware?
- EricR9 16y agoWow, I love it! Seems like a great gadget; I'll be purchasing one.
- corin_ 16y agoI've had this page bookmarked for months, waiting to be able to order it (back when it was just designed as a bluetooth extension to blackberry devices). Petty about US/CA shipping only, seems a pretty dumb move (unless there's some reason, other than shipping costs which you can make customers pay, for limiting who can buy it).
- JonnieCache 16y ago>(unless there's some reason, other than shipping costs which you can make customers pay, for limiting who can buy it) Shipping goods for money internationally is a bureaucratic nightmare. A million possible edge cases to do with tax and so forth. This is why hardware startups often only take orders from their home country for their first batch.
- corin_ 16y agoI can't speak to the tax issues, except to say that I've seen so many tiny companies manage to do it that I can't see it's a huge problem.
- paulgb 16y agoI have zero experience in this area, but could it be that the manufacturer has to go through an approval process and/or have liability insurance in each country they ship to?
- wvenable 16y agoThis is very cool. I own a few Timex Datalink watches which are also programmable. Timex recently discontinued the Datalink and they're already becoming very hard to find. I hoping some company would come up with a suitable replacement but unfortunately nobody seems to build something with a comparable design. The advantages of the Datalink are that it always shows the time (no button press necessary), the battery lasts an entire year, is water-resistant, and is small and subtle. It also just makes a damn good watch without any of the programmable features. Every other programmable watch available is anything but subtle, with a display that isn't active all the time, and has to be constantly recharged. Those are considerable failings for a watch. What the Datalink lacks is a denser display (but remaining as 1bit LCD is ok), any sort of wireless (ANT+ would be suitable), and sensors (pulse, altitude, position, etc). It could also use, obviously, a faster processor with more RAM and storage (it also has 32k). The price for this watch is fantastic but it's still just not quite what I'm looking for.
- cstone 16y agoThis is a very hacker-unfriendly device. I wouldn't buy one. The SDK's compilation tool doesn't invoke a compiler; it uploads your code to a service running off of http://174.129.29.50:8080 http://174.129.29.50:8080. The Arduino is fantastic because the bootloader is open-source, the hardware is open-source, and it's easy to find out full information about the hardware and pull the MCU datasheets yourself.
- drivebyacct2 16y agoI'd love to hear a counter to this. I was really close to buying one...
- erohead 16y agoHi Guys, Eric from inPulse here. We're trying to make it as easy as possible for people to develop for inPulse. That's why we've built a cloudcompile service. No messing with DLLs, drivers and other annoying parts of embedded coding. I think we've succeeded! In our beta testing, users were able to go from downloading the SDK zip to loading their first app on inPulse within 5-8 minutes. I think that's pretty impressive for a startup hardware biz. If you'd like to setup the arm-gcc toolchain and compile your own apps, absolutely no problem! We'll have instructions online shortly. If you need them faster, just email devsupport@getinpulse.com
- mbreese 16y agoI've never heard of a cloud compile service, but I think in this case, it's a good idea. Especially since not many people have experience with cross-compiling. One of the things that make Arduino so popular is the ease of use in getting code a) to compile and b) get uploaded to the device. If this works via a service, then so be it. But, I would like to see instructions for setting up a local amr-gcc toolchain, just to be complete.
- tesseract 16y agoThe other cloud compile service that I'm aware of is provided by NXP for one of their microcontroller dev boards. http://mbed.org/ http://mbed.org/
- wccrawford 16y agoIs Bluetooth the only way to get apps onto the watch? Also, Python is the language to program apps in? They only language?
- jiaaro 16y agoPython is a scripting language used on the receiving end of the messages, not on the watch. The language for code you run on the watch seems to be C
- bhavin 16y agoCorrect me if I am wrong. I think I have found a way to track sales of both the models on sale. Depending on how many items you ask for in order screen, it lets you go ahead or displays "stock unavailable". For the Mettalic Silver, It seems 57 items are available at the time of writing. and for Black Anodized, it is 108. I have to take a reasonable assumption now to get the sales numbers (may be 200 at beginning?).
