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I think the best ideas come when you make something that you really want for yourself. In 2020, I really wanted an eink calendar to hang on my wall. Still, ma

• vincentleeuwen 3y ago
  link is broken for me
  • konschubert 3y ago
    Fixed
  • deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
• dom96 3y ago
  > And you have to pay for certification This is the thing that got me down and it seems to be the biggest barrier to entry for commercializing hardware products. The CE/FCC certification is killer.
  • konschubert 3y ago
    CE is much worse than FCC. Maybe the US Market would work as a start? I can recommend Sunfire Testing for certification. They are used to working with hackers. If you want you can email me and I can maybe help with you with some advice.
    • throwaway71271 3y ago
      thats a great reference, thanks!
    • anymouse123456 3y ago
      We just had a great experience working with US TECH (https://ustech-lab.com https://ustech-lab.com). The price was reasonable (for what it is), the main contact was great, they were very fast and super flexible with our delays. I know they offer CE, but we just went for FCC on unintentional emitters. It wasn't nearly as challenging as we thought it would be. Expect to pay something around $2,500 to $5,000 depending on how labor intensive your tests are, or become.
      • dom96 3y ago
        > Expect to pay something around $2,500 to $5,000 Yeah, that's what's discouraging. For something that is effectively a hobby project, spending many thousands of dollars is too much of a risk, when you're not even sure people will buy the thing you created.
        • anymouse123456 3y ago
          Agreed. It's really frustrating. FWIW, I've done some digging and at least it's not just a mafia shakedown (like the USB-IF charging thousands for an artificially scarce numeral). The equipment and expertise are both expensive and time consuming. DIY is possible, but would cost considerably more. I'm a little surprised I haven't heard about a single start-up accelerator that has cert gear available...
    • dom96 3y ago
      Sadly I am in the UK. I guess I could certify it with the FCC anyway, but my aim was to sell locally initially.
  • seabass-labrax 3y ago
    Would you mind elaborating on what felt problematic, please? I looked into the CE requirements a few years ago and it didn't seem like a large barrier for small electronic devices - nothing that wouldn't be expected in a safe design already, such as ensuring proper earthing or using lead-free components. I'm curious to know what you found so that I don't have any unpleasant surprises should I go ahead with a hardware product! Maybe konschubert also has experiences they could share here.
    • konschubert 3y ago
      The issue is that verification costs 10K, no matter if you use a pre-certified radio or not.
• jot 3y ago
  I am so happy to have discovered this here. I've wanted this product for years. I just placed an order for the coworking space I run in Brighton, UK. Super excited about all the potential applications of this. The simplicity of the developer experience [1] is exactly what I want. Seems like it will also work wonderfully with the screenshot api [2] I'm currently working at. [1]: https://www.invisible-computers.com/invisible-calendar/image-url-manual.html https://www.invisible-computers.com/invisible-calendar/image... [2]: https://urlbox.io https://urlbox.io
  • konschubert 3y ago
    Holy crap, now I am impressed! If I am seeing this right, I could use your screenshot API to implement a website rendering feature for the display, super easily! I was toying with running headless chromium, but if I can get that as a service, it's an absolute winner! But I would need to see if I can afford the pricing. Providing this service to my users for an average device lifetime of 10 years free of charge is a lot of screenshots... I won't be able to fold that into the price of the smart screen. I might need to look into a subscription.
    • jot 3y ago
      Thank you! I have a few ideas about some tweaks we could make to support you and your customers with this. We're up to 11 years and profitable with a small full-time team... so I'm very confident that we'll still be around in another 10 :) I'll drop you an email to discuss.
      • ninjaa 3y ago
        Urlbox has a beautiful website. And the invisible calendar is beautiful too. Would it happen to render multiple calendars concurrently? (I share an office, seems like the perfect xmas gift)
        • jot 3y ago
          Thank you! Credit to Lukas Wiesehan: https://lw.works/en https://lw.works/en
• forinti 3y ago
  I made a picture frame that I can send photos to with Telegram. I've been using it for years and have made a couple for family members too. But, I soon realised that it wasn't cheap enough or reliable enough to be a product. That would require a lot more work and investment.
• layer8 3y ago
  This looks nice. The website is a bit thin on description/documentation. How much does the display weigh? What's the power usage (Watts)? Presumably the device connects via Wifi? Does it support WPA3? Does this work with private iCloud calenders (e.g. as described in [0])? Is all processing on-device, i.e. doesn't involve any cloud services and would work in a closed home network if the calendars are served on that network? What's the update frequency/interval? Can it combine multiple calendars (i.e. private and work)? Is the frame user-replacable? [0] https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-find-your-icloud-calendar-url/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-find-your-icloud...
