- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
- technology@lemmy.world
Google recently open sourced Pebble and today, Repebble has put some of the watches up for preorder.
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Of all possible names, they’re really using “Core 2 Duo”? I feel like anyone who has been following tech long enough would immediately think of the Intel processor when hearing that name.
It’s a play on words of core 2 do-over
Just waiting for an IP lawsuit to happen there
Genuinely considering it as I love e ink, lightweight, long battery life, and open source
I understand that the watch operating system is open source. However, it seems that the watch will connect to a companion smartphone app. Do you know if the app is a requirement and/or if the app will be open source?
Yeah the mobile app is open source too https://github.com/pebble-dev/mobile-app
It is not clear that this is the app that will be used for the new watches. I imagine it will support the new RePebble watches, but I believe that app was intended for the original Pebble watches.
The thing that makes it so unclear to me is that this is a repo owned by the Rebble team, not the RePebble team. I do not know how much overlap there is between the two teams, but the RePebble team does not have any open source repos that I could find. Any mention of open source software by RePebble (including the OS) are links to repos owned by other teams, which is a little concerning.
It runs basically the same PebbleOS, so they’ll work with any app that works with the original Pebbles. They plan to keep using the community app hosting at https://apps.rebble.io/. There’s also GadgetBridge that’s compatible. Eric mentioned on HN the intention for an official open source library that can be used to make other companion apps too.
Does it spy on us?
The hand-wavy answer is: go check the code and find out, however that’s not accessible to everyone.
The helpful answer is: The code is out there, and the launch date is far enough away that those who do understand it enough to make that distinction should have the time to do so before it ships, so time will tell.
The Rebble folks probably are the closest to knowing, given they’ve been hacking on the current app for the past several years.
My guess is probably not. The target audience probably wouldn’t be cool with it.
Also, there are 3rd party watchfaces and apps that will be available, so that code will need to be evaluated too. So, it’s more complicated than a single yes or no.
One thing about the Pebble - and, I assume, these watches - is that they didn’t have WiFi or LTE, only Bluetooth. So it wasn’t possible for them to do any communication except through the apps already running on your phone. So, broadly, it’s a no.
Gadgetbridge is compatible with Pebble devices
IIRC, it has a reflective LCD, not epaper display.
Core 2 Duo
- 1.2" black/white e-paper screen
Core Time 2
- 1.5" 64 color e-paper screen
Am I missing something?
The watch featured a 32-millimetre (1.26 in) 144 × 168 pixel black and white memory LCD using an ultra low-power “transflective LCD”
The problem is that e-paper is a category of displays, and some companies label reflective LCDs as “e-paper”. Which is subjective (and I personally heavily disagree with that categorization, cause then LCD clocks and Gameboys have “e-paper” displays, too).
But in the comment I responded to it was said Pebble has “eink” display, which is categorically wrong, as that is a very specific proprietary technology, which is e-paper in traditional sense, like the ones in Kindles.
Your response says, “not epaper” which is categorically wrong. I assume you meant to say “eink”
As I mentioned earlier, whether a screen type is considered e-paper is subjective. And in my opinion, reflective LCD isn’t a type of e-paper. You may disagree, but it’s not “categorically” wrong.
Where exactly is that quote from? I had a look through the product page(s) and could only find e-paper being mentioned…
Quote is from Wikipedia. You can see it’s the case for both models here:
Besides, I own a Pebble Time watch and can tell you, it doesn’t perform like a typical e-paper. It has the bad viewing angles of LCD and screen goes blank when power is lost.
That quote is on under features on the article for the original Pebble, right? Might be that the Pebble 2 used a different screen; I can’t really find info on that though.
Regarding the Time, I think the product page for the new Time 2 specifically says how the curved screen lens on the Pebble Time wasn’t that good.
Edit: Found the quote under the Core 2 Time section
Flat glass lens (less glare and reflections than Pebble Time family curved lens)
From the Verge article:
The first watch that Migicovsky and Core plan to ship is called the Core 2 Duo (not to be confused with the old Intel processor), which Migicovsky says will cost $149 and will ship in July. […] It has the exact same black-and-white e-paper display as the old Pebble 2 (technically a transflective LCD, if you’re curious)
I believe these are sharp’s memory in pixel lcds. They’re much lower power than something like the game boy screen as each pixel retains its state and doesn’t need to be refreshed from the controller constantly. I actually like these little screens quite a lot. Worse pixel density and don’t look as good as e-ink when static, but still really Low power and can refresh way faster and smoother when needed.
