Live data from Hacker News

Pebble Production: February Update

repebble.com

21–30 of 167 posts

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#21
post #19
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very minor distinction, but they aren't a epaper display (low refresh rate, zero power to maintain an image), rather the technology is a sharp memory LCD (ludicrously low power, but high refresh rate). They're extremely neat and don't suffer from the washed out color and ghosting that epaper does, at the cost of needing ever so slightly above no power to keep an image displayed. I much, much prefer them even t…

Isn’t e-paper the general category of low power displays? I understand that “e-ink” are a trademarked subset of the broader e-paper category, which also includes memory-in-pixel LCD displays which other watches like Garmin (and probably pebble) have. E-ink displays are only manufactured by eink corp, and are popularly found on e-readers, shelf price tags in some stores etc. I may be mixing terms in my brain, though.…

I haven't really heard it being used like that, always heard e-paper being used as the specific e-ink displays and never anything else. The only time I've seen the (in my mind) confused messaging is on Pebble's own website, I still have my original Pebble Time somewhere, and that's a good part just down to how much I love those displays. I don't think I'd have used one for years if they were epaper.

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#22
post #3

When the first Pebble was released, and I got a couple of those, it was unique and cool as hell. This time around, you can get a programmable smartwatch from China for a fraction of the price looking way cooler. Edit: https://diyusthad.com/2021/04/top-5-open-source-smartwatch.h...

ok buy one of those then

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#23
post #21
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t e-paper the general category of low power displays? I understand that “e-ink” are a trademarked subset of the broader e-paper category, which also includes memory-in-pixel LCD displays which other watches like Garmin (and probably pebble) have. E-ink displays are only manufactured by eink corp, and are popularly found on e-readers, shelf price tags in some stores etc. I may be mixing terms in my brain, though.…

I haven't really heard it being used like that, always heard e-paper being used as the specific e-ink displays and never anything else. The only time I've seen the (in my mind) confused messaging is on Pebble's own website, I still have my original Pebble Time somewhere, and that's a good part just down to how much I love those displays. I don't think I'd have used one for years if they were epaper.

> The only time I've seen the (in my mind) confused messaging is on Pebble's own website

Yeah, other wearable manufacturers who use the same display technology usually call it MIP instead. Pebble are pretty much the only ones who call it e-paper, which has led some to think theirs is a distinct thing, but it's just MIP.

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#24
post #3

When the first Pebble was released, and I got a couple of those, it was unique and cool as hell. This time around, you can get a programmable smartwatch from China for a fraction of the price looking way cooler. Edit: https://diyusthad.com/2021/04/top-5-open-source-smartwatch.h...

I started using Amazfit years ago, love it and it delivers.

I had Basis first and this is the most loved watch from me, then Pebble.

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#25
post #15

> Many old Pebble apps/faces use weather APIs that no longer work (Yahoo, OpenWeather). The Pebble mobile app now catches these network requests and returns data from Open-Meteo - keeping old watchfaces working! That's some sweet quality of life fixes!

And we are very determined to keep the Open-Meteo weather API open-access indefinitely and don’t share the same fate as many closed-source APIs like Yahoo or OpenWeatherMap.

just here to say i love Open-Meteo keep up the good work !

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#26
> Also, don’t expose it to hot water (this could weaken the waterproof seals), or high pressure water. It’s not invincible.

Aahhh. Finally the mystery of how my old pebble died is solved. Hopefully . One fine morning, the display came off. It was supposed to be waterproof and there was no puffed up battery either.

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#27
The return of com.getpebble.android.provider.basalt is a very nice development. It revives the legacy plugin ecosystem overnight without requiring original developers (many of whom may be long gone) to push updates. Moving the app store native and switching iOS weather to WebSockets are also solid wins for latency, but I'm most curious about the package ID reclamation.

Has anyone else successfully recovered a dormant package name from Google Play recently? I was under the impression that once an original developer account goes inactive, those namespaces were effectively burned forever? Is that an incorrect assumption on my part?

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#28
post #11
post #3

When the first Pebble was released, and I got a couple of those, it was unique and cool as hell. This time around, you can get a programmable smartwatch from China for a fraction of the price looking way cooler. Edit: https://diyusthad.com/2021/04/top-5-open-source-smartwatch.h...

"programmable smartwatch from China" can you share some examples?

Not gp, but here are some: https://diyusthad.com/2021/04/top-5-open-source-smartwatch.h...

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#29
post #19
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very minor distinction, but they aren't a epaper display (low refresh rate, zero power to maintain an image), rather the technology is a sharp memory LCD (ludicrously low power, but high refresh rate). They're extremely neat and don't suffer from the washed out color and ghosting that epaper does, at the cost of needing ever so slightly above no power to keep an image displayed. I much, much prefer them even t…

Isn’t e-paper the general category of low power displays? I understand that “e-ink” are a trademarked subset of the broader e-paper category, which also includes memory-in-pixel LCD displays which other watches like Garmin (and probably pebble) have. E-ink displays are only manufactured by eink corp, and are popularly found on e-readers, shelf price tags in some stores etc. I may be mixing terms in my brain, though.…

> Isn’t e-paper the general category of low power displays?

Yes, or more precisely: reflective displays without backlight. There were many such display technologies a while ago (when the Kindle took off and various companies tried to compete with E Ink), but most have since been abandoned.

Pretty much all colored e-paper screens have much lower contrast than color printing on paper, since they mix colors by using can conventional RGB sub-pixels and darkening them individually, just like regular lit screens, which reduces the amount of reflected light.

Re: Pebble Production: February Update

#30
post #18
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's the eink display that makes them interesting. Being programmable or looking cool is nice, but for that I could also buy an Apple/Google/Samsung watch - that's not unique.

The Pebble display isn't e-ink, or unique amongst watches, it's an off-the-shelf MIP LCD from Sharp. You can get the same thing in watches from Garmin, Coros, Polar, Suunto, Casio and probably more.

I think you're confusing Pebble with something else. All current models on the website as well as the OG pebble (according to Wikipedia) use eink displays.
Post reply on HN