- raphman 16y ago56 and 107 now. Seems you are right.
- jodrellblank 16y ago50 and 94 now, seems the black is selling faster.
- beagle3 16y agoLooks cool. But when I do upgrade my venerable analog watch, it's probably going to be to a http://lunatik.com http://lunatik.com + ipod nano 6g. A little more expensive, requires a jailbreak, but a hell of a lot more functional, and doesn't require uploading my code anywhere to compile it once jailbroken.
- jasongullickson 16y agoHas the nano been successfully jailbroken? Last I saw was that some of the images/text could be changed but I wasn't aware of anyone getting actual new code running...?
- beagle3 16y agoSeems I was mistaken and the answer is "not yet".
- kristiandupont 16y agoWell also, it doesn't run iOS so a jailbreak wouldn't be that interesting..
- jasongullickson 16y agoOn the contrary, it would be a very interesting little platform to play with. Just because it doesn't run iOS doesn't mean you couldn't write code for it :)
- JoeBracken 16y agoThat was my plan too with the hope that I could do something similar to this and load/write my own apps. I actually received my lunatik kit with a ipod nano 6g about two weeks ago. 1) the ipod nano 6g has not been jailbroken. 2) the ipod nano 6g has no bluetooth built in This watch is a better fit for what i want to do now - get up and running now with a programmable wrist based terminal. I love the design of the lunatik but until the nano 6g is jailbroken I'm just wearing a nano on my wrist. The novelty of which has worn off since I can't hack it to do anything special.
- laut 16y agoCouldn't find pictures of the back of the watch. Would be nice with an easy way to find good pictures of the product. Like a picture gallery.
- mrkurt 16y agoI'm not purchasing one, but it's way cool that you got these things out there. I look at most stuff on HN and think "hey, I could build that!". I look at this and I think "wow, it's cool that someone managed to manufacture and build hardware on a small scale and sell it".
- calloc 16y agohttp://kbembedded.com/products/multiwatch http://kbembedded.com/products/multiwatch http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/cd13/?pfm=Search&t=Multiwatch http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/cd13/?pfm=Search... Not nearly as easy to hack as this Bluetooth with OLED, but still a watch designed by a single guy located in Tempe. I bought one from ThinkGeek a while back version 1 (pictured on his website, the picture on ThinkGeek is version 2) and I love it. It is unique and I always get looks from people. It uses an MSP430 at its core.
- thisisfmu 16y agoThere is a similar product, Sony Ericsson LiveView, which can be worn as a wristwatch and paired with an Android phone: http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overview/liveview http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overvie... Retails for EUR 39.50. I do not own one so cannot say anything about how well it works -- just came across it randomly yesterday when buying something online. If the client is Android-based it is almost certain the protocol can be easily reverse engineered to make it hackable from other paired devices.
- ConceptDog 16y agoI was very excited when I saw a demo of this, but the review I watched seems to imply that it sucks for bluetooth connectivity. I'm wondering inPulse has the same issues.
- gonzo 16y agoThere is an update for the firmware on the Sony LiveView. (I own one, and it made a big difference in connectivity to my Nexus One.)
- Bossman 16y agoLooks like they have some kind of development support for LiveView: http://developer.sonyericsson.com/wportal/devworld/downloads/download/liveviewmicrodisplaysdk?cc=gb&lc=en http://developer.sonyericsson.com/wportal/devworld/downloads...
- jamessun 16y agoVery cool... I assume it tells time, too? :-)
- anemecek 16y agoTell me I was not the only whose first thought was how cool it would be to build a cluster out of these things. But props to the OP, it looks like something I would spend hours playing with.
