The PineTime smartwatch was unveiled and first launched in 2019, as a low-cost, open-source wearables development kit/platform for developers wanting to work on firmware development for the Nordic nRF52 powered device.
Progress was made on various solutions such as ATCwatch Arduino firmware, and as time passed, the PineTime slowly became more like an “enthusiast-grade” end-user product. This is basically what it has become with the first stable release of InfiniTime firmware, which was selected as the default firmware in September 2020.
The main features of InfiniTime 1.0 firmware include:
- Two clock faces – digital and analog
- Apps – Stopwatch, music control, navigation, heart rate, as well as Paddle and 2048 games
- User settings – Display timeout, time format, wake up conditions
- OTA upgrades via an open-source bootloader based on MCUBoot
- Heart rate monitoring and step counting
- Between 3 and 5 days of battery life depending on usage
- Firmware based on FreeRTOS 10.0.0 real-time OS, LittleVGL/LVGL 7 graphics library, and NimBLE 1.3.0 Bluetooth LE stack.
- Supported companion apps running on smartphones like PinePhone
- Gadgetbridge on Android
- Amazfish on SailfishOS and Linux
- Siglo on Linux
JF, the developer who initiated the project, explains that while the project is reaching version 1.0, it does not mean that it’s completely bug-free nor that it can compete with mainstream commercial products, hence the “enthusiast-grade” qualification.
Having said that, InfiniTime 1.0 firmware can be used as a daily driver without needing experience in software development and will allow Pine64 to sell sealed PineTime smartwatches, and not as devkits. You’ll find the source code, binary release, and more details on Github.
JF also gives a shoutout to some other firmware for PineTime, as InfiniTime is not the only option, and specifically mentions Wasp-OS Micropython firmware and Pinetime-Lite, a fork of InfiniTime by Joaquimorg, with some extra watch faces.
The video below goes through InfiniTime’s user interface and features.
Via Pine64 Blog
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Unfortunately this is kind of my experience with Pine. They produce interesting looking stuff, but they kind of just toss out hardware and then you’re on your own. The community is left to do all the software–even kernel development, and it’s not unusual to find bugs in the actual hardware design. My pine stuff is in the closet–an expensive mistake in the end. Lesson learned.
Isn’t it already what they’re trying to accomplish? To provide hardware as free as possible to “software people”.