7 ms·

Sony Smartwatch now open-sourced

71 points by prajjwal 13y ago

axyjo 13y ago
Here's the TI-Chronos [1]. It's similar to the Smartwatch in many ways, and is based on the MSP430 chips used in the TI Launchpad. [1] - http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos
- georgemcbay 13y ago
  As a big TI fan (I love hacking on the MSP430, Stellaris, BeagleBone, etc), the Chronos would be great if it weren't so incredibly 1970s/early 1980s dorky looking. I mean, I'm not particularly fashion conscious, but I wouldn't wear that thing.
- X-Cubed 13y ago
  Without Bluetooth support, it's not much use. You'd be limited to having a dongle connected your smartphone, or the watch only working when you were within the range of a base station.
akiselev 13y ago
I'm disappointed I can't find reference schematics for the smartwatch but they provide datasheets and specific chip models at http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-project/smartwatch-hacker-guide/ http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-pro... The watch has bluetooth, a touchscreen, and an STM32F2 microcontroller [disappointed its not a F4 :( ] which makes it a powerful and cheap development kit. Their instructions for flashing the firmware of the chip uses open source dfu-util so IIRC you'll be able to flash a binary to the STM32F2 from any compatible toolchain. Surprise, surprise, this means Arduino from LeafLabs!: https://github.com/leaflabs/www.leaflabs.com/blob/master/posts/major-update-experimental-stm32f2-and-f1-value-line-in-libmaple-master.md https://github.com/leaflabs/www.leaflabs.com/blob/master/pos... Looking at http://www.cmw.me/?q=node/59 http://www.cmw.me/?q=node/59 you could even replace their PCB with your own, preserving the LCD connections and upgrading the processor to an even more power efficient one with a sensor or two added on (this is a four layer board at most, you could theoretically make the ICs even denser). However, you'll probably want to find someone with a pick and place + reflow at a hackspace or something unless you're confident you can reflow leadless chips and 0201 components yourself.
- TheLegace 13y ago
  I love the STM32F4, have to tried the libopencm3 library?
  - akiselev 13y ago
    Nice library, haven't seen it before. I'll check it out, the USB libraries seem to be a bit more bearable than the usual stacks I've seen.
csense 13y ago
I would never trust Sony's release of hardware with official open-source software support, after they removed the official Linux support for old-model PlayStation 3's [1]. (The support was removed through a firmware update for hardware in the wild. This firmware update was non-optional if you want to use subsequently produced official games, or use the console's online service. I never did either, and Sony and its developers have probably lost hundreds of my dollars over the past few years as a result.) This is also the company that put rootkits on CD's [2]. I no longer do business with Sony if I can avoid it. EDIT: This was downvoted within two minutes? Why? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherOS#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherOS#History [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit
- acc00 13y ago
  Sony is a big multinational corporation. As is the case with, say, Microsoft, it is not helpful to appreciate its actions as coming from a single entity.
  - csense 13y ago
    So if I have a particular experience with them, I can't draw any inferences about future interactions from that? Also, Sony itself clearly wishes to be perceived as a single entity, since they proudly display the Sony brand on all their products and marketing. I can follow that people -- and corporations -- change over time, and sometimes problems like this are flukes, rather than part of the fundamental nature. So I'll stay away from them for a decade or two; if they don't make any other really sleazy moves in that time frame, I'll eventually give them another chance if they make something I want to buy.
    - pandaman 13y ago
      Had you actually suffered from the Other OS removal? I am asking because everybody complaining about this on the Internet does not even own a PS3 and people who actually had ran Linux did not complain about the update as it did not affect them much. The only issue you'd had if you used PS3 for computation was the fact that the hardware had been discontinued (long time before the update), but then it's been already too expensive for the computing power it provided.
tikiavenger 13y ago
About a year ago, I applied as an app developer and received a free Sony Smartwatch to develop apps on. I tried wearing the watch for a couple days before I planned to start programming my app. The user experience was pretty horrible. The watch wasn't that responsive, had connectivity issues, and had a pretty poor looking UI.
angusgr 13y ago
Rather than "open sourced" all I see is "a bit open specced". Yes, the "hacker guide" has details of what chips are on the board, and how they are connected: http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-project/smartwatch-hacker-guide/ http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-pro... ... and there's a separate page with a guide to putting it in DFU mode to upload a firmware. Which is cool, but the chip names could have been found by the people who'd already done teardowns and the pinouts could be found by buzzing one out (possibly sacrificially by removing chips.) The chip datasheets they link were all all already publically available, the Cypress touch sensor one is even a link to alldatasheet.com(!) Probably the biggest letdown is the Bluetooth/FM chip made by Sony, arguably the most useful and most complex device aside from the MCU. That link is to Sony's marketing specs page with a block diagram and not much technical info that I can see. I can't find any information about the chip made available to the public by Sony. Ironically enough there is a longer 6 page Sony datasheet leaked on datasheet sites, but even this doesn't have pinouts or begin to explain how the SPI interface to Bluetooth/FM functionality actually works. I think it's good that a major company like Sony released even this small amount of information, although it's worth noting that reverse engineers have found more information on similar products acting entirely by themselves (take for instance the PS3 Move controller: http://eissq.com/ps3_move/ http://eissq.com/ps3_move/ ) On the other hand I think it's very bad that most people will glance at this and see Sony "open sourcing" something when they appear to be open sourcing nearly nothing. The RTOS they used is probably proprietary property of a third party so they can't open source that, but they could release their application source code for the smartwatch - allowing people to see how they communicate with the Bluetooth/FM chip, for instance. That kind of source could be ported to an open source RTOS. The optimist in me hopes that detailed technical information will be forthcoming over time, but the pessimist in me thinks this is the feel-good last gasp of an end-of-life product. :/
- angusgr 13y ago
  On the optimistic front, with a bit more digging I found this comment from Jerker Lindgren Götsten (Sony Mobile): http://developer.sonymobile.com/2013/06/13/were-opening-up-smartwatch-create-and-flash-alternative-firmware/#comment-6979 http://developer.sonymobile.com/2013/06/13/were-opening-up-s... "The article was just a first step towards opening up the SmartWatch, more details will follow as the project progress." So maybe it's not the last gasp...
virtualritz 13y ago
The legalese in the "Important information – read this before flashing alternative firmware" section on http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-project/ http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-pro... seems to me to try to discourage people from modding the firmware. Feels totally half-assed to me, after reading this. Either I want people to hack & play and support them with it or I don't. How can you damage the hardware of this simple device with a hacked Android? What do these lawyers think? That someone hacks a version of Android that makes the SmartWatch go up in smoke and every kid that has bought one and got a scratch on their glass will load that up so they can claim warranty on their device? Seriously?