- erohead 16y agoJust for you, Anemecek, I'll wear a beowulf cluster on my arm. I think it will vibrate off I you guys keep sending me email... www.getinPulse.com/images/toomanywatches.jpg
- wpeterson 16y agoI'm puzzled to see such resoundingly positive feedback here. Props for the hard work on building this product out. However, in a world of smart phones I can't imagine ever using a watch like this. Watches have been relegated to primarily fashion items, I can't imagine why you'd want one that runs code. Sorry for the harsh review, best of luck.
- jasongullickson 16y agoNot a motor/bicyclist eh? :) Having access to information without having to dig your phone out of your pocket (not to mention a phone you can't operate with sturdy gloves) is very useful in such situations. Which reminds me; how "weatherproof" is this thing?
- mortenjorck 16y agoI'm impressed with the price point. It's about what I'd expect a device like this to run if it were a higher-volume product selling through mass-market channels, rather than a low-volume, enthusiast product selling only through the manufacturer's website. Are you guys courting retailers like ThinkGeek?
- gonzo 16y agoDo you know of other retailers like ThinkGeek? (I like ThinkGeek, but I'm curious if there are other, similar stores.)
- nitrogen 16y agoSparkFun, if you're not already aware of it, is only vaguely related to ThinkGeek, but it seems to me anyone looking at a hackable watch would be right at home there.
- fuzzythinker 16y agoFew comments: * Your 3rd video is the most presentable one and best intro, make it on top. * The screen seems not be a touch-screen since not mentioned in features. So seems like only way to navigate the on-screen "buttons" with a single physical button is to press it until it cycles to highlight screen button and press and hold it to select. This does not seem to be a good UI. For a v.2, you either need to use a capacitive touch screen, or make that single button you have on the bottom face of the watch like iphones, and have 4 to 6 buttons on the side, 2 to 3 on each left/right side so that app developers can program their screen buttons to float to left or right and user can just press the corresponding button. Of course the side buttons will need to be "concave" (not sure the right terminology for it) and be seamless on the side and not use that same old metallic button used in many watches. Minimalist does not work on a non touch-screen. Remember that even the ipod retained all 6+scroll buttons in its 10 year history. [Edit: After a bit more though, if the side buttons are to be implemented, they need to go on only one side since the opposing side need to be empty for the opposing force of the thumb.] Even if you decide to use a touch screen (pro version?), get rid of the side button and make it on the face like the iphone -- not only does it currently not look right on the Black Anodized version (some design work may be needed for a front facing button to look good on the Metallic one), but it will also hurt the users' finger less being a iphone-like button on the front for intensive apps like games. * Why is the Black Anodized version cost $50 more? I would imagine the opposite. What does it have that the Metallic doesn't? * Most people who spend $150+ on a watch actually cares how good it will look on him/her. Either make a pseudo (bunch of images wrapped in a slider div) 360 model view or take a bunch of pictures in different angles standalone and on different wrists (men and ladies). Have its dimensions stated like so: ->|x|<--- | | ^ | | | | | | |<-z->| y | | | | | | | | - (ditto for its height dimensions). * Why is the Blackberry features page totally hidden on the footer? That should be your main feature! In fact, write a hello world ASAP that talks to the iphone/ipad/android (eg. notifications or different vibration alerts for different notifications), it will probably 2-10x your sales and developers. * Nitpicking - the "Buy it now" on the features page needs to be on the bottom, no one will buy until they read the features. And after reading, there's no "buy it now" action avail. * Find a way to tap into the ipod nano watch or other smart watch community, you should get converts or potential customers there. (Edited to format the diagram and more details.)
- fat_tony 16y agoThis is what Apple should be doing with a slimmed down version of their iPod Nano.
- commanda 16y agoIs this device "Made For iPhone" (http://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/ http://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/)? If it is, I suggest putting the badge on your front page. If it's not, I suggest applying for it to be.
- fxj 16y agohow can i get one in germany?
- san007 16y agoamazon!