I’m not criticizing the screens, they are ok and I loved my Pebble Time Steel until the battery swelled and popped off the screen. I’m just saying that calling these e-paper is a deceptive marketing strategy.
Epaper and eink are different. Eink consumes no power when idle, and epaper consumes almost no power.
Yet they are also the same - E Ink is an e-paper display.
Electronic paper is a category for any low energy display tech that looks kinda like paper, E Ink is a brand name for a “Microencapsulated electrophoretic display” from E Ink Corporation. Also just known as E-ink because IIRC they have the patent on it so nobody else can actually make them.
Oh that seems to be new since the original pebble
I still can’t believe that no one else has made a smart watch with physical buttons and low energy use that has surpassed the pebble after all this time. I’m still cautious that this venture will pan out, but honestly there really hasn’t been a smart watch released that matches my use case. Sleep tracking makes no sense if I have to charge the watch daily, as I’d probably charge it over night. Media control with screen buttons is awful. Fossil came close with their hybrid smart watch, but the layout of the media controls made no sense and couldn’t easily be used without looking at the watch. Just let me check my calendar and texts and skip through ads in podcasts, and last over a week of battery and you will have my money.
Don’t love the closed-in ecosystem but Garmin watches with MIP display do almost all you just said.
- Touch screen + also Buttons for 100% touch-free interaction
- Battery life of around 3 to 4 weeks (depending on what you are doing)… more with the Solar models
- Media control is there, but don’t really use that
Podcast ad skipping sadly not a thing.
Price might be an issue though. The top end models with all the whistles come at a smartphone flagship price point.
I have a Vivoactive 4 that I picked up used from Facebook a couple of months back. It’s a few years old now, and the regular LCD screen looks pretty janky once you’ve got used to OLED. But it cost me £50, works perfectly well with GrapheneOS, and the battery still lasts a week.
It’s left me pondering upgrading it to a new one with an OLED screen.
To offer a counter point: I’ve owned 3 different VivoActive 3 Music watches for about 2 years each. All of them had the screen stop working. Could be my bad luck, but I wasn’t super rough with them (never wore them in water)
The Garmin Instinct is what I switched to when my Pebble died. Recently upgraded to the Fenix.
You can absolutely skip ahead through ads with the music controls. Automating it would be the job of the app.
You are right. I think I read that wrong. I thought automatic segment skipping like YouTube SponsorBlock. You definitely can fast forward using buttons.
Garmin watches come close?
Honestly daily charging isn’t the worst I just usually charge my watch when I’m in the shower and getting ready in the morning pop it back on when I’m done and I’m good to go.
A commute-by-car is a great time to charge a smart watch, too.
I’ve pre-ordered the Core Time 2.
Pre-orders are something I never usually do, but given this is essentially just an improved version of an existing product, as opposed to a Kickstarter, I feel more confident. And I can cancel the preorder at any time (plus I’ll see reviews of the cheaper model before the Core Time 2 ships).
The price made me wince, though. It’s very expensive for the functionality. Technically cheaper than the original watches adjusted for inflation, but that ignores the current-day smartwatch market. Still, I loved the Pebble, so I think it’s worth it.
I pre ordered, and I’m usually annoyingly loud about not pre-ordering. That being said, i love my pebble time. I Kickstarted it back in the day, and it still works but the battery is weak. I could replace the battery, but i want more devices like this, so I’ll put some money in and eat Ramen for a few weeks.
Preordered here too, for all the same reasons. I went for the Time2, even though it’s not due to ship until later. I’ve waited nearly ten years, I can wait another six months…
Eh. I prefer the PineTime watch. It was like 25€+shipping and customs and it does everything I need, is fully open-source – it displays weather info, time, date, heart rate (although not very well), and has timer, stopper, etc.
Is there any company that let’s you export your health tracking data in a non proprietary format and doesn’t charge you a monthly subscription to use your smartwatch’s health tracking features?
Withings
One pro of Withings is that they’re French, so their policies on data in general are pretty great.
One con of Withings is that they’re French, so it’s not actually pronounced how you think.
Garmin allows you to export data to a csv file. I’m not sure if it’s all data because I haven’t used it, but I know it’s simple.
That’s good to know, I liked the MIP display watches I saw from Garmin, but the only model with that display seems to be their most expensive watch
I think the forerunner 55 is MIP. It’s not a smart watch and it’s their base level running watch. I had one before I upgraded to the 265 and I loved it. Off the top of my head, I know it gives you sleep data, heart rate, data, stress level data, a HRV, VO2 max. Max. Maybe some other things. Along with the standard steps and Miles moved or kilometers moved.
