Bangle.js 2 incoming?

Hello Everyone,
I saw a post about Bangle.js 2 and was wondering if there is any Information about it's specs, ETA, etc.?

-Maxi

Hi! Yes - it's coming! The plan is to put some of them in the shop as developer devices in the next week or so (but I only have around 60), and then to do a crowdfunding campaign in August. I already have 3000 on order so hopefully this time I'll be able to ship out pretty soon after the KickStarter ends (in the extremely likely possibility that I don't sell more than 3000!).

The rough specs are:

• IP68 Waterproof
  
• Nordic 64MHz nRF52840 ARM Cortex-M4 processor with Bluetooth LE
  
• 256kB RAM 1024kB on-chip flash, 8MB external flash
  
• 1.3 inch 176x176 always-on 3 bit colour LCD display (LPM013M126)
  
• Full touchscreen
  
• GPS/Glonass receiver (AT6558)
  
• Heart rate monitor
  
• 3 Axis Accelerometer
  
• 3 Axis Magnetometer
  
• Air Pressure/Temperature sensor (Bosch BMP280)
  
• Vibration motor
  
• 200mAh battery, 1 week standby time
  
• 36mm x 43mm x 12mm watch body, with standard 20mm watch straps
  

Hi Gordon,
that sounds pretty interesting. Im a currently trying to do some simple graphics stuff with the current watch. But 64KB RAM with a 240x240 screen is pretty hard work ;-)

I'm in for the crowd funding. Looking forward to getting my hands on one.
I remember you said the GPS was a pain.
Going to have to find the data sheet for the AT6558.

Great! Yeah, if anything we've gone the other way with the LCD. Now it's a much lower resolution, and there's way more RAM.

Ideally I'd have liked more colors on the screen (it's just 8 color, 3 bit) but personally I'm finding the always-on display so handy it's worth it. Having OpenStreetMap on the device itself, visible in sunlight with GPS is awesome

Going to have to find the data sheet for the AT6558.

Got some stuff mostly in chinese, one link to english datasheet here https://github.com/fanoush/ds-d6/tree/ma­ster/espruino/DFU/B5#hardware however the commands were in different one, google for "CASIC Multimode Satellite Navigation ReceiverProtocol specification" , see also this https://gist.github.com/fanoush/505a6f44­532e4fdaadef4da5777d7777#file-b5-demo-js­-L280 it can enable all three GPS providers (GPS,BDS,GLONAS)

there is also some AGPS sdk stuff on manufacturer's site that seems to work and produce AGPS binary data suitable for this chip

Will there be any hardware differences between the Kickstarter and the Developer devices, or will it just be software and updating?

The kickstarter ones will have a nicer cardboard box and a choice of colors, but otherwise no, the hardware will be identical.

Transflective display finally?
I'm totally in!
How can I join a notification list for the kickstarter?

What will be the main reasons for upgrading? More RAM and better LCD? looks cool will keep a eye out for the kickstarter

What will be the main reasons for upgrading? More RAM and better LCD?

4x bigger RAM allows more complex SW in future. Also it is smaller, lighter, rectangular, the display is always on, sunlight readable - all quite subjective advantages. For me it is better in every way but can imagine some people prefer bigger, heavier round military style watches. Also indoors a bit higher display resolution and color of V1 might be a reason for someone - 8 colors of V2 are not that much and they are not that much vivid - check e.g. AmazFit Bip youtube reviews, the screen technology and resolution is same as the one in Q3 (not sure about size). Again I'd take this display (or the one in DK08) without thinking due to always on feature and sunlight visibility (as 'smart' watch which shows blank face until you move it or press button feels a bit dumb to me ;-) but when you compare e.g. P8 screen vs Q3/DK08 indoors the difference in color quality is clearly visible - P8 screen is simply beautiful indoors.

@Gordon how do I get notification of the Kickstarter campaign? Early, mid or late August??

Great! I'll post up everywhere I can when it all goes live.

However if you stick your email address here I'll send out a quick note when it all goes live! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQ­LSccmslHw13z4IKS6RKrOiYuBT5lL6jMfMZuIwQB­_6uLR-_t9A/viewform?usp=sf_link

For me, the big difference is the screen and the size. The new one is a lot easier to wear, and just being able to glance at it for the time is a huge bonus, as well as there being absolutely no issues even in the brightest sunlight.

