yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Accessories] vectron:
Yeah, I know what you mean. Unfortunately MW has a low resolution due to a different type of LCD display they are using. It has this mirror-reflective technology to make it better visible in a direct sunlight. A trade off since you don't get the same e-paper dark background as you can see in Pebble and Kreyos. Plus low resolution will not work well with analog watch face for a smooth hand "movement" transitions. MW is still 1st gen, so hopefully 2nd gen is around the corner with improvements to minimize the size, maximize battery capacity, and cut down to 4 buttons instead of 6. It's nice to have multiple dedicated buttons but some functionality could be combined for sure.
[General Accessories] opasha:
That makes sense. Yeah, hopefully the updates come soon. I'm really excited to see the note 3 and new Samsung watch.
[General Accessories] vectron:
Should be announced on Sept 4th? I hope.
[General Accessories] opasha:
Yes, hopefully.
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
Does anyone know if the hardware of the developer version of the Frame is exact the same? Is the difference just the JTAG-clip? Or are there other differences, hardware wise?
[General Accessories] vectron:
Since developers version of the Frame was part of the initial release, its hardware was slightly different. Beside jtag enabled clip other difference were:

- smaller battery capacity (70mAh vs 120mhA in the current FRAME/STRATA).

- 64KB of serial RAM instead of 256KB in the current version.

I think the developers Frame version is still for sale, featured in some online store at a deeply discounted price.

Btw, MetaWatch will be soon available for sale in Best Buy with some new software updates including cool new Live NFL streaming app on the watch. Plus another great news, I'm staying in touch with one of the 3rd party developers (Augmented Pro) and there is possibility of making that app compatible with the latest firmware version of MW (FW1.4) and the latest MW Manager. That would be AWESOME since the only thing that was holding me down from upgrading from FW1.35 to FW1.4 is notification compatibility with Augtmented Pro app which only worked with FW1.35 and NE/CE Manager. If everything goes as expected, this will breath a new life into MetaWatch and just in time for introduction at Best Buy store.
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
Thanx,

The developer version on the German website Metawatch.eu is mentioned with 256Kb RAM, but nothing about the battery capacity.
[General Accessories] vectron:
Then it's probably a regular version sold as "developer version" which included jtag clip. Or maybe they had different "developer" versions. Perhaps it has 256 KB RAM and regular (bigger) battery.
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
The latest firmware is 1.5.1 isn't it?
[General Accessories] vectron:
Sorry, yes it is 1.5.1 (http://support.metawatch.com/customer/portal/articles/858691-windows-update-instructions). At this point I wasn't even keeping up with updates because I needed Exchange email notifications and wanted proper music controls like in NE/CE Manager. Augmented Smartwatch Pro only worked with NE/CE Manager, and that community manager was developed to support FW1.35. It doesn't work with 1.4 or 1.5.1.

Btw, these are the special early developers Frame versions I was talking about, sold for $150 which included JTAG clip: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12004 and https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12005

I think these have a smaller battery and less RAM. They have a hollow shape buttons instead of solid ones on the final FRAME version.

.... EDIT. Since I hasn't been keeping up with all the updates (honestly, I kind of gave up on it at first), I was just made aware that Noah Edition (NE) Manager was updated recently to make it fully compatible with FW1.5.1 and Augmented Smartwatch Pro works with it as well.
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
Upcoming new version?

Today I received an answer from metawatch.eu:

Hmm... a new dilemma! :)
[General Accessories] vectron:
I don't understand that reply?!? They probably meant a smaller battery, I guess? That sparkfun links above is exactly that smaller battery Frame version. Frame is usually for sale for $200 and JTAG clip is another $50, so they are selling $250 package for $150. Less RAM is not a problem, not like you are loading and running some apps in there anyway. But battery capacity might play a role. My FRAME last me about a week on a single charger, but I only have it tethered to my Note 2 Mon-Fri from 9am to 6pm, and on a few occasions during weekend when I go out. Otherwise, it's powered on but not connected to my Note 2 so I don't waste battery on notifications. Beside, I don't wear my MW 24-7.

