
Show HN: Our new $149 hackable Bluetooth wristwatch  - erohead
http://www.getinPulse.com
======
JonnieCache
For comparison: Texas Instruments sell something called the EZ430 Chronos
watch, which has a much lower-res display, a proprietary RF protocol with a
USB transceiver, and a bunch more sensors including 3-axis accelerometers,
pressure and temperature.

It is based on the MSP430 microprocessor which is much less powerful than this
thing, its capped at 16mhz or something IIRC and only has around 8K of program
space. It is however about a third of the price.

<http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos>

~~~
erohead
Yup, but we've got Bluetooth, a fantastic OLED screen, and example Python,
Android, Blackberry code!

Also, we're right here on HN to answer your questions!

~~~
growt
Ok first question:

Why only one button?

Two would have been really nice for most things (like back and forward in
powerpoint/itunes).

Edit: Another one:

Why don't you ship outside the US/Canada? I considered buying one, but I'm in
Germany :(

~~~
erohead
We choose one button to keep it simple (and quicker to get to market). You can
do a lot of things with just one button, just look at the single button on the
iPhone! For example, you can do two actions, like click and click-hold.

~~~
grinich
also, double-tap.

~~~
moe
Neither seems very intuitive for "back" and "forward".

------
dminor
What I _really_ need is a stylish women's watch so my wife can know when her
phone is buzzing in her purse!

~~~
nano81
While it doesn't appear to be a women's watch, this might interest you:

[http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=sony+eric...](http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=sony+ericsson+watch\\&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=3385409835421323450&ei=sslaTey-
GIGBlAeZlLTKDA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCMQ8wIwAQ#)

------
markszcz
Awesome!!!! They even look good too. I might think about getting one and whip
up an Android library for people to use.

Question to anyone reading this. What would be a good use to notify users?
There was an article on HN about startups using a visual dashboard:
[http://mygengo.com/talk/blog/why-your-startup-needs-a-
visual...](http://mygengo.com/talk/blog/why-your-startup-needs-a-visual-
dashboard/) I think something like that would be cool to have. Hook into your
KPI's and have that information right there on your wrist.

~~~
erohead
We've even got a sample Android project to get you started. Download the SDK
and example apps: <http://www.getinpulse.com/images/pulse_sdk100.zip>

~~~
markszcz
Awesome thanks!

I just checked the specs, "4 days depending on display/Bluetooth use"

Even if its two days of full time use, thats great.

------
bhavin
Correct me if I am wrong. I think I have found a way to track sales of both
the models on sale.

Depending on how many items you ask for in order screen, it lets you go ahead
or displays "stock unavailable".

For the Mettalic Silver, It seems 57 items are available at the time of
writing. and for Black Anodized, it is 108. I have to take a reasonable
assumption now to get the sales numbers (may be 200 at beginning?).

~~~
raphman
56 and 107 now. Seems you are right.

~~~
jodrellblank
50 and 94 now, seems the black is selling faster.

------
wvenable
This is very cool. I own a few Timex Datalink watches which are also
programmable. Timex recently discontinued the Datalink and they're already
becoming very hard to find. I hoping some company would come up with a
suitable replacement but unfortunately nobody seems to build something with a
comparable design.

The advantages of the Datalink are that it always shows the time (no button
press necessary), the battery lasts an entire year, is water-resistant, and is
small and subtle. It also just makes a damn good watch without any of the
programmable features. Every other programmable watch available is anything
but subtle, with a display that isn't active all the time, and has to be
constantly recharged. Those are considerable failings for a watch.

What the Datalink lacks is a denser display (but remaining as 1bit LCD is ok),
any sort of wireless (ANT+ would be suitable), and sensors (pulse, altitude,
position, etc). It could also use, obviously, a faster processor with more RAM
and storage (it also has 32k).

The price for this watch is fantastic but it's still just not quite what I'm
looking for.

------
cstone
This is a very hacker-unfriendly device. I wouldn't buy one.

The SDK's compilation tool doesn't invoke a compiler; it uploads your code to
a service running off of <http://174.129.29.50:8080>.

The Arduino is fantastic because the bootloader is open-source, the hardware
is open-source, and it's easy to find out full information about the hardware
and pull the MCU datasheets yourself.

~~~
drivebyacct2
I'd love to hear a counter to this. I was really close to buying one...