As @fanoush says the screen is far less vibrant indoors and when the backlight is on the colours are a bit washed out, but it feels worth it. The lack of pixels/bits to push makes it feel a lot snappier and IMO is a lot more suited to the nRF52 processor.

Having a full touchscreen opens up loads of possibilities for apps, the Bluetooth signal strength is much better, there's a proper air pressure/temperature sensor, and going forward I should be able to enable some long range Bluetooth functionality.

I had a list of niggles that me (and others) had with the old Bangle.js hardware and I feel like this one solves pretty much all of those.

Just a quick note to say the developer edition is now on the shop: https://shop.espruino.com/banglejs2-dev

It's a bit pricey but that's just because it was pretty painful for me to get this first set (high postage/customs), I think there will be a bunch of questions about how to use it, and I also only think you should get this if you're really desperate :)

It won't be long to wait until I'm ready to ship a proper device that's a lot quicker to get started with!

Before I even took a moment to thank you, I bought one! A bit pricey indeed, but you guys deserve it; a lot of work put into making this idiot (i.e., me) proof; yes more to come, and being an idiot, I'll be glad to share how I've managed to break it with you.

BTW: yes, I'm desperate (just bricked a DK08*), but i think another good reason to buy this at this price is to support you. You're doing great work for a community and making IoT an easier step for those starting out.

• lesson for all: never write "eval(require('Storage').read('myfile.js­'));' then save it to Storage as 'myfile.js'.... meant to save to RAM...
  
  

BTW: yes, I'm desperate (just bricked a DK08*)

let the battery die, after you put in on charger it will vibrate, right after that touch the button, it will vibrate again, if you release it, it will stay in dfu mode, if you still hold it for 3 seconds it will continue to espruino and skip loading any code on startup, well, hopefully, didn't test this too much. And don't charge it too much so you can retry soon :-)

@fanoush Yes, I can be a little dramatic; was pretty sure it wasn't truly bricked... I'm letting it die, and I'm hoping it should just boot to normal (I don't think your fw runs '.boot0' automatically).. but otherwise, I have your other out; so thank you for the many escape hatches.

Burns me up to think that one tenth of a second of mental loss can lead to .. what... FOUR WEEKS of recovery? This watch lasts forever!! I actually had it for four weeks before I flashed it and the battery read 44%!!!

At this point, the SMA Q3 will arrive before the DK08 is ready! Crazy...

@fanoush I'm very surprised, but it's still bricked! It did power down in 2 days; I plugged it in, got the buzz, held the button > 3 secs and looked for a connection on the IDE. Nothing; reset BT, reloaded IDE; nothing. OK, so I let it power down again overnight. This AM, plugged it in, buzz, press button, buzz, LET GO.. and sure enough it went to DFU; reflashed espruino_2v08.5_DK08_SDK12 via nrfConnect, went to 100%, then disappeared (still plugged in to power). nrfConnect, DaFlasher can't see it at all, and of course the IDE can't see it. Perhaps I overwrote something very important in UICR? or the SDK itself? It seems to load the FW fine, so some of the soft device is working... don't know why it just disappears!! Did I miss a step somewhere? I'm stuck in SDK12, so I can't flash any other FW...

Is the touch screen an actual touch screen? Or it is just a button screen? 😅
I mean, can it detect where I touched it, or only that I touched it?

Is the touch screen an actual touch screen? ... I mean, can it detect where I touched it

Yes

Is the touch screen an actual touch screen?

Yes, this time it's proper touch as @fanoush says - so for instance with the launcher you can just tap and drag

Very excited. I just signed it on the waitlist to get notified.
The only reason I don't buy the dev version to support the project is because I don't have time to put on it, and I need a dummier proof experience.
But I will be contributing with apps.
I will be also announcing this on my YT channel, follow the campaign and then write a review about it. It is just a small channel of 800 subs, but it's better than nothing.

That's great - thanks! I really appreciate it!

And totally understood about the dev Bangle - that's the idea really. If you just want to write some apps for it then it's probably better to wait for the final version :)

So how will adapting apps work then? Is the watch using the same app loader than the Bangle v1 and we need to modify the apps to recognized whether its a Bangle v1 or v2? Or do we need to completely rewrite apps for the v2 and it is then delivered exclusively for the v2?

I love it! A rectangle device would also be nice. ;)