It is based on the MSP430 microprocessor which is much less powerful than this thing, its capped at 16mhz or something IIRC and only has around 8K of program space. It is however about a third of the price.
Also, we're right here on HN to answer your questions!
Why only one button?
Two would have been really nice for most things (like back and forward in powerpoint/itunes).
Edit: Another one:
Why don't you ship outside the US/Canada? I considered buying one, but I'm in Germany :(
EDIT: Oh, never mind, just saw that its a button, not a knob.
Indeed. They are very different propositions. Hence I said "for comparison" :)
(I'd love an accelerometer - sure you guys are well aware of the possibilities)
Are you interested in making a case or something similar?
Getting people up and writing code on devices quickly is awesome; but sending code (unencrypted, even) off is pretty shady, particularly since you're not disclosing it to anyone.
Arduino manages to have a cute little barebones IDE based around an actual compiler; and they provide full hardware docs, links to datasheets, the works. You're doing exactly the opposite of that. Even Apple will let me compile code for my own iOS devices -- after I've paid the $99/year fee or jailbroken, of course...
From the terms: "hereby grant to Allerta a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, to reproduce, distribute, transmit, publicly perform, publicly display, digitally perform, modify, create derivative works of, and otherwise use and commercially exploit any text, photographs or other data and information you submit to the Website (collectively, User Generated Content) in any media now existing or hereafter developed, including without limitation on websites, in audio format, and in any print media format."
As I mentioned, we're releasing the entire SDK with instructions on how to compile using the full arm-gcc, right on your local machine. We just started off with this cloudcompile service to make it super easy for everyone to get Hello, Watch! (http://getinPulse.com/apps/hello_watch) running.
We are developers ourselves and committed to providing the best experience possible. We'll work fast to get the full toolchain out there.
Looks too big for a woman's wrist? Can't find actual dimensions...
I think I'd still rather wear it like you would a security badge with a lanyard or like the old-school mini-pagers in your pocket with a chain.
Less powerful processor and cheaper display might be a good thing, depending on your uses.
What is the battery life like? With aggressive power management (turning the screen off most of the time and leaving bluetooth disconnected), it can be up to 3 days. If bluetooth is constantly connected with the screen turning on periodically for alerts, you can expect 25 - 30 hours. If you have a processor-intensive application and are using the full capabilities of the screen non-stop, you can expect 2 - 3 hours.
So unfortunately it seems that the battery life is the biggest issue with inPulse
They _might_ be able to save a decent amount of battery life by using e-paper, but you lose color, and I'm not sure in practice you'd end up saving much power over the OLEDs they're currently using.
If that's their optimistic estimate then I'm not sure I want to learn how long it lasts under real world conditions...
Have you considered adding a crank?
(actually only half-joking, although I fear the machinery would not fit into such a small device)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxGZIiyyxrM
(the video is worth it for the 'joke' alone.)