~~~
erohead
Hi Guys, Eric from inPulse here. We're trying to make it as easy as possible
for people to develop for inPulse. That's why we've built a cloudcompile
service. No messing with DLLs, drivers and other annoying parts of embedded
coding.

I think we've succeeded! In our beta testing, users were able to go from
downloading the SDK zip to loading their first app on inPulse within 5-8
minutes. I think that's pretty impressive for a startup hardware biz.

If you'd like to setup the arm-gcc toolchain and compile your own apps,
absolutely no problem! We'll have instructions online shortly. If you need
them faster, just email devsupport@getinpulse.com

~~~
cstone
It's certainly easy to use, as long as the server remains up. But do I still
have full control over the code that I upload to you, or does it count as
"user-generated content" in <http://www.getinpulse.com/terms/>? What privacy
guarantees do you make regarding the code that I upload? (Hopefully very
little; it is transmitted in the clear, after all..)

We live in a world where device vendors (even small ones) routinely use
technical means to thwart hackers and other tinkerers. Often, this is done
under the guise of usability or security (sometimes with some justification,
even). Plenty of people don't mind trading away some control for stability or
ease-of-use.

This is a forum for hackers, and you just called your device "hackable". I'm
saying that it's not, currently; it's a black box with an SDK that does cloud
compilation. You don't document that fact anywhere or provide an ready
alternative, and there's no information about what's underneath your API,
either OS or hardware.

~~~
dedward
This is extremely important - the claim to user-generated content is either
boilerplate and wasn't intended to apply to actual software, or it is
specifically intended to apply to the uploaded code due to the cloud-compile
service.

The question has been asked a couple times here - is there an answer?

~~~
erohead
Boilerplate. We'll get the lawyers on it and get it fixed.

------
mortenjorck
I'm impressed with the price point. It's about what I'd expect a device like
this to run if it were a higher-volume product selling through mass-market
channels, rather than a low-volume, enthusiast product selling only through
the manufacturer's website.

Are you guys courting retailers like ThinkGeek?

~~~
gonzo
Do you know of other retailers like ThinkGeek?

(I like ThinkGeek, but I'm curious if there are other, similar stores.)

~~~
nitrogen
SparkFun, if you're not already aware of it, is only vaguely related to
ThinkGeek, but it seems to me anyone looking at a hackable watch would be
right at home there.

------
beagle3
Looks cool.

But when I do upgrade my venerable analog watch, it's probably going to be to
a <http://lunatik.com> \+ ipod nano 6g. A little more expensive, requires a
jailbreak, but a hell of a lot more functional, and doesn't require uploading
my code anywhere to compile it once jailbroken.

~~~
jasongullickson
Has the nano been successfully jailbroken? Last I saw was that some of the
images/text could be changed but I wasn't aware of anyone getting actual new
code running...?

~~~
beagle3
Seems I was mistaken and the answer is "not yet".

~~~
kristiandupont
Well also, it doesn't run iOS so a jailbreak wouldn't be that interesting..

~~~
jasongullickson
On the contrary, it would be a very interesting little platform to play with.

Just because it doesn't run iOS doesn't mean you couldn't write code for it :)

------
wpeterson
I'm puzzled to see such resoundingly positive feedback here. Props for the
hard work on building this product out.

However, in a world of smart phones I can't imagine ever using a watch like
this.

Watches have been relegated to primarily fashion items, I can't imagine why
you'd want one that runs code.

Sorry for the harsh review, best of luck.

~~~
jasongullickson
Not a motor/bicyclist eh? :)

Having access to information without having to dig your phone out of your
pocket (not to mention a phone you can't operate with sturdy gloves) is very
useful in such situations.

Which reminds me; how "weatherproof" is this thing?

------
commanda
Is this device "Made For iPhone" (<http://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/>)?
If it is, I suggest putting the badge on your front page. If it's not, I
suggest applying for it to be.

------
pclark
Does this run multiple applications or do you have to plug it in each time you
want to run a different app?

~~~
erohead
One app at a time, right now...but we're working on getting multiple apps
running as well! Good point.

~~~
Bossman
So I can't have a watch and notification app running on the watch? Guess you'd
have to make them into one application?

If you do get that working, does that mean new hardware?

------
rmah
The devices look cool from a technical perspective. It could use a few more
sensors (GPS, gyro/movement, temp, etc.) but I'm sure that will come.