Seems like it can be connected to your phone to see notifications and control music using the Garmin app, do I guess it’s smart enough for me, that plus health monitoring and long battery life are all I need, and it’s more affordable than other smartwatch’s as well. Does Garmin charge a monthly subscription to use the health monitoring? And does it allow you to export the health data?
No their app is free. You can access via your phone and on the web. Fyi music control on the Garmin is a bit clunky, but it works.
The 255 is also MIP and is basically the same as the one I have (265). The 265 swapped out the display for an amoled display.
Fuck I want that so bad.
Withings
If only there was a company out there that did it. Alas…
I want one, but I don’t know what I’d do with it. It’s hackable, it pairs with a phone/tablet/etc.
I’m just trying to figure out what it can do for me. My lack of imagination annoys me.
I use my autopebble with tasker. Scripted a few things, like find my phone, load my audiobook, messages, etc. Used to have Google Home messages and lights and stuff, but I stopped using smarthome stuff for the most part. Mostly I use it for music control and weather and time though.
I also scripted a weird one that I could enter my feeling level at work throughout the day (1-10) and based on the average at tthe end tasker would play one of three songs when I got in my car at the end of work (only within a time range and if bluetooth was connected to car)
Torn between this and a bangle.js 2, if I need a smarwatch at all
Having used both, personally I highly preferred the Pebble over the Bangle JS.
Pebble was solid software, good designs and it all just worked simply and did what I needed. I also thought the Pebble Time Round was near perfect in design and execution. I’m not a fan of the geeky look of the normal pebble and bangle watches (or the apple watch look).
The Bangle was fun to dev for, and I love that it exists, but it all felt like a dev project. Not a finished product. Granted it was early on in the project so I’m sure it’s in a better place now.
They both have similar capabilities. I say go with whichever you think is going to fit what you need a smartwatch to do.
Pebble sounds cool but i really dont like square watches(except the retro casios and gshocks) and now its owned by google so thats shit as well.
Google dumped the Pebble OS code on GitHub when this whole “rePebble” thing (not Rebble) started. Now there’s a new phone app coming out soon (or out now, depending on your platform and abilities) that handles old and new Pebbles and modern phone platforms.
None of this is from Google.
…and now its owned by google so thats shit as well.
Google acquired it back in 2021, this move to open source it is a good thing.
I think Google just owns the software because the product page for these watches say the guy invested his own money to get these produced.
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I still have my circa-2016 email confirming my pledge for the Time 2 Silver, which ultimately got cancelled just before the fulfillment date due to Pebble selling out to Fitbit.
While I loved my original Pebble back then, I would really want something similar to look and function of the T2S so will watch this project in hopes it too is resurrected
due to Pebble selling out to Fitbit.
Due to Pebble going bankrupt, and managing to sell its software assets to Fitbit to gain just enough money to refund the kickstarter pledges and pay off it’s biggest debts.
Subscriber paywalled. I am so unbelievably sick of these.
That’s weird, it isn’t for me.
Try https://archive.ph/iULP4 or https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.wired.com/2016/12/the-inside-story-behind-pebbles-demise/
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No NFC ??? Whyyyyyyyyyy
Basic payment options would be sick
Wearing a Pebble Time steel right now, and I’m cautiously optimistic for this.
Just got this to talk to my phone, gadget wraps carbon and clear screen protector. All I need now is to find out how to change the watch face.
The app has a nice selection of faces, and you can also make your own (I made a few), though tbh I most use “blue futuristic” on mine
Thanks, I found them on rebvle but they won’t download to my watch.
Does the pebble app show your current watch face as active?
I don’t have the pebble or rebel.io app. I am connected via gadgetbridge.org and the rebel.io site.
No current face is showing.
Oh, ok. Sorry, I don’t know how to use either of those. You’ll need to reach out to them on that one.
Thanks for the help, the app won’t work on my phone as it has a too recent android version.
Pre-ordered one immediately. I miss my old Pebble Time Steel so much. Part of me wishes there’s one with that design but I’ll take what I can get.
How’s navigation with Pebbles? If I start bike navigation in Google Maps on my phone, can I get turn-by-turn directions on the watch, and does it not suck?
There was/is a companion app called PebbleNav/NavMe that worked okay-ish, as long as you could survive with “Turn left in 100 metres to x street” type instructions with no map view (not really something you can do with 144x168 pixels).
There is an Android and a companion Pebble app (“Nav me”) that reads the Google maps notifications (“In 300 meters turn left onto Jefferson Street”) and displays them on the watch. The remaining distance until the next navigation instruction decreases real time. Nothing fancy like minimap view, but can be useful in some situations.
can it play tetris