Btw, I did update to FW1.5.1 and its running a lot faster with Noah Edition (NE) Manager now. Noah actually did update his Manager to be compatible with that latest firmware version. I do like MW Manager, but lack of Augmented SmartWatch Pro support keeping me from using it since I need my Exchange email notifications. BUT, the good news Adrian (Augmented Pro) is working with MW guys now to make it compatible with the latest MW Manager!!! For me personally, that will be an ideal combo!!!

Still don't know if I will get a chance to test Omate TrueSmart and Sony SW2, but for now I'm sticking with always-on MetaWatch ;)
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
Well I do think that is what they mean the smaller battery, although they do advertise with the 256 kb Flash Rom and 16 kb Ram. I was more intrigued by the fact that they will launch a new line within the next 6 months.
[General Accessories] vectron:
Yeah, I have no idea what "new line" they are talking about. Bill (MW) mentioned they are working on something "big", but he never said "new". Also, remember at some point they were talking about working with that famous designer from Nokia, some guy named Frank? But it was supposed to be the same hardware in a different frame/bracelet package. Maybe that's what they have in mind?
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
Well if it is an evolutionary version of the Frame it should be exciting news. Don't know if I can wait that long or what this new line means regarding long term support for the current models.
[General Accessories] aeron16:
Any more news you can share abt Adrian working with MW folks?
[General Accessories] vectron:
From what I understand he is waiting for MW to send their code so he can make Augmented SW Pro compatible with the latest MW Manager and FW1.5.1. I think this should happen in the next week or two because MW will be available soon in Best Buy and having access to all the notification by means of Augmented app is crucial, in my opinion.
[General Accessories] aeron16:
Can't wait!
[General Accessories] opasha:
[MENTION=3996566]vectron[/MENTION] - I got the Sony Smartwatch 2 two days ago, and it was awful. It froze a lot and wouldn't delete things that were already dismissed/deleted in notifications. People weren't joking about the lag. It does lag, especially with the music player. I have never seen such a terrible music player before. The swipes barely registered and songs took forever to go to the next track or previous track. With the Pebble, I can control any music application with the stock music player and even see the Artist and Song Title in Pandora now- plus, it's all physical keys so it's much faster. I even tried the PowerAmp application just to use a better music player for the SW2, and it was a fraction better; still pretty bad. The skip forward and skip backward would most of the time just skip backward and start the song over again. Terrible touch interface in some of these applications. For the SW2, I used WatchIt! and all the recommended apps and tested it thoroughly the way I do with my Pebble. Now with the Pebble's abilities to type text (T9 style), have unlimited canned sms presets, and receive full sms, email, and whatsapp messages, the Sony Smartwatch 2 has very little to beat it aside from an LCD color screen and touch interface. I bought the Smartwatch 2 after people were saying how much better it was than the Gear, but I have to say it's nothing special. The SW2 also disconnected and reconnected too often even when I was 1 foot away from my phone. I read that was on of the big problems with the watch in some reviews on Amazon. I really am disappointed with it. Sony failed the first time, and they failed yet again. I don't mean to offend anyone, but that's just my two cents. I'm very technical by nature so I test things out quite thoroughly, and the SW2 didn't live up to it's hype. I'd wait on something better. I shipped it back today.
[General Accessories] vectron:
Thank you for sharing your SW2 impression!!! I know you are very detailed in reviews and don't give up, so the fact it's going back means it's really bad :(

I know its too late to mention it, but have you seen that Sony Smartwatch has its own section on XDA? http://xdaforums.com/smartwatch/sony - lots of discussions in there with some nice pointers. I even remember there was a firmware update, I think? But I'm sure you had everything up to date already.

I was supposed to receive a review sample of SW2, but it never happened. I guess I didn't miss much ;) The same with Gear, I was supposed to get back to Samsung about it, was just waiting for Verizon to push 4.3 update for Note 2, but I think I'm going to skip that as well. The only remaining point of interest is Omate TrueSmart swartwatch (also promised for review, but I never heard back from them after their initial contact), and maybe Omate is a bit of an overkill for "smartwatch".