The only problem, I think, is that they're not very stylish. A bit too
large/clunky looking. I'm not sure how to fix that while keeping the display a
useful size. But that what geniuses like you guys are for!

~~~
markszcz
I think these look much better then putting the Apple Nano on your wrist:
<http://bit.ly/hnLUkQ> To each their own though. =)

As for applications, yeh GPS, Gyro would be great.

~~~
6ren
Here's the TikTok/LunaTik link:
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-
lunati...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-
multi-touch-watch-kits)

They raised $941,718 from users, so there's definitely a market for style.
It's touchscreen, costly (nano+holder) and non-hackable.

------
aubergene
Are you looking for investors?

------
yummyfajitas
Looks very nice. If it had a couple more buttons, it would be great for a
workout tracker.

Give it more buttons and I'll buy it.

------
fuzzythinker
Few comments:

* Your 3rd video is the most presentable one and best intro, make it on top.

* The screen seems not be a touch-screen since not mentioned in features. So seems like only way to navigate the on-screen "buttons" with a single physical button is to press it until it cycles to highlight screen button and press and hold it to select. This does not seem to be a good UI.

For a v.2, you either need to use a capacitive touch screen, or make that
single button you have on the bottom face of the watch like iphones, and have
4 to 6 buttons on the side, 2 to 3 on each left/right side so that app
developers can program their screen buttons to float to left or right and user
can just press the corresponding button. Of course the side buttons will need
to be "concave" (not sure the right terminology for it) and be seamless on the
side and not use that same old metallic button used in many watches.
Minimalist does not work on a non touch-screen. Remember that even the ipod
retained all 6+scroll buttons in its 10 year history.

[Edit: After a bit more though, if the side buttons are to be implemented,
they need to go on only one side since the opposing side need to be empty for
the opposing force of the thumb.]

Even if you decide to use a touch screen (pro version?), get rid of the side
button and make it on the face like the iphone -- not only does it currently
not look right on the Black Anodized version (some design work may be needed
for a front facing button to look good on the Metallic one), but it will also
hurt the users' finger less being a iphone-like button on the front for
intensive apps like games.

* Why is the Black Anodized version cost $50 more? I would imagine the opposite. What does it have that the Metallic doesn't?

* Most people who spend $150+ on a watch actually cares how good it will look on him/her. Either make a pseudo (bunch of images wrapped in a slider div) 360 model view or take a bunch of pictures in different angles standalone and on different wrists (men and ladies). Have its dimensions stated like so:
    
    
        ->|x|<---
          | |   ^
          | |   |
        |     | |
        |<-z->| y
        |     | |
          | |   |
          | |   -
    

(ditto for its height dimensions).

* Why is the Blackberry features page totally hidden on the footer? That should be your main feature! In fact, write a hello world ASAP that talks to the iphone/ipad/android (eg. notifications or different vibration alerts for different notifications), it will probably 2-10x your sales and developers.

* Nitpicking - the "Buy it now" on the features page needs to be on the bottom, no one will buy until they read the features. And after reading, there's no "buy it now" action avail.

* Find a way to tap into the ipod nano watch or other smart watch community, you should get converts or potential customers there.

(Edited to format the diagram and more details.)

~~~
erohead
x (strap)= 26mm, y (height of watch casing) = 50mm, z = 36mm \- Thanks for the
tips, incorporated. \- No touchscreen at moment. I like the way you think
about wearable UX. If you're interested in continuing the conversation, please
ping me at eric@getinpulse.com \- We're testing the selling points. Right now
with supply being limited (early stage startup) we decided to let people hack
away at their watches. I'm sure as our capacity improves, we'll retarget
consumer verticals. \- Here's a cool bit of community news, OpenWatch for
Android now supports inPulse (<http://beta.smartmadsoft.com/>). Marcel, the
creator of OpenWatch, was able to get started with our dev tools and
integrated inPulse in a very short time!

