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Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

spectrum.ieee.org

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Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#101

Post by ddlsmurf »

walrus01 wrote: post #90
abetusk wrote: post #64

Wow, this article doesn't do it justice. Watchy is an open source hardware device that uses an e-ink display and has an ESP32 module builtin [0]. SQFMI, the creator of watchy, has a twitter account [1] which has some very nice screenshots [2] [3]. Even the CrowdSupply website has better pics of the device [4]. This is one of the few watches I've been sorely tempted to buy. [0] https://github.com/sqfmi/Watchy [1] http…

Are there files somewhere for a 3D printable case for it? Such as something you could do on a $300 consumer-grade printer capable of ABS filament printing?

Yes there is something https://github.com/sqfmi/watchy-cases , but join the discord, cases are very actively being developed.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#103

Post by Steltek »

Pxtl wrote: post #96
sfRattan wrote: post #17

Maybe I'm a curmudgeon, but I have subzero interest in smartwatches, even hackable or open source models. I want my watch to tell me the time, and I want it to do so 10, 20, and 30 years from now without having to fiddle with software. I love Linux. I cut my teeth on it in high school after one too many viruses on Windows XP made me bite the bullet and try debian. I love my Raspberry Pi. It went from retro-gaming con…

The thing with Pebble was that it was a good watch - a better watch than most modern smartwatches. Week-long battery and always-on screen are critical "watch" functionality that too many modern smartwatches fail on, and pebble succeeded on. For me, it was a watch that I could get notifications on, including turn by turn directions which was super useful when cycling.

Was? It still is! The great thing about the essentials is that they never go out of style :).

Sadly personal devices live a hard life. My wife's Time Round bit the dust and nothing out there really looks the same.

Edit: Okay, a Pebble would probably not be the top of my list in 2021 for a new purchase but the one on my wrist is doing just fine for me right now.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#104

Post by IgorPartola »

brundolf wrote: post #66
Sodman wrote: post #30

Very excited for something like this! I can think of a few fun projects to try that would be useful to me nearly everyday but are too trivial or niche for an Apple or a Samsung to ever spend time actually building. Some ideas off of the top of my head: - Vibrate a bunch and notify me on-screen if my usual commuter train is running late or cancelled (but only if I haven't left my house yet). Also the same, but in reve…

These are great ideas that might actually be in the realm of feasibility (assuming your IoT devices run on some open standard), but the shame with this kind of thing in 2021 is that most of my digital life does not run on open standards, and so a programmable device has limited usefulness. I probably couldn't use it to play or control my media, to control my other (non-custom) devices, to display information from soc…

Even if your IoT doesn’t, I recently discovered Home Assistant which can basically tie together most IoT devices out there and give you a consistent platform to work against. A Raspberry Pi 4 is all you really need to get it going or you can even run it inside a Docker container.

If you want IoT hardware you can control, check out Tasmota’s supported hardware list. Guys hardware often times can be easily flashed with it as it is all ESP8266 based, though some disassembly is required. Same with Sonoff products. Some really exciting possibilities here.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#106

Post by johnwyles »

brundolf wrote: post #66
Sodman wrote: post #30

Very excited for something like this! I can think of a few fun projects to try that would be useful to me nearly everyday but are too trivial or niche for an Apple or a Samsung to ever spend time actually building. Some ideas off of the top of my head: - Vibrate a bunch and notify me on-screen if my usual commuter train is running late or cancelled (but only if I haven't left my house yet). Also the same, but in reve…

These are great ideas that might actually be in the realm of feasibility (assuming your IoT devices run on some open standard), but the shame with this kind of thing in 2021 is that most of my digital life does not run on open standards, and so a programmable device has limited usefulness. I probably couldn't use it to play or control my media, to control my other (non-custom) devices, to display information from soc…

Home Assistant + Node Red ~= 95% of anything I have ever needed of IoT (and this watch could tie into by extension). Albeit, I have put in easily >120 hours of work over the past couple of years to get it there, I still think it's mostly the answer to the issues you mention.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#107

Post by 3np »

renewiltord wrote: post #13

Cool device. A bit short on the sensors, but I understand why for a first iteration. Hope it's successful enough that later revisions will include a few things I'm keen on: * Pulse ox * Continuous heartrate * GPS+Compass But it's a cool device anyway.

GPS and maaaybe compass are the only two things I lack in Watchy

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#108

Post by nkellenicki »

hu3 wrote: post #94
dandelany wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a new Watchy community on Discord here: https://discord.gg/uKcfZZa2 For those considering purchasing - as a Watchy owner - if you're looking for a polished smartwatch product that you can put on your wrist and not think about how it works - this isn't that product. It's still rough around the edges, uploading new watchfaces takes some work, phone notifications aren't implemented yet, no case, etc. But i…

How's the battery charge duration?

With my custom watchface I built, I sync ntp and weather every hour. I get about 100 hours of battery from it (4+ days).

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#109

Post by nkellenicki »

skykooler wrote: post #105

Can this communicate back to your phone? One thing I loved with my Pebble was being able to pause/skip music on my phone without looking, using the physical buttons.

Yes - the ESP32 is capable of Bluetooth Low Energy to talk with your phone. But, you're responsible for implementing the functionality you want yourself.

Re: Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

#110

Post by ddlsmurf »

IrishJourno wrote: post #14
kingbirdy wrote: post #2

Why does this article not have any pictures of the watch? It only has renders, even though the author supposedly has one.

I'm the author of the article and the editor of the section: a while back we decided to use illustrations rather than photography for this section of IEEE Spectrum—it was a style choice, but it gives us more options in terms of showing components and process diagrams.

I mean no offense, but you obviously know nothing about electronics, what prompted you to write an article on such a specialised subject ?
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