  • konschubert 3y ago
    Hi, you are right, I need to add a FAQ section to the page! - It weights about 400g including the wooden stand. - It draws very little power. I am not sure how much, but you can run it on a battery pack for quite a while. (The power draw is so low that some external battery packs think that nothing is connected and go into standby, which is annoying.) - Yes it uses WiFI. Not sure about WPA3 to be honest. - Private iCloud calendars should work if you get the secret iCalendar URL as described in the article you linked. - There is very little processing on-device, it needs an API backend that runs on the internet. Code that runs on an embedded device and updates only via Over-The-Air updates is always a liability in terms of maintenance and security, which I tried to minimise. - The device polls for updates a few times a minute. But depending on the calendar integration, there may be caching going on in the backend. (For example, iCalendar data is cached for 10 minutes. The cache is encrypted.) - Yes, you can combine calendars from multiple sources and accounts. - You can replace the frame if you are willing to tinker a bit, re-solder a connection, and are you're careful.
    • layer8 3y ago
      Thanks. Would you open-source the server software so one can self-host it? To be honest, I wouldn’t want to disclose my calendars to a third party.
      • konschubert 3y ago
• fennecfoxy 3y ago
  That's a pretty great price for an eink based display. Only setup thru iPhone atm? When is Android coming? Is there a webui for setup as an alternative?
  • petemir 3y ago
    > iCalendar setup is only possibly through the iPhone app at the moment. From what I gather, only iCalendar can be setup just through iPhone. > It can display calendars from Google Calendar and any iCalendar link* (ical, ics, ...). > You need your phone (iOS or Android) only for the initial configuration. You can setup Google Calendar through Android
  • konschubert 3y ago
    Almost everything is possible with Android. The icalendar support is very new and The Android update for it is still in progress.
• OJFord 3y ago
  You should 'Show HN' this in its own right, this is great.
  • konschubert 3y ago
    I’ve done this before and I’m afraid I’ll get banned if I do this too much. Even though I definitely am a normal, annoying HN user. :)
  • layer8 3y ago
    It has been on here a couple of times: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=invisible-computers.com https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=invisible-computers.c...
    • OJFord 3y ago
      Yeah I saw those just checking if it had been via Algolia, but they didn't do very well and I thought an actual 'Show HN' that's clearly a 'member project' as it were, with someone around to answer questions and chat about it, might fare better. (The call for feedback a couple of years ago aside.) Plenty of interest in this thread despite no relation (in terms of the product) to OP! And people seem often to be commenting about these things, or difficulty in buying big/good enough epaper displays to do it, etc.
• 2wrist 3y ago
  That’s class! Well done.
• mgaunard 3y ago
  For that price I can purchase 3 Google home smart displays which do all this and more. I guess the main advantage would be always-on with little to no power consumption, but all your pictures still have cables.
  • cricalix 3y ago
    You're comparing the output of a small business with a multinational behemoth that has the advantages in procurement and manufacturing due to volume. What's the point of making that comparison and effectively negging someone's work?
    • mgaunard 3y ago
      People buy products based on the value proposition of those products, not because they are hippies that want to support independent technology makers. I don't understand why factual statement and reality checks get modded down; this is just plain denial.
      • sciuromorpha_ 3y ago
        What an odd reply. Where possible, I will try and support independent technology makers, often even if that means it's a slightly worse/different product. Just because you're cynical and jaded, doesn't mean that everyone else is. You're not giving a factual reality check, you're just being an ass
  • mgoetzke 3y ago
    For me (i built something similar) the main advantages where: - I control my own data - It is e-ink, not glaring into my face - Screen is way bigger - Screen is hanging on the wall, I do not have to look down - Less energy consumption of course and most importantly: - Google home displays are not actually helpful at all in this respect (we have one in the kitchen too) as they do not show calendar info well at all. For a family of 4 you need to be able to look at the entire week or more to plan events quickly PS: I use a 10000mAh battery in the frame, so no cables A typical use-case is glancing at the calendar during a phone call for example
• tomnipotent 3y ago
  I'd pay more for a version with touchscreen support for reserving a block of time. I've been using Joan's for several years and people generally love them, but their subscription price-to-feature value leaves much to be desired. Something to consider if you decide to market to businesses. http://www.getjoan.com/ http://www.getjoan.com/
• vinberdon 3y ago
  I've wanted something like this for a while... might have to pick one up. Congrats on making something you wanted AND bringing it to market.
• mgoetzke 3y ago
  Funny . i built something quite similar and many others I am sure too. World is pretty good today. BTW your price is very good, the screen and battery itself is quite expensive already for me (two color e-paper)
• taneq 3y ago
  Every great product needs a product expert and a technical expert. The two overlapping is a magical opportunity to create something not only new, but right.
• david422 3y ago
  Ha, awesome! I half built one but never finished. Good for you.
• ChuckMcM 3y ago
  That's great, I really wanted something like that when I worked at Google because nobody allowed their machine to make noise and I'd miss the 'meeting indicator' and be late for meetings. Started making one but with much more grandiose and expensive design :-). So impressed you got this done and on the market!