At this point, we just might have to wait and see what 2014 going to bring. One thing which is very interesting. Google was supposed to add support for wearable devices (smartwatches, etc.) with KitKat 4.4, but it wasn't very specific which I have a feeling due to their Google Gem smartwatch still not being ready for prime time. If they make 4.4 fully optimized for small wearable devices with low resolution, that will enable Google Play access as well and give advantage to competition. Just my opinion. Google is not ready with their own smart watch, so competition has to wait as well in order to include Google Play officially (a big controversy with Omate now). Other cheap CH/HK manufacturers will just include Google Play with their versions without worry about licensing, just like they do with all those $100 tablets.

But anyway. I might be sticking with MetaWatch for now since it does everything I need, and hopefully Augmented will be optimized to work with latest firmware and manager. Hopefully 2014 will bring more cool choices!!!
[General Accessories] opasha:
Believe it or not, I did check everything on XDA before I even bought the watch, lol. I tried to do everything I could to make it as useful as the Pebble, but it was to no avail.

I also ordered my Note 3 and it comes in a few days. I ordered the Galaxy Gear also just to see if I can play around with it and sideload everything including the new notifications app that gives full notification for whatsapp, gmail, etc. I'll update this thread about my experience after a few days of playing with it and whether or not it's worth keeping. I'm really interested in Google's product. Sometimes loving technology so much makes it so hard to make decisions! :D

UPDATE: Played around with the Gear, rooted it, got nova launcher on it, xposed framework, ATN notification manager, etc - literally everything and it's just as bad if not worse than the SW2. I guess I've become too spoiled by my Pebble, but it still blows these two devices away. Sad, but true after using the Gear for a few days doing my daily routine for my phone/smartwatch needs. I need gmail, messages, whatsapp, hangouts, and be able to answer and reject calls and text and reply to sms - I can do this all easily with the Pebble. I literally spent 5-8 hours rooting/figuring out the ins and outs of hacking the Gear and the SW2 for optimum performance and yielded nothing special. Samsung has a long way to go for development. If people want to waste their time on the Gear, by all means it's personal preference. I just don't recommend it. Listen to the TECH sites. They aren't wrong here, lol. Only pros were the screen quality and call interface. The sms and stock email function were nothing special and the Pebble handles these much better. That's just my two cents :).
[General Accessories] aeron16:
Still no significant updates on the Android front for metawatch :(
[General Accessories] vectron:
They are getting very close, at least from what I heard. If I'm not mistaken, Augmented SmartWatch Pro should have a new optimized versions very soon to work with FW 1.51 and the latest (or upcoming) version of MW Manager.

Btw, while testing FW1.51 and comparing it to FW 1.35, I found that it's better not to disconnect the watch from the phone but rather turn BT off on the watch. My typical daily use routine is MetaWach connected to my Note 2 (NE Manager) all day long, and when I get home I disconnect it because I take watch off while still carry my phone around the house. I don't want to drain my Note 2 battery while it's constantly searching for a watch when I'm upstairs or in a basement, etc. This way I get easily 7 days out of my battery life. When I did the same with FW1.51 loaded, my watch lasted about a day (BT on, but not paired to the phone) and battery died. MW guys changed something with a firmware where once you are disconnected, the watch doesn't go to sleep but instead it's still trying to connect - thus a need to turn BT radio off on the watch.

But anyway, let's just wait and hope that in a week or two there will be a new MW Manager version and updated Augemented Pro app.
[General Accessories] aeron16:
Fingers crossed! I did ask on twitter to ASP but that was abt 2 weeks ago. At that time He indicated he was still waiting for Metawatch to release the APIs to him
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
Still deciding MetaWatch Frame rev G or a Pebble. Who can help me decide?
[General Accessories] aeron16:
Are u using IOS or Android?
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
iOS 7
[General Accessories] aeron16:
If so, you can get almost any notifications using the Frame. If you dig the looks of the frame and dun need the higher water resistance of pebble, frame is the way to go :).

