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Pebble Watch software is now open source

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Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#41

Post by diego_moita »

This is precious.

Almost every tech company wants to continue the IBM "surrounded by blue" strategy, fencing customers into their "walled garden" surrounded by a Warren Buffet moat and blocking obsessively any competitor that wants to breach in. Google mandates that every Android application must be signed by developers verified by them, Microsoft demands that users open an account with them, ... and just don't get me started with AWS, Apple, John Deere, Nespresso, etc. Meanwhile, I fail to see any real contender in the smartphone arena.

But, in wearables, Pebble puts up a fight. The platform/product has proven resilient, mostly because of its users passion and commitment. It is more alive today than Fitbit, the company that bought and buried it.

And will only get stronger.

Now I'll be anxiously waiting for my PT2. It will be the 5th Pebble in my collection.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#42

Post by apparent »

jsheard wrote: post #36
apparent wrote: post #33

In terms of long-term market viability, have you considered whether your success could encourage Apple or other large competitors to make a battery life-optimized version of their smartwatches? I understand that some Pebble fans are all about the customization, and will be with you forever. But probably many people care mostly about the battery life, which is severely lacking in watches from Apple, Google, etc. If Ap…

> In terms of long-term market viability, have you considered whether your success could encourage Apple or other large competitors to make a battery life-optimized version of their smartwatches? Companies like Garmin, Coros and Suunto already make less-smart-watches with weeks of battery life, and those haven't convinced Apple to budge from only making watches that do everything under the sun but barely last a day.…

IDK about Coros or Suunto, but the only Garmins with a battery life approaching 30 days cost ~$1,000. This could be competition for AWU, but wouldn't communicate that there is demand for a more basic/long-lasting Apple Watch.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#43

Post by dec0dedab0de »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #3

> Yesterday, Pebble watch software was ~95% open source. Today, it’s 100% open source. You can download, compile and run all the software you need to use your Pebble. We just published the source code for the new Pebble mobile app! Except... > Another important note - some binary blobs and other non-free software components are used today in PebbleOS and the Pebble mobile app (ex: the heart rate sensor on PT2 , Memfa…

I'm not sure if you're splitting hairs or not. I definitely thought this post would be about them finding open source alternatives to binary firmware, but if it doesn't interoperate with optional non-free software then it is not Open Source.

It seems to be comparable to debian, and that's as open source as it gets.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#44

Post by jsheard »

apparent wrote: post #42
jsheard wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In terms of long-term market viability, have you considered whether your success could encourage Apple or other large competitors to make a battery life-optimized version of their smartwatches? Companies like Garmin, Coros and Suunto already make less-smart-watches with weeks of battery life, and those haven't convinced Apple to budge from only making watches that do everything under the sun but barely last a day.…

IDK about Coros or Suunto, but the only Garmins with a battery life approaching 30 days cost ~$1,000. This could be competition for AWU, but wouldn't communicate that there is demand for a more basic/long-lasting Apple Watch.

30 days is asking a lot of any reasonably sized smartwatch, but if you set your sights a bit lower then a $250 Coros Pace 4 will do ~3 weeks with AOD off, ~1 week with AOD on, and 30-40 hours of continuous GPS recording. That's still a lot longer than any Apple Watch even if it's not hitting the 30 day milestone.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#45

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

pseudosavant wrote: post #30
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure; I'm aware that embedded sucks. And to be clear, this is (IMHO) tolerable so long as the blobs are redistributable. But then maybe don't headline with "100% open source". It's better to be honest about it.

I see your point, but it feels more like the difference between 99% fat free and 100% fat free. Technically measurable, but irrelevant in practice when the alternatives are all basically closed source.

> I see your point, but it feels more like the difference between 99% fat free and 100% fat free.

Then why not have the headline say "99% open source"? IMO, either it doesn't matter and you can just say that it's almost all FOSS, or it does matter and you really shouldn't be lying about it.

> Technically measurable, but irrelevant in practice when the alternatives are all basically closed source.

The alternatives are the pinetime, watchy, and bangle.js, which AFAIK are also ~95% FOSS. I guess Apple and Google also offer smart watches, but I'd argue that those are so different in terms of features that they're not really direct competitors.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#46

Post by daemonologist »

apparent wrote: post #13

I'm excited that the back will screw off so we can replace the battery. I'm curious about waterproofing. Will that hold? Will we need to replace a gasket or other parts, in addition to the battery?

Yeah I find the Time 2 design to be kind of fugly, but the screwed assembly is definitely tempting me to pick one up. Very nice feature.

(A lot of the original Pebbles were ugly too, but in a way that I personally found more appealingly utilitarian. Or maybe I'm just used to them.)

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#47

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #43
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #3

> Yesterday, Pebble watch software was ~95% open source. Today, it’s 100% open source. You can download, compile and run all the software you need to use your Pebble. We just published the source code for the new Pebble mobile app! Except... > Another important note - some binary blobs and other non-free software components are used today in PebbleOS and the Pebble mobile app (ex: the heart rate sensor on PT2 , Memfa…

I'm not sure if you're splitting hairs or not. I definitely thought this post would be about them finding open source alternatives to binary firmware, but if it doesn't interoperate with optional non-free software then it is not Open Source. It seems to be comparable to debian, and that's as open source as it gets.

Yeah, it's a perfectly fine place to land. My objection is completely to claiming to be 100% open source when it isn't; if they'd just said 99% open source, or that everything they'd written was now open, then I wouldn't mind (or at least, I'd view it as unfortunate, but I wouldn't be upset with them).

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#50

Post by lawn »

apparent wrote: post #42
jsheard wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In terms of long-term market viability, have you considered whether your success could encourage Apple or other large competitors to make a battery life-optimized version of their smartwatches? Companies like Garmin, Coros and Suunto already make less-smart-watches with weeks of battery life, and those haven't convinced Apple to budge from only making watches that do everything under the sun but barely last a day.…

IDK about Coros or Suunto, but the only Garmins with a battery life approaching 30 days cost ~$1,000. This could be competition for AWU, but wouldn't communicate that there is demand for a more basic/long-lasting Apple Watch.

I've got an Instinct Solar 2x and it does last 30 days for me, and it's much cheaper than $1000.
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