~~~
fuzzythinker
You can reference the dimensions to something everyone knows too, like an SD
card or ipod nano (not something everyone knows, but it's a good way to
convert potential ipod nano watch buyers if it's smaller and better looking,
which it does seem to be, even compared to the Metalic tiktok variant).

~~~
lepht
Here's a quick comparison between the iPulse, SD Card, and latest gen iPod
Nano with sizeeasy:

[http://sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/31203-inPulse-vs-
iPo...](http://sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/31203-inPulse-vs-iPod-Nano-vs-
SD-Card)

Only the watch body itself is shown: SizeEasy only supports cubic dimensions,
so I couldn't find a way to show the wrist band.

Also, SizeEasy requires all three dimensions be provided, and since I couldn't
find official dimensions anywhere else I used those cited around the web, for
example:

[http://www.berryscoop.com/2009/11/questions-answered-
about-t...](http://www.berryscoop.com/2009/11/questions-answered-about-the-
inpulse-watch-for-blackberry/)

Overall, decently sized but definitely not head-and-shoulders above the Nano.

------
moomba
I don't really see the point of having a watch nowadays. I usually just look
at my phone for the time. This watch seems to do some of the stuff a standard
smartphone does, but is more limited. At this point in my life, I'm trying to
do what I can to limit the number of various gadgets I carry around on my
person. I would rather have a small little device that does everything pretty
well, than 50 devices I have to lug around that do everything perfect.

In a sense its similar to using your computer instead of a television. You can
access more interesting internet videos online, and usually don't have to
watch commercials because of ad blocking software. You can play video games on
your computer instead of using a console. Your computer could hook up to a
projector or HD Television as needed. You can read books on your computer. You
can call people on your computer. You can IM/Email/Facebook on your computer.
I think the future will be far fewer devices that can do a whole lot more.
This watch seems like a step into the past.

------
modeless
I would buy this right now if it worked with iPhones. I love my iPhone, but
Apple's restrictive policies are really starting to get to me.

~~~
gonzo
Given the schematic and gerbers, I'd be willing to make a version of this
watch that would talk to un-jailbroken iPhones (and other iOS devices).

------
lsc
Oh man, this looks /really/ cool. but the battery life? that's going to be a
problem. I had a Matsucom brand OnHandPc back in the day, and it'd last a few
weeks on a set of (replaceable) batteries. ran dos. It had a little joystick
/and/ a bunch of buttons around the side, so it was fairly useful.

anyhow, an important use case for me, if I buy this, is using it as a
bluetooth vibrator. I'm a SysAdmin and on call; but I'm not single. I want
something that will wake me up without waking up anyone else who may be in the
bed at the time. This means I need to wear the thing while I sleep; which
makes charging... difficult.

I would give up color in a second if it would improve battery life.

Of course, I could aways just use a bluetooth bracelet at night and this
during the day, but I'm bad at remembering things. I want to minimize the
number of things I need to remember to charge.

------
flibbityjibbet
I think one of the best uses for this product would be its secrecy.

For instance, I work at an establishment which bans the use of cell phones,
but due to the fact that sometimes emergencies happen, a lot of people tend to
sneak it in, anyway. So when our pockets buzz, our only option is to ninja it
out of our pockets, hold it out of view of others, yet in our view, and check
the notification.

With this invention, we would be able to simply hit a button on our watch, and
not risk losing our jobs just to read a "hey how r u" BS text, or a missed
call from an unknown number. Now we can tell whether or not we need to leave
the office to return a text or a call without even touching the phone.

This is what I would use it for, anyway.

~~~
san007
But, r u sure u cant get email notifications for those missed calls/msgs

------
corin_
I've had this page bookmarked for months, waiting to be able to order it (back
when it was just designed as a bluetooth extension to blackberry devices).

Petty about US/CA shipping only, seems a pretty dumb move (unless there's some
reason, other than shipping costs which you can make customers pay, for
limiting who can buy it).

~~~
JonnieCache
_> (unless there's some reason, other than shipping costs which you can make
customers pay, for limiting who can buy it)_

Shipping goods for money internationally is a bureaucratic _nightmare._ A
million possible edge cases to do with tax and so forth. This is why hardware
startups often only take orders from their home country for their first batch.

~~~
paulgb
I have zero experience in this area, but could it be that the manufacturer has
to go through an approval process and/or have liability insurance in each
country they ship to?

------
gonzo
I'm surprised nobody here has mentioned Dynawa, yet.

<http://www.dynawa.org/>

------
mrkurt
I'm not purchasing one, but it's way cool that you got these things out there.
I look at most stuff on HN and think "hey, I could build that!". I look at
this and I think "wow, it's cool that someone managed to manufacture and build
hardware on a small scale and sell it".

~~~
calloc
<http://kbembedded.com/products/multiwatch>

[http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/cd13/?pfm=Search...](http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/cd13/?pfm=Search&t=Multiwatch)

Not nearly as easy to hack as this Bluetooth with OLED, but still a watch
designed by a single guy located in Tempe. I bought one from ThinkGeek a while
back version 1 (pictured on his website, the picture on ThinkGeek is version
2) and I love it. It is unique and I always get looks from people.