Have to be honest though Pebble has more going on in the software and community development end.
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
That's why its difficult to decide :)
[General Accessories] aeron16:
It's easy really. Do you want more features beyond notifications? If so, pebble is the way to go at the moment :)

Either just enjoy what you choose :)
[General Accessories] CrashHouse:
I like the fitness / cycling and nav apps so Pebble would be the obvious choice. But I do like the Frame style better.
[General Accessories] vectron:
First of all, for those who are eagerly reading upcoming CES announcements, I think MetaWatch guys just pulled a big one out of their hat!!!

In collaboration with Frank Nuovo (former Nokia and Vertu design fame), they will have new line of Meta models designed both with fashion and notification functionality. I know some of you like a smart-wrist-phone with androind system, but if you want a fashionable looking watch with smart functionality, I think Meta will be one of the top contenders in that category. What I'm especially pleased, they are not reinventing the wheel but rather improving based on existing design by adding all new epaper display and new awesome looking housing.

The Verge just did a nice writeup about it: http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/6/5277128/metawatch-meta-premium-smartwatch-brand

I can't wait to test it and to review it when it becomes available!!!

But here is another surprise. Usually when you hear an announcement about company pursuing a new product line it means they are dropping a ball on the current line. As you all remember, in the past I had my fair share of complains about still using old fw1.35 with NE Manager and other workaround to get notifications from my Note 2 (on stock 4.1.2). Well, in the last few weeks my FRAME just transformed into a brand new smartwatch once I got 4.3 update on my Note 2, installed Metawatch FW 1.5.1, and start using the latest MW Manager. The watch response is super fast switching between pages and notification/setup screen. Enabling Notification Access in MW Manager (and using free app like eNotify - which I highly recommend!) helps pushing all the notifications from my Note 2 to FRAME. Don't get me wrong, everything was working before, but now I don't need any 3rd part workarounds or community manager optimized for older firmware. Everything is optimized, battery life is improved, and it's working perfectly!

Furthermore, a new FW 1.5.2 will be released sometime this week (hopefully on Wednesday). I have been testing this firmware for the last week, and it's another step forward for Metawatch guys. Now you can scroll through the last 5 notifications (the latest one and 4 more in queue), and they added a new Timer app built into firmware. Accessible from a setup menu, it's a very neat app with a cool control to setup your countdown timer which runs down to zero with flashing light and vibration notification.

I will take pictures of my new FRAME setup (and Timer) and post it here in the next few days!!!
[General Accessories] aeron16:
Great! Can you share more details on setting things up so you can filter what notifications get sent on Android 4.3?
[General Accessories] vectron:
Well, notification filtering is still work in progress since I was referring more to a general "native" enabling of pushing notification without a need of any 3rd party apps. Augmented Pro has a nice way to filter notifications, but it's not compatible with new MW Manager and new firmware. But for my own personal use it's no longer a show stopper. In a way 4.3 update added it's own filtering since under every app you have an option to enable/disable notification check-mark. Furthermore, in MetaWatch manager you enable Notification Access under Alerts. The big problem for me personally was receiving email notifications. I have my POP3/IMAP accounts with native Samsung email client and even so I have notification enabled and it displays new email icon in the notification bar, it never translated into the actual notification message displayed in MetaWatch. In order to solve this problem, I discovered eNotify app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hermes.enotifylite) which does a perfect job of pushing those email notifications from my multiple email accounts. For Exchange, to get access to my work email, I'm using TouchDown where it's notifications get displayed on MetaWatch without a problem.

Just for those who are not familiar with MW Manager, it enables to design 4 separate MetaWatch screens with up to 4 widgets per screen in each quadrant as well as using large widgets that take more than 1 quadrant. Its a very elegant GUI with a lot of config options. My particular design looks like this, including screenshots of status window and music control.

Implemented in a new 1.52 firmware, now you have a queue of multiple notifications you can scroll through, although the body of email message is not displayed.

As a bonus, a new built-in Timer app was implemented with a latest firmware.

