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  • Hi - I have actually got a list of things I'd like from a new Bangle here. It'd be nice to be able to actually spec what I want and have one custom built, but the last folks I talked to had a minimum 50k unit volume for that - which is a long way off what I'm doing with the Bangle! Maybe if I start to reach that level it'll be worth it though.

    Having said that, doing the KickStarter this time was just amazingly difficult and tiring. There's been a lot of great support from everyone, but also some negativity (most of which you won't see because it's directed at me personally) - basically I'm in no rush to repeat it any time soon!

    @gfric are you using the cutting edge builds with the new menus? I think you'll find that'll help a lot!

    Main things on my list:

    • More/better buttons
    • Waterproofing
    • Microphone/speaker (but these + waterproofing doesn't seem sensible, and waterproofing is more of a priority)
    • SWD pin gating - leaving the pins on the back disconnected normally, but allowing USB and/or digital IO on them.
    • ... or ditch all the pins and use wireless charging
    • 64 color LCD

    I feel like the sunlight readability is a massive step forwards over the Bangle.js 1 in usability, matching with the CPU, and battery life, and I wouldn't want to sacrifice that for 16 bit color.

    Also I think it helps to set expectations. If you had something with a really fancy screen people might start seeing it and expecting the Bangle to be like an Apple watch. Something about a low BPP screen seems a bit more 'honest'

    Having said that, the 64 color screen from the Pebbles does sound perfect. I'd definitely use one of those next time if at all possible.

    It may at some point be possible to abuse the existing LCD to provide 64 colors. For example this code:

    var t = 0;
    g.reset();
    g.clearRect(0,0,58,175);
    g.fillRect(117,0,175,175);
    
    setInterval(function() {
      t = !t;
      g.setColor(t?0:-1).fillRect(58,0,117,175­).flip();
    }, 1);
    

    Will display a very flickery greyscale, but with faster rendering and by pushing the LCD bitrate past what's usually accepted, it may be possible to provide better color but at the expense of significantly higher power consumption when it was enabled (eg maybe it could be turned on when the backlight was on).

  • but also some negativity

    Most, if not all probably never designed a watch (me neither) nor designed anything else electronic. So far, you are doing good.

    Also, I'm not using my Bangle to watch pictures, nor plan to do so...

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