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Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

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Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#181

Post by com2kid »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #111
com2kid wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sad that no product since the Microsoft Band has put a UV sensor on a watch. I'm biased because I largely designed the UV experience, but damn I miss having sunscreen reminders.

Is having a sensor on the watch substantially better than just retrieving the UV index for your location and time of day?

It is!

With a UV sensor you can actually tell when someone is outdoors in the sunlight. The MS Band's sunscreen experience was tailor made to automatically remind people to reapply sunscreen when needed, but it was a fair bit smarter than just a simple timer. I have a blog post about it at https://meanderingthoughts.hashnode.dev/cooperative-multitas...

The important bit is the Band knew if someone was in the sun for an extended period of time (15 minutes) and then popped up a reminder to put on sun screen, and also then prompted them if they wanted future reminders. If opted in, the timer popped up at whatever interval they asked for (ranging from 1 hour to 4 hours in 30 minute increments IIRC).

But if the person stepped inside for more than 10 minutes (e.g. went to eat, entered a movie theater, but not just going to the restroom) the reminders automatically stopped. Another 15 minutes of continuous exposure would then restart the experience again.

It wasn't an ideal setup, since you should put on sun screen 30 minutes or so before sun exposure, but it was really helpful and families loved it.

The entire "experience" was just a single dialog (How often do you want reminders? Not at all, every hour, every 90 minutes, etc) but the logic underneath was designed to ensure it wasn't intrusive and that it only came up when relevant.

Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#182

Post by cyberax »

saltcured wrote: post #97
deanc wrote: post #61

What is the use-case now in 2025 for an e-ink watch? I have a Garmin Epix pro gen 2 which gets about a month of battery life and has a gorgeous AMOLED, has profiles for pretty much every sport ever invented, incredibly accurate GPS tracking, all day HR-tracking, ECG etc. I understand it's about 4x the price, but there's also lower-end Garmin's that are about 2x the price with the same screen, slightly less features a…

This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case. Automatic illumination has never worked well for me on any watch. It seems I just don't roll my wrist to view the screen the way other people do, so this heuristic fails badly for me. I often read my watches via ambient light and the light hasn't triggered…

> This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case.

I was thinking about that, I like my iWatch logging my hikes.

But then I realized that I always have my phone with me anyway. And I already use a self-hosted track recorder ( https://github.com/Freika/dawarich/ ). So Pebble has one more order from me.

iWatch and the recent Android phones have some nifty features like fall detection and heart rate alarms, but their privacy and the ease of use are deteriorating.

Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#183

Post by cyberax »

mavamaarten wrote: post #11
avanai wrote: post #8

Man I loved my Pebble but I’d say the three things I use my Apple Watch for most are: telling time (++), reading notifications (~), and getting Siri to set timers or control my Home Assistant* (—-). Since Apple simply won’t allow 3rd party apps the full api access they need to do everything, I’m stuck with my Apple Watch if I want all the Apple stuff, and I’m too lazy/annoyed to try to switch ecosystems. *via Apple H…

Time to cut out the middle man (Apple / homebridge) and speak to HA directly? I didn't check the capabilities of Pebble, but knowing HA, there's probably a way.

HA now supports MCP ( https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/mcp_server/ ), so just connect it directly to one of the assistants.

Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#184

Post by crispinb »

akvadrako wrote: post #158
Anonbrit wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of interest, what is the benefit of GPS on your watch if you already have it on your phone?

Running without a phone.

Quite. Phones & watches are mutually exclusive from my pov. The whole point of the watch (especially when running) is not to have to carry a phone.

Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#185

Post by crispinb »

bcraven wrote: post #155
nradov wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With a GPS (GNSS) receiver on the watch you can get instant position and speed data without having to maintain a stable Bluetooth connection to the phone. Some athletes prefer to record activities on a watch without having to bring a phone. And in certain races, such as most sanctioned triathlons, phones aren't allowed on the course at all.

Sounds like a use case for a fitness watch, not a Pebble.

Or to put it another way: a Pebble would cover more uses with a GPS. They're clearly not expensive nor necessarily profligate with battery. My now 5 year old Amazfit bip, which was cheap as chips, still gets 3 weeks of battery life with a daily gps-mapped run.

Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#186

Post by steve_adams_86 »

bowsamic wrote: post #91
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> new round square look I really like the term "squircle" "The new pebble time 2 sports the chic squircle aesthetic"

That sounds way too American

Haha, I can't think of anything distinctly American about it. A cursory search suggests it's a word coined by an Austrian architect while he was working in Canada.

Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#188

Post by frosted-flakes »

ragazzina wrote: post #146
delecti wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear it all the time in reviews or discussions of tech products. I don't think it really means anything other than "color" or "color scheme", it's just a more product focused way of talking about it.

>I don't think it really means anything other than "color" I am not a native English speaker, but isn't "color" more ambiguous than "colorway"? If I say "The red color is gorgeous", I could or could not be talking about a product. If I say "The red colorway is gorgeous", I am definitely talking about the color of a product.

"The red one is gorgeous" would be the idiomatic way of saying that. Adding the word "colour" is redundant.

"Colourway" is just marketing-speak that is not common outside of tech reviewers.

Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#189

Post by saltcured »

cyberax wrote: post #182
saltcured wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case. Automatic illumination has never worked well for me on any watch. It seems I just don't roll my wrist to view the screen the way other people do, so this heuristic fails badly for me. I often read my watches via ambient light and the light hasn't triggered…

> This is off topic, as the Pebble doesn't really aim at a use case I care about. Navigation and tracking of hikes and other daytime outdoor activity is my use case. I was thinking about that, I like my iWatch logging my hikes. But then I realized that I always have my phone with me anyway. And I already use a self-hosted track recorder ( https://github.com/Freika/dawarich/ ). So Pebble has one more order from me. iW…

I've been satisfied with how well the on watch GPS and barometric sensor are used by Garmin to give clean data, including consistent ascent/descent figures.

This is the main value of the watch to me. I like it as a standalone tool in the wilderness. I am not in the market for a phone peripheral. To me, the phone app is a peripheral to setup/maintain the watch and manage its data. But during hikes they are not connected at all.

I also really like the "course following" navigation on the watch and the customizable data pages. So I can have at my wrist a concise dashboard of timing, distance, elevation, ascent/descent, and upcoming turn guidance as I approach trail junctions. It's there at a glance.

I do also have mapping software on the phone for redundancy and other purposes, but the watch will get me to my destination on its own.

Re: Pebble Time 2 Design Reveal [video]

#190

Post by deanylev »

diego_moita wrote: post #164
bronlund wrote: post #25

Why would anyone support this knowing how it went the last time? Eric isn't in this because he want you to have a better watch, he is in this so he can sell you out at the first opportunity. It may not be FitBit or Automattic this time, but that's just what he does.

> Why would anyone support this knowing how it went the last time? "How it went"? Seriously? What about this: the Apple Watch Series 0 up to 3 no longer work with modern iPhones (or Android, anyways). Series 2 and 3 were released after Pebble went out of business. And I still can use my old Pebbles with Android's latest phones. TL;DR: Pebble's "sell you out" worked better than Apple's "sticking with you".

Not sure about Series 0 to 2 but my mom uses a Series 3 with an iPhone 16 and it works just fine. The rest of your point is sound though.
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