Proposed Pebble Time smart band could add standalone GPS, double battery life to 14 days
While patents reveal Apple has explored the possibility of adding new functionality to the Apple Watch with connectable smart bands, a new Kickstarter campaign hopes to beat it to the punch with a GPS-connected, battery-equipped smart band for the Pebble Time smartwatch.
A crowdfunding campaign for the new Pal smart band proposes a fitness-focused smart watch strap for Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel created by Powerstrap. If it's properly funded, the project hopes to offer users a much-wanted feature: independent GPS.
In a similar manner, Apple has also been exploring how to add functionality to the Apple Watch via its own smart band concepts that would connect via a hidden diagnostic port, patents discovered by AppleInsider have revealed. Accordingly, some rumors have posited that Apple is working on smart bands that could add new capabilities to the Apple Watch without the need for an entirely new watch.
Some reports have claimed Apple has looked into adding additional sensors through new smart band accessories, potentially measuring a user's blood oxygen, respiratory rate, blood pressure and body temperature.
Anecdotally, one of the most commonly requested features for future Apple Watch and Pebble models has been independent GPS, allowing a device to track a user's location and fitness activity without the need for a paired iPhone. Pal plans to address this for Pebble Time owners by offering a built-in Qualcomm GPS unit that can be used to track route, distance, speed and elevation.
Pebble Founder Eric Migicovsky and his team have worked with Powerstrap for over a year to integrate the new smart strap, and Pal's kickstarter was able to raise more than $30,000 in just the first few hours on Tuesday. Backers can receive a unit, advertised to ship by October, for $79.
As with all crowdfunded projects, backers should be aware that such products are frequently delayed and ship without initially advertised capabilities. Sometimes, they don't ship at all.
In its pitch, Pal says the Pebble Time will display information on its color display while exercising, and data can be transferred to an app on an iPhone at a later time to sync with appropriate services, such as Pebble's own activity tracking capabilities. The proposed waterproof and sweatproof device also hopes to include a 250mAh battery to ensure users can utilize the power-draining GPS without affecting the Pebble's battery life.
Pal claims its accessory will be able to extend the battery life up to 14 days, doubling the weeklong uptime of the Pebble Time. Pal is also opening its software development platform for third-party development, which could lead to specialized tracking for any particular sport like running, golf or biking.
Pal however is not funded yet so the company is looking for support on Kickstarter with a target of $80,000. Powerstrap began development in April 2015 and expects shipment by October 2016.
A crowdfunding campaign for the new Pal smart band proposes a fitness-focused smart watch strap for Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel created by Powerstrap. If it's properly funded, the project hopes to offer users a much-wanted feature: independent GPS.
In a similar manner, Apple has also been exploring how to add functionality to the Apple Watch via its own smart band concepts that would connect via a hidden diagnostic port, patents discovered by AppleInsider have revealed. Accordingly, some rumors have posited that Apple is working on smart bands that could add new capabilities to the Apple Watch without the need for an entirely new watch.
Some reports have claimed Apple has looked into adding additional sensors through new smart band accessories, potentially measuring a user's blood oxygen, respiratory rate, blood pressure and body temperature.
Anecdotally, one of the most commonly requested features for future Apple Watch and Pebble models has been independent GPS, allowing a device to track a user's location and fitness activity without the need for a paired iPhone. Pal plans to address this for Pebble Time owners by offering a built-in Qualcomm GPS unit that can be used to track route, distance, speed and elevation.
Pebble Founder Eric Migicovsky and his team have worked with Powerstrap for over a year to integrate the new smart strap, and Pal's kickstarter was able to raise more than $30,000 in just the first few hours on Tuesday. Backers can receive a unit, advertised to ship by October, for $79.
As with all crowdfunded projects, backers should be aware that such products are frequently delayed and ship without initially advertised capabilities. Sometimes, they don't ship at all.
In its pitch, Pal says the Pebble Time will display information on its color display while exercising, and data can be transferred to an app on an iPhone at a later time to sync with appropriate services, such as Pebble's own activity tracking capabilities. The proposed waterproof and sweatproof device also hopes to include a 250mAh battery to ensure users can utilize the power-draining GPS without affecting the Pebble's battery life.
Pal claims its accessory will be able to extend the battery life up to 14 days, doubling the weeklong uptime of the Pebble Time. Pal is also opening its software development platform for third-party development, which could lead to specialized tracking for any particular sport like running, golf or biking.
Pal however is not funded yet so the company is looking for support on Kickstarter with a target of $80,000. Powerstrap began development in April 2015 and expects shipment by October 2016.
Comments
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The perfect device already provides GPS, it's your phone that most people already carry in their daily lives.
For general running, you don't really need GPS; it's fun to see you track the first time, but how on earth is in really improving your running when you go on your 30 minutes to 60 minutes training runs? Especially since it's not that precise while your running (it is more precise when standing still, but still the margin of error is very significative).
8h GPS on a watch is an edge case for triathletes or long distance runners.
This also explains why those GPS bracelets without a cell phone will fail. See Assisted GPS in:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS
$79.00 - what you'll pay for it in October.
$3.50 - what you'll ask for it the next spring at your garage sale.
The joy of shaking off the embarrassment of wearing a Cracker Jack toy when you finally succeed at unloading it for 75¢ - priceless.
No cellular, no GPS.
Try it yourself. Go to country, find a location with only a single cell tower in a large entourage. The weather app for example shows the location of that tower as your location even if you're in a different administrative district.
In ordinary GPS use, lockdown with enough number of satellites takes about 15 minutes. The duration of an ordinary user's patience before killing a process is 22 seconds, as Apple's user interface studies have shown.
assist gps uses other technologies to be used as temporary place holders until a real gps lock can be obtained
the primary cheats to speed up gps locks are
cellular towers
scanning multiple channels at once
nearby wifi networks
the IP address of the network the device is connected to.
Using 7 day constellation tables.
anyones 10 second gps fix could simply because youre in range of a wifi network
I run a wifi scan
i send the nearby network Mac addresses to Apple and skyhook wireless
skyhook and Apple send me back my location in 10 seconds
i use that as my location as a temporary placeholder until the GPS receiver has had time to get a lock.
why did the guy say it takes 15 minutes ?
a gps satellite only sends out a ping every 90 seconds.
You need 3 or 4 satellite pings to calculate your lpcation
plus it would help to know where those satellites are
modern GPS receivers scan 12 channels at once
tom tom was big on downloading constellation tables every 7 days to get GPS locks faster
it's a feature of tom tom home.
I've been debating if apple's " frequent locations " feature of iOS holds wifi network Mac addresses.
some stories in the past has hinted that it does.
if frequent locations is turned on and it is indeed storing Mac addresses of wireless routers
then thie iPhone is using this feature as your GPS location to save battery power and cellular data usage
for all those apps that want your location.
but I have no way to prove it.
let me repeat that assist GPS does not replace GPS, it is not used as your primary permanent location, it's just a
temporary placeholder until the GPS receiver finds your location.