Here are the screenshots of MetaWatch latest manager (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.metawatch.mwm)

And here is eNotify - a very flexible notifier app with a lot of config options. This one was a real lifesaver for me to get my POP/IMAP email account notifications to be displayed in MetaWatch.
[General Accessories] vectron:
Just to let MetaWatch users know, FW 1.5.2 was just released and available for download from their website: http://support.metawatch.com/customer/portal/articles/858691-windows-update-instructions
[General Accessories] SynisterWolf:
cant get music control to work with poweramp at all. the watch can control volume but track skip and pause never worked.
[General Accessories] vectron:
The same with Neutron MP app. MetaWatch audio control widget only works with a native Music Player that comes with Note 2 or whatever comes with your phone. It Plays/Pause, Skips, and controls Volume. Both Noah and Community edition of the manager had audio player widget with "alternative" Winamp mode and that one worked with every audio player. I already mentioned it to Meta guys, so hopefully it's on to-do list. But as you know, they are busy with Meta release now.

Btw, MW Manager got updated today with some bug fixes, including new full screen Calendar widget and step counter (although that one is for Nexus 5 only). Plus, auto-backlight for notifications.
[General Accessories] SynisterWolf:
Found out, the music function works with play music perfectly. Ended up going with that for the time being. I got the update but it's not playing well on my dev watch. Don't think they ever ment the dev watch to get any of the 1.5.x updates. Ohwell. I know there is a new watch coming soon. I'm waiting on that before I buy another smart watch.
[General Accessories] vectron:
The only difference is that Dev edition has less memory, 64KB of serial RAM versus 256KB. I know they added notification buffer in later releases, so wonder if that causes issues with your watch.

Yeah, I waiting for Meta as well. I just care about notifications, and don't need sim cards for calls or built-in cameras. Plus, I want the watch to look like a real watch. So far Meta fits the bill!!! :) I didn't feel that Pebble Steel look at all.
[General Accessories] SynisterWolf:
yeah i read that too. the more notifcations thing isnt a deal breaker for me. 1.5.2 works great with the dev edition besides the notification add on they just did.

i have a pebble first gen and i like that one too but it feels "cheap" in the sense of a toy watch. the HW isnt cheap at all just the housing. im going to check out the metal one once it shows up around me in stores or if someone i know gets it. but im set on the new META. :)
[General Accessories] MaximChernyshov:
Hello!

I've purchased metawatch developing edition. It has firmware version 0.8.0 installed. Why the official firmware release 1.5.2 does not fit? And where can I get the newest release for my metawatch?

Thank You!
[General Accessories] vectron:
I'm not really sure what do you mean by "doesn't fit"? There should be enough memory space for a new firmware code. If you are getting an error while flashing with a new firmware, maybe something is wrong with a connection? I know that very early dev edition from over a year ago had less memory, but I remember MW guys said new firmware should still fit. I would make sure you follow all the update instructions in http://support.metawatch.com/ and if that doesn't help, try to contact them http://www.metawatch.com/support
[General Accessories] MaximChernyshov:
I can install any old firmware version taken here: sites.google.com/site/metawatchdev/fir/firmware

using these instructions:

metawatch.org/assets/images/developers/MetaWatch_Reflash_your_Watch_Firmware_2.0.pdf

and it works. But when I tryed to update with official release 1.5.2, I got my metawatch blinking LED and not responding to actions.

Besides, the official update instructions says "These instructions are only for use with the serial charging clip (blue foam) that comes with STRATA or FRAME devices. The development clip (JTAG version) that is packaged with development systems or sold separately, will require different instructions."

So I'm trying to find out if I can use the official firmware release, and if I can't, where should I get new release?
[General Accessories] vectron:
True, I'm using regular serial charger (blue) so didn't see any problem. The JTAG (red) requires different firmware files for firmware update, so perhaps that's where the problem is? If I remember correctly, those files had a different extension. Did you get your developers edition MW directly from MetaWatch or somewhere else? I think the official dev edition came with both charging clip, blue and red. For that official firmware files you need to use blue charging clip. MW sells it on-line for $19: http://www.metawatch.com/collection/accessories but it's current out of stock.