wearables

Posted on by Debashis Das - 13 Comments on LightInk – An ESP32-based, solar-powered E-ink smartwatch with up to 10 months of battery life

LightInk – An ESP32-based, solar-powered E-ink smartwatch with up to 10 months of battery life

LightInk

Daniel Ansorregui has developed LightInk, an open-source solar-powered E-ink watch inspired by 90s solar digital watches. It features a 1.54-inch e-paper display and supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, and GPS, running on a 100mAh battery. The project integrates a custom low-quiescent-power design using a TPS63900 buck-boost converter, capacitive-touch input, and deep-sleep-driven firmware, along with ultra-fast partial e-ink updates (<1 ms active time) and precise RTC timekeeping with drift calibration. It also supports solar-first operation (no dedicated charging IC) and dynamic power gating of peripherals, enabling around 9–10 months of operation on a small battery supplemented by solar power. LightInk specifications: System-in-package – ESP32-PICO-D4 SiP CPU – Dual-core processor @ 240MHz Memory – 520KB SRAM Storage – 4MB flash Wireless – 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 4 up to 150 Mbps and Bluetooth 4.2 BR/LE connectivity Display – 1.54-inch 200×200 B/W e-Paper panel (GDEH0154D67 or compatible) Audio – 10-15mm piezo electric disc speaker Connectivity […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - 3 Comments on LILYGO T-Watch Ultra – An IP65-rated ESP32-S3 smartwatch with 2.01-inch AMOLED, LoRa, and GNSS

LILYGO T-Watch Ultra – An IP65-rated ESP32-S3 smartwatch with 2.01-inch AMOLED, LoRa, and GNSS

T Watch Ultra

LILYGO’s T-Watch Ultra is an ESP32-S3-based smartwatch development platform that appears to be an upgrade over the previous T-Watch-S3 Plus (1.3-inch display and a 940mAh battery), with a larger 2.01-inch AMOLED touch display, a higher-capacity 1,100mAh battery, and an IP65 waterproof and dustproof rating. The device integrates a u-blox MIA-M10Q GNSS module for positioning, a SX1262 LoRa transceiver for long-range communication, and a Bosch BHI260AP smart sensor for motion-based AI applications. Additionally, it features an RTC chip, NFC, a built-in microphone, a haptic driver, a microSD card slot, and a USB Type-C port for programming and charging. The watch targets applications such as Meshtastic nodes, GPS tracking, wearable IoT interfaces, edge AI sensing, and custom smartwatch firmware development. LILYGO T-Watch Ultra specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on NASA Artemis Watch 2.0 – An ESP32-S3-powered, NASA-inspired wearable kit for education

NASA Artemis Watch 2.0 – An ESP32-S3-powered, NASA-inspired wearable kit for education

NASA Artemis Watch 2.0

CircuitMess NASA Artemis Watch 2.0 is a programmable, NASA-themed smartwatch based on an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth module and a 1.14-inch monochrome display. The watch also features an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a buzzer, an RTC, a button, several LEDs, and a USB port for programming and charging the built-in 600 mAh battery. NASA Artemis Watch 2.0 specifications: Core module – ESP32-S3-MINI-1-N4R2 SoC – ESP32-S3 dual-core Xtensa LX7 processor with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity Memory – 2MB PSRAM Storage – 4MB QSPI flash PCB antenna Display – Built-in 1.44-inch display USB – 1x USB Type-C port for charging and programming Sensors 6-axis LSM6DS3TR accelerometer and gyroscope Temperature sensor (TBC) Misc Lever button 6x user LEDs, 1x power LED, 1x RGB LED Buzzer RTC  + backup battery Power Supply 5V via USB-C port 600 mAh LiPo battery, good for 2 to 3 hours on a charge Dimensions and Weight – […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - 2 Comments on STMicro STM32C5 entry-level, 144 MHz Cortex-M33 MCU features up to 1MB flash, 256KB SRAM, Ethernet, CAN Bus

STMicro STM32C5 entry-level, 144 MHz Cortex-M33 MCU features up to 1MB flash, 256KB SRAM, Ethernet, CAN Bus

STM32C5 Series

Not to be confused with the just-released STM32U3B5/C5 ultra-low-power MCUs, the entry-level STM32C5 Arm Cortex-M33 MCU family is designed for industrial sensors, smart home devices, electronic locks, thermostats, wearables, robotic actuators, and computer peripherals. The MCUs are manufactured using ST’s 40 nm flash process, clocked at up to 144 MHz, and feature 128 KB to 1 MB of flash and up to 256 KB of SRAM, with a dynamic power consumption of <80 µA/MHz. Key features include Ethernet, USB, OctoSPI, CAN bus, DMA, and various peripherals, including ADCs, comparators, and an op-amp. Security is also enhanced, with the series targeting SESIP3 and PSA Certified Level 3 through features such as side-channel attack-resistant crypto, Hardware Unique Keys (HUK), and a Coupling and Chaining Bridge (CCB) for secure key storage. STM32C5 key features and specifications: MCU core Arm Cortex-M33 32-bit CPU @ 144 MHz with single-precision FPU, DSP instructions, and MPU Performance […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite wearable platform offers 5G RedCap, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 6.0, built-in AI accelerator

Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite wearable platform offers 5G RedCap, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 6.0, built-in AI accelerator

Snapdragon Wear Elite

Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite is described as the “world’s first Personal AI wearable platform”, and features an NPU for on-device AI delivering up to 12 TOPS of performance at low power, supporting 2B parameter models. It delivers up to 5x single-core CPU improvement and up to 7x faster GPU compared to the previous-generation Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 Wearable Platform while offering up to 30% more battery life for multi-day battery life, thanks to a 3nm architecture. The new Snapdragon Wear Elite platform also supports fast charging with up to 50% charge in under 10 minutes. Snapdragon Wear Elite specifications: CPU – Up to 2.1 GHz GPU Qualcomm Adreno 3D GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.2, and OpenCL 2.0 APIs 2.5D GPU co-processor clocked at up to 500 MHz ISP – Qualcomm Spectra AI accelerator – Qualcomm Hexagon NPU; up to 12 TOPS of AI performance; support for up tp 2B […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on Quectel RM255C mid-tier 5G RedCap M.2 and LGA modules support LTE Cat 4 fallback, multi-constellation GNSS

Quectel RM255C mid-tier 5G RedCap M.2 and LGA modules support LTE Cat 4 fallback, multi-constellation GNSS

Quectel RG255C NA (Left) and RM255C GL (Right) mid tier 5G RedCap GPP release 17 modules

Quectel has just announced two new 5G RedCap modules, the RM255C-GL (Global, M.2) and RG255C-NA (North America, LGA), both of which are 3GPP Release 17-compliant 5G RedCap (Reduced Capability) modules designed to bridge the gap between LTE Cat 4/6 and full-featured 5G. Both the modules support 5G Sub-6GHz SA with LTE Cat 4 fallback, peak data rates of up to 223 Mbps downlink and 123 Mbps uplink, and backward compatibility with Rel-15/16 networks. Additionally, the modules support optional multi-constellation GNSS via Qualcomm IZat Gen 9VT technology along with various interfaces such as USB 2.0 and PCIe 2.0 (plus UART, SPI, I2C, SGMII, PCM on the RG255C-NA). Both support dual SIM, DFOTA, and embedded protocol stacks, and are suitable for industrial IoT, smart grids, video surveillance, mobile hotspots, wearables, and other medium-speed applications. Quectel RM255C-GL and RG255C-NA specifications: Connectivity 5G NR – 3GPP Release 17 RedCap (Reduced Capability) Sub-6 GHz Standalone (SA) […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on AsteroidOS 2.0 open-source smartwatch OS released, now supports around 30 devices

AsteroidOS 2.0 open-source smartwatch OS released, now supports around 30 devices

AsteroidOS 2.0

AsteroidOS 2.0 Linux-based, open-source smartwatch operating system has just been released with features such as always-on display support, Tilt-to-Wake, a customizable QuickPanel, multiple launcher styles, Nightstand mode, performance improvements, and support for about 30 devices. It’s been a long journey. We first noted the open-source project in 2016 when Florent Revest showcased a basic user experience on the LG G Watch, just before giving a talk at FOSDEM 2016 introducing AsteroidOS. This was followed by the launch of the Connect Watch (crowdfunded) AsteroidOS smartwatch in 2017 by a French company (which didn’t get funded), and AsteroidOS 1.0 was released in 2018. So it’s been ten years since it all started, and the developers have now released AsteroidOS 2.0. AsteroidOS 2.0 highlights: New features Always-on Display, Tilt-to-wake, Palm-to-sleep Heart rate monitor app Initial step counting support Music volume control Compass support Support for Bluetooth HID and Audio Design, Usability, and App Improvements […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Android 17 Beta 1 released with H.266/VVC support, camera improvements, and more

Android 17 Beta 1 released with H.266/VVC support, camera improvements, and more

Android 17

Google has just announced the release of Android 17 Beta 1 with performance improvements, H.266/VVC video codec support, smoother camera mode transitions, privacy and security enhancements, and more. The company is not releasing Developer Previews anymore, and instead follows the “continuous Canary channel” announced with the first Android 16 Developer Preview. So, with Android 17, the very first release is the “Beta 1” release. Some of the key changes in Android 17 so far: Developers can’t opt out of orientation and resizability restrictions on large screen devices (sw > 600 dp), so they’ll have to make sure their apps work on tablets, foldables, and desktop windowing environments. With one exception: apps categorized as games with android:appCategory flag. Google published a separate blog post about the change. Performance improvements and tools Lock-free MessageQueue that will reduce missed frames. Added Generational garbage collection to ART’s Concurrent Mark-Compact collector. This aims to reduce […]

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