It uses an MSP430 at its core.

------
bluethunder
Very cool stuff !

I think something like this, but bigger and wall mountable would be very neat.
The obvious use case for startups is to use it as a dashboard with your most
important metric for display - for example your google analytics traffic
stats.

------
Bossman
So is there a reason you have to send the code to an external server to
compile it? Would like to be able to use this a year or so down the line if
your server isn't around or is having issues...

------
jonny_eh
This is mind blowing. Any plans for iOS support? Jailbreak or otherwise?

~~~
alexsb92
Hey, we actually do have iOS support, but yeah the device has to be
jailbroken. You can read the FAQ here www.getinpulse.com/faq

~~~
jonny_eh
The FAQ doesn't mention any jailbreak support. It just says that there's no
iOS support :(

~~~
jonbennett
FAQ has been updated. We provide example code for jailbroken iPhone in our
SDK.

------
anemecek
Tell me I was not the only whose first thought was how cool it would be to
build a cluster out of these things. But props to the OP, it looks like
something I would spend hours playing with.

~~~
erohead
Just for you, Anemecek, I'll wear a beowulf cluster on my arm. I think it will
vibrate off I you guys keep sending me email...
www.getinPulse.com/images/toomanywatches.jpg

------
Yeroc
I didn't see this anywhere on your website: is the watch water-resistant? I
know you're focused on the programmable aspects of the watch but to me this is
important information.

------
ernestipark
Seems pretty cool! I laughed though at "intuitive one button interface" where
the guy pushes it a few times, then he holds it in to do another function.

------
laut
Couldn't find pictures of the back of the watch. Would be nice with an easy
way to find good pictures of the product. Like a picture gallery.

------
johnrob
Any idea how big the range of the bluetooth is? I'm curious how far away I can
be from the other device I'd like to communicate with.

------
lenary
did anyone else think "red-green-refactor-wristband" when they saw this? Or at
least something to hook into a CI or uptime service?

------
jamessun
Very cool... I assume it tells time, too? :-)

------
wccrawford
Is Bluetooth the only way to get apps onto the watch?

Also, Python is the language to program apps in? They only language?

~~~
jiaaro
Python is a scripting language used on the receiving end of the messages, not
on the watch. The language for code you run on the watch seems to be C

------
chbrown
\+ touchscreen for +$100 and I'd buy.

------
doron
I am totally getting one, soonish. I confess, i have a Watch fetish :(

~~~
erohead
Better get one quick! First batch is moving...

------
EricR9
Wow, I love it! Seems like a great gadget; I'll be purchasing one.

------
keefe
ok so programmable bluetooth item that vibrates, this is a great idea, so
great I'm going to let this comment about it be lost amongst the sea o'
comments

------
dkersten
A bit expensive for a watch, but still very very cool!

~~~
r00k
I've paid that much (and more) for watches that did nothing more than tell the
current time and date.

Their price seems eminently reasonable to me.

~~~
stbtrax
you paid for design

------
san007
so does this keep a check on one' heart rate and send out an SOS email to
Doc/911 if one is dying/drowning/ suffering from a heart attack?

------
Rhapso
hmmm, I am interested in seeing more detailed battery life information
including for more "active" use.

~~~
alexsb92
<http://www.getinpulse.com/faq/> The first question under Inpulse category
will answer it. That's in case you haven't seen that one already.

------
bgowttamen
Some love for Other countries, please

------
karanbhangui
You guys make Waterloo proud!

------
fxj
how can i get one in germany?

~~~
san007
amazon!

------
tlrobinson
iPhone/iPad/iOS compatible?

------
thisisfmu
There is a similar product, Sony Ericsson LiveView, which can be worn as a
wristwatch and paired with an Android phone:
[http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overvie...](http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overview/liveview)

Retails for EUR 39.50.

I do not own one so cannot say anything about how well it works -- just came
across it randomly yesterday when buying something online. If the client is
Android-based it is almost certain the protocol can be easily reverse
engineered to make it hackable from other paired devices.

~~~
ConceptDog
I was very excited when I saw a demo of this, but the review I watched seems
to imply that it sucks for bluetooth connectivity. I'm wondering inPulse has
the same issues.

~~~
gonzo
There is an update for the firmware on the Sony LiveView. (I own one, and it
made a big difference in connectivity to my Nexus One.)

------
crizCraig
Any chance it has infrared for a TV remote that never gets lost?