71 points by prajjwal 13y ago

axyjo 13y ago

Here's the TI-Chronos [1]. It's similar to the Smartwatch in many ways, and is based on the MSP430 chips used in the TI Launchpad. [1] - http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos

georgemcbay 13y ago
As a big TI fan (I love hacking on the MSP430, Stellaris, BeagleBone, etc), the Chronos would be great if it weren't so incredibly 1970s/early 1980s dorky looking. I mean, I'm not particularly fashion conscious, but I wouldn't wear that thing.
X-Cubed 13y ago
Without Bluetooth support, it's not much use. You'd be limited to having a dongle connected your smartphone, or the watch only working when you were within the range of a base station.

akiselev 13y ago

I'm disappointed I can't find reference schematics for the smartwatch but they provide datasheets and specific chip models at http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-project/smartwatch-hacker-guide/ http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-pro... The watch has bluetooth, a touchscreen, and an STM32F2 microcontroller [disappointed its not a F4 :( ] which makes it a powerful and cheap development kit. Their instructions for flashing the firmware of the chip uses open source dfu-util so IIRC you'll be able to flash a binary to the STM32F2 from any compatible toolchain. Surprise, surprise, this means Arduino from LeafLabs!: https://github.com/leaflabs/www.leaflabs.com/blob/master/posts/major-update-experimental-stm32f2-and-f1-value-line-in-libmaple-master.md https://github.com/leaflabs/www.leaflabs.com/blob/master/pos... Looking at http://www.cmw.me/?q=node/59 http://www.cmw.me/?q=node/59 you could even replace their PCB with your own, preserving the LCD connections and upgrading the processor to an even more power efficient one with a sensor or two added on (this is a four layer board at most, you could theoretically make the ICs even denser). However, you'll probably want to find someone with a pick and place + reflow at a hackspace or something unless you're confident you can reflow leadless chips and 0201 components yourself.

