It’s a Fine Time for PineTime?
A Linux-based smart watch from PINE64
Back at the beginning of the year, the folks at PINE64 announced not just a bunch of new hardware, but a whole new product lineup.
With the PineBook Pro now in pre-order and shipping to community members in small batches, and the PinePhone shipping ‘soon’, that family just got an addition: the PineTime, a Linux-based smartwatch.
The smartwatch was teased in a tweet last week, and I think the response to the project has sort of taken the folks at PINE64 by surprise. Like the Cube IP Camera announced back in February, alongside the new PineBook Pro and PinePhone, the PineTime is billed as a ‘side project’ by the company and there isn’t much known about the watch as yet.
What we do know is that it’ll be cheap, around $25, and come with a charging dock. The housing will be built from zinc alloy and plastic, with a 20mm wrist band, while the watch itself will include a heart-rate monitor and a battery that should last ‘multiple’ days.
Right now, the PineTime is being built around a Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832, although the production unit may use the nRF52840 depending on ‘developer feedback.’
Just like the PineBook Pro, the new PineTime makes use of an existing body, with the internals replaced. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, that’s just how manufacturing works these days unless you’re Apple.
It’s really rather interesting to see PINE64 pivot from being a company that makes single-board computers to, well, something a bit different. But we’re going to have to wait for more, as details of the PineTime aren’t expected until October.