- moomba 16y agoI don't really see the point of having a watch nowadays. I usually just look at my phone for the time. This watch seems to do some of the stuff a standard smartphone does, but is more limited. At this point in my life, I'm trying to do what I can to limit the number of various gadgets I carry around on my person. I would rather have a small little device that does everything pretty well, than 50 devices I have to lug around that do everything perfect. In a sense its similar to using your computer instead of a television. You can access more interesting internet videos online, and usually don't have to watch commercials because of ad blocking software. You can play video games on your computer instead of using a console. Your computer could hook up to a projector or HD Television as needed. You can read books on your computer. You can call people on your computer. You can IM/Email/Facebook on your computer. I think the future will be far fewer devices that can do a whole lot more. This watch seems like a step into the past.
- tlrobinson 16y agoiPhone/iPad/iOS compatible?
- chbrown 16y ago+ touchscreen for +$100 and I'd buy.
- keefe 16y agook so programmable bluetooth item that vibrates, this is a great idea, so great I'm going to let this comment about it be lost amongst the sea o' comments
- crizCraig 16y agoAny chance it has infrared for a TV remote that never gets lost?
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- modeless 16y agoI would buy this right now if it worked with iPhones. I love my iPhone, but Apple's restrictive policies are really starting to get to me.
- gonzo 16y agoGiven the schematic and gerbers, I'd be willing to make a version of this watch that would talk to un-jailbroken iPhones (and other iOS devices).
- lenary 16y agodid anyone else think "red-green-refactor-wristband" when they saw this? Or at least something to hook into a CI or uptime service?
- ernestipark 16y agoSeems pretty cool! I laughed though at "intuitive one button interface" where the guy pushes it a few times, then he holds it in to do another function.
- flibbityjibbet 16y agoI think one of the best uses for this product would be its secrecy. For instance, I work at an establishment which bans the use of cell phones, but due to the fact that sometimes emergencies happen, a lot of people tend to sneak it in, anyway. So when our pockets buzz, our only option is to ninja it out of our pockets, hold it out of view of others, yet in our view, and check the notification. With this invention, we would be able to simply hit a button on our watch, and not risk losing our jobs just to read a "hey how r u" BS text, or a missed call from an unknown number. Now we can tell whether or not we need to leave the office to return a text or a call without even touching the phone. This is what I would use it for, anyway.
- san007 16y agoBut, r u sure u cant get email notifications for those missed calls/msgs
- bgowttamen 16y agoSome love for Other countries, please
- gonzo 16y agoI'm surprised nobody here has mentioned Dynawa, yet. http://www.dynawa.org/ http://www.dynawa.org/
- lsc 16y agoOh man, this looks /really/ cool. but the battery life? that's going to be a problem. I had a Matsucom brand OnHandPc back in the day, and it'd last a few weeks on a set of (replaceable) batteries. ran dos. It had a little joystick /and/ a bunch of buttons around the side, so it was fairly useful. anyhow, an important use case for me, if I buy this, is using it as a bluetooth vibrator. I'm a SysAdmin and on call; but I'm not single. I want something that will wake me up without waking up anyone else who may be in the bed at the time. This means I need to wear the thing while I sleep; which makes charging... difficult. I would give up color in a second if it would improve battery life. Of course, I could aways just use a bluetooth bracelet at night and this during the day, but I'm bad at remembering things. I want to minimize the number of things I need to remember to charge.
- Yeroc 16y agoI didn't see this anywhere on your website: is the watch water-resistant? I know you're focused on the programmable aspects of the watch but to me this is important information.
- bluethunder 16y agoVery cool stuff ! I think something like this, but bigger and wall mountable would be very neat. The obvious use case for startups is to use it as a dashboard with your most important metric for display - for example your google analytics traffic stats.
- san007 16y agoso does this keep a check on one' heart rate and send out an SOS email to Doc/911 if one is dying/drowning/ suffering from a heart attack?
- Bossman 16y agoSo is there a reason you have to send the code to an external server to compile it? Would like to be able to use this a year or so down the line if your server isn't around or is having issues...