Description of the Usage Context (Features)
a) Market Overview and Demand for Smartwatches
Smartwatches have been gaining popularity since the 2000s, with the Apple Watch marking a significant breakthrough as one of the most well-known and beloved smartwatches, sparking a smartwatch hype. Other well-known electronics manufacturers have also entered the smartwatch market, with Garmin frequently appearing in the sports sector.
The demand for smartwatches aligns with technological advancements. There has always been a desire for portable mini-computers that can fit in a pocket or be worn on the wrist like a watch. Thus, smartwatches represent a logical evolution of these aspirations.
Particularly in urban areas, there seems to be a trend towards “healthy” lifestyles. A segment of young people or young-at-heart individuals regularly jog, participate in marathons, and aim to eat healthily with the goal of living fit and healthy. Smartwatches appear to cater to this need for self-optimization, which some might even call an obsession with self-improvement. The technology in these devices allows users to document their health and fitness data. However, from a medical perspective, the usefulness of health tracking is questionable, and it may even cause more anxiety for users.
Smartwatches typically run on proprietary operating systems, with few, if any, open-source options available. This has led to calls for the development of an open-source smartwatch.
When searching for an open-source smartwatch, one might come across the AsteroidOS (asteroidos.org/) or the Bangle.js smartwatch (banglejs.com/). However, these products do not satisfy everyone, leading to the development of the PineTime, which aims to meet the specific needs of open-source users and developers.
AsteroidOS has the drawback of being dependent on the hardware of other smartwatch manufacturers and only supports certain models. In contrast, the PineTime offers both hardware and software from a single source, which can positively impact user-friendliness.
With Bangle.js (where “js” stands for JavaScript), many developers have expressed dissatisfaction with the round display, which makes it more challenging to program user interfaces.
Thus, Pine64 seems to fill the gap for a satisfactory open-source smartwatch with the PineTime, which has gained significant popularity.
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