TheLegace 13y ago
I love the STM32F4, have to tried the libopencm3 library?
- akiselev 13y ago
  Nice library, haven't seen it before. I'll check it out, the USB libraries seem to be a bit more bearable than the usual stacks I've seen.

csense 13y ago

I would never trust Sony's release of hardware with official open-source software support, after they removed the official Linux support for old-model PlayStation 3's [1]. (The support was removed through a firmware update for hardware in the wild. This firmware update was non-optional if you want to use subsequently produced official games, or use the console's online service. I never did either, and Sony and its developers have probably lost hundreds of my dollars over the past few years as a result.) This is also the company that put rootkits on CD's [2]. I no longer do business with Sony if I can avoid it. EDIT: This was downvoted within two minutes? Why? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherOS#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherOS#History [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit

acc00 13y ago
Sony is a big multinational corporation. As is the case with, say, Microsoft, it is not helpful to appreciate its actions as coming from a single entity.
- csense 13y ago
  So if I have a particular experience with them, I can't draw any inferences about future interactions from that? Also, Sony itself clearly wishes to be perceived as a single entity, since they proudly display the Sony brand on all their products and marketing. I can follow that people -- and corporations -- change over time, and sometimes problems like this are flukes, rather than part of the fundamental nature. So I'll stay away from them for a decade or two; if they don't make any other really sleazy moves in that time frame, I'll eventually give them another chance if they make something I want to buy.
  - pandaman 13y ago
    Had you actually suffered from the Other OS removal? I am asking because everybody complaining about this on the Internet does not even own a PS3 and people who actually had ran Linux did not complain about the update as it did not affect them much. The only issue you'd had if you used PS3 for computation was the fact that the hardware had been discontinued (long time before the update), but then it's been already too expensive for the computing power it provided.

tikiavenger 13y ago

About a year ago, I applied as an app developer and received a free Sony Smartwatch to develop apps on. I tried wearing the watch for a couple days before I planned to start programming my app. The user experience was pretty horrible. The watch wasn't that responsive, had connectivity issues, and had a pretty poor looking UI.

angusgr 13y ago

Rather than "open sourced" all I see is "a bit open specced". Yes, the "hacker guide" has details of what chips are on the board, and how they are connected: http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-project/smartwatch-hacker-guide/ http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-pro... ... and there's a separate page with a guide to putting it in DFU mode to upload a firmware. Which is cool, but the chip names could have been found by the people who'd already done teardowns and the pinouts could be found by buzzing one out (possibly sacrificially by removing chips.) The chip datasheets they link were all all already publically available, the Cypress touch sensor one is even a link to alldatasheet.com(!) Probably the biggest letdown is the Bluetooth/FM chip made by Sony, arguably the most useful and most complex device aside from the MCU. That link is to Sony's marketing specs page with a block diagram and not much technical info that I can see. I can't find any information about the chip made available to the public by Sony. Ironically enough there is a longer 6 page Sony datasheet leaked on datasheet sites, but even this doesn't have pinouts or begin to explain how the SPI interface to Bluetooth/FM functionality actually works. I think it's good that a major company like Sony released even this small amount of information, although it's worth noting that reverse engineers have found more information on similar products acting entirely by themselves (take for instance the PS3 Move controller: http://eissq.com/ps3_move/ http://eissq.com/ps3_move/ ) On the other hand I think it's very bad that most people will glance at this and see Sony "open sourcing" something when they appear to be open sourcing nearly nothing. The RTOS they used is probably proprietary property of a third party so they can't open source that, but they could release their application source code for the smartwatch - allowing people to see how they communicate with the Bluetooth/FM chip, for instance. That kind of source could be ported to an open source RTOS. The optimist in me hopes that detailed technical information will be forthcoming over time, but the pessimist in me thinks this is the feel-good last gasp of an end-of-life product. :/

angusgr 13y ago
On the optimistic front, with a bit more digging I found this comment from Jerker Lindgren Götsten (Sony Mobile): http://developer.sonymobile.com/2013/06/13/were-opening-up-smartwatch-create-and-flash-alternative-firmware/#comment-6979 http://developer.sonymobile.com/2013/06/13/were-opening-up-s... "The article was just a first step towards opening up the SmartWatch, more details will follow as the project progress." So maybe it's not the last gasp...

virtualritz 13y ago

The legalese in the "Important information – read this before flashing alternative firmware" section on http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-project/ http://developer.sonymobile.com/services/open-smartwatch-pro... seems to me to try to discourage people from modding the firmware. Feels totally half-assed to me, after reading this. Either I want people to hack & play and support them with it or I don't. How can you damage the hardware of this simple device with a hacked Android? What do these lawyers think? That someone hacks a version of Android that makes the SmartWatch go up in smoke and every kid that has bought one and got a scratch on their glass will load that up so they can claim warranty on their device? Seriously?