3 ms·

So, Pebble calls it "Smartstrap", but the TC article for some reason uses the names "Smartband" and "Smartstrap". The Kickstarter page doesn't mention it by ei

by unwind 12y ago

So, Pebble calls it "Smartstrap", but the TC article for some reason uses the names "Smartband" and "Smartstrap". The Kickstarter page doesn't mention it by either, but the Pebble blog post (http://developer.getpebble.com/blog http://developer.getpebble.com/blog) that the TC article references still links back to the Kickstarter page as a source. The blog post shows an image of connectors, but doesn't specify what the four lines do (I'm guessing two are for power and two are for data). So confused right now.

jamestanderson 12y ago
I'm a backer of the Pebble Time and received this announcement as a Kickstarter project update. In pebble's own words, they call it a smartstrap. Introducing Pebble smartstraps We believe your smartwatch should help you accomplish more every day. When we started Pebble, we opened up the platform and invited the software developer community to build remarkable experiences for Pebblers everywhere. Looking at all the amazing things our developers have created over the last 2 years, we decided to open the platform once more...only this time, for hardware developers. Have you ever wanted to go for a run without your phone and still track your speed and distance? How about a Pebble watch with a battery life of more than a week? What about a NFC chip for payments, keyless car remote, or a pollution sensor? Rather than trying to shove every sensor and doohickey into the Pebble Time, we decided to keep the watch simple and functional and give our incredible maker and developer community the opportunity to build from there. Up until now, if you wanted it all you had to compromise…on battery life, size, design or feature set. Not anymore. That’s why we created Pebble smartstraps. It’s simple: straps can now contain electronics and sensors to interface directly with apps running on Pebble Time.
- mladenkovacevic 12y ago
  Are you by any chance finding it impossible to upgrade your pledge to the Pebble Time Steel? Kickstarter is really crapping out on me today.
  - mikestew 12y ago
    I was having trouble, but eventually got through just minutes ago. Could be fixed now, or I just got lucky.
  - jamestanderson 12y ago
    Yeah their status page said they were looking into it though. Definitely not just you.
FLGMwt 12y ago
This page (https://developer.getpebble.com/smartstraps/ https://developer.getpebble.com/smartstraps/, linked in the blog post) has a little bit more detail. There's not much details yet on the API, which is likely only for "is connected" or "start this app", but my guess is that most of the work is left up to the hardware developer, a la most hardware dev. Not so much API calls but straight reading IO pins. I'd pick up an Arduino for an idea of what you'd be getting into.
- michaelmior 12y ago
  I'd be surprised if they didn't realize some SDKs to make working with whatever protocol they come up with easier.
  - cbhl 12y ago
    Judging from the first time around, they give people just enough SDK to get started, and then develop the SDK in parallel with the community releasing products. About two years ago they were telling people to unzip a file in their home directory and put arm-none-eabi-gcc in $PATH: http://web.archive.org/web/20130416000246/http://developer.getpebble.com/1/01_GetStarted/01_Step_2 http://web.archive.org/web/20130416000246/http://developer.g...
swamp40 12y ago
Two for ground, one for (bidirectional) power and a one-wire serial bus.

by unwind 12y ago

jamestanderson 12y ago

I'm a backer of the Pebble Time and received this announcement as a Kickstarter project update. In pebble's own words, they call it a smartstrap. Introducing Pebble smartstraps We believe your smartwatch should help you accomplish more every day. When we started Pebble, we opened up the platform and invited the software developer community to build remarkable experiences for Pebblers everywhere. Looking at all the amazing things our developers have created over the last 2 years, we decided to open the platform once more...only this time, for hardware developers. Have you ever wanted to go for a run without your phone and still track your speed and distance? How about a Pebble watch with a battery life of more than a week? What about a NFC chip for payments, keyless car remote, or a pollution sensor? Rather than trying to shove every sensor and doohickey into the Pebble Time, we decided to keep the watch simple and functional and give our incredible maker and developer community the opportunity to build from there. Up until now, if you wanted it all you had to compromise…on battery life, size, design or feature set. Not anymore. That’s why we created Pebble smartstraps. It’s simple: straps can now contain electronics and sensors to interface directly with apps running on Pebble Time.

mladenkovacevic 12y ago
Are you by any chance finding it impossible to upgrade your pledge to the Pebble Time Steel? Kickstarter is really crapping out on me today.
- mikestew 12y ago
  I was having trouble, but eventually got through just minutes ago. Could be fixed now, or I just got lucky.
- jamestanderson 12y ago
  Yeah their status page said they were looking into it though. Definitely not just you.

FLGMwt 12y ago

This page (https://developer.getpebble.com/smartstraps/ https://developer.getpebble.com/smartstraps/, linked in the blog post) has a little bit more detail. There's not much details yet on the API, which is likely only for "is connected" or "start this app", but my guess is that most of the work is left up to the hardware developer, a la most hardware dev. Not so much API calls but straight reading IO pins. I'd pick up an Arduino for an idea of what you'd be getting into.

michaelmior 12y ago
I'd be surprised if they didn't realize some SDKs to make working with whatever protocol they come up with easier.
- cbhl 12y ago
  Judging from the first time around, they give people just enough SDK to get started, and then develop the SDK in parallel with the community releasing products. About two years ago they were telling people to unzip a file in their home directory and put arm-none-eabi-gcc in $PATH: http://web.archive.org/web/20130416000246/http://developer.getpebble.com/1/01_GetStarted/01_Step_2 http://web.archive.org/web/20130416000246/http://developer.g...

swamp40 12y ago

Two for ground, one for (bidirectional) power and a one-wire serial bus.