Given that the user will typically have their watch on them as well, why not make the ring a battery-less BLE transmitter that triggers voice input on the watch? It’s still one-handed operation, but now the battery life is infinite since there’s no battery? The disposable ring seems like a solution in search of a problem to me, unfortunately.

Example button: https://core-electronics.com.au/self-powered-wireless-switch...

I imagine the reason is reliability, but USD$99 plus international shipping every two years isn’t worth that to me, sorry.

Aside: I loved my kickstarter pebble and my steel, btw!

Are you still considering implementing the feature as a Pebble app as well? As someone who is very forgetful I like the low-friction external memory concept, but it would be nice if I could try it out (admittedly sub-optimally) before jumping in with a second device. It could also be a nice option for Index owners to keep a similar flow even when they don't want to wear the Index for whatever reason.

In general I really like the idea of a local-first, privacy-first, one-way/low-interaction digital assistant regardless of the form factor. A big frustration I have with Gemini as a voice assistant is that I have to wait out the other half of super simple interactions like setting a timer or making a note.

How often do you get accidental clicks? Does it interfere with day-to-day activities because you're trying to avoid the button?

Also, I love the idea of providing 3d models for something like this that needs to be perfectly sized

Love the idea as a very easily distracted individual, but the battery is keeping me on the fence. I understand how charging circuitry makes this product a non-starter, but is there any hope of the battery being replaceable?

Why didn’t you make it just a button which activates the watch? It’d be an addon to pebble watch. It couldn’t be used standalone, but you could make it rechargeable and it would solve your issue (actions with only one hand)

How hackable is the firmware, if we want to assign different handling to the button presses?

Can we flash our own firmware to the device?

1. Will it fit on a female with a size 3 finger?

2. Can we pick our own transcription service or export audio to transcribe elsewhere if you transcription is not reliable or privacy is needed?

3. Is it waterproof? Can I wash my hands without taking it off?

I really like the thought and the format, but I do not like that I can't change the battery. Even if it is not easy, I still think there should be a way to change the battery.

Can I use something like syncthing to easily backup the recordings and transcripts off my phone?

Google's Recorder app makes this a big PITA if I don't want to enable upload to cloud storage, there is a very tedious manual way to export recordings.

I really just want plain old data and to be able to copy or delete files via the filesystem. And not be required to use some cloud service.

As you framed the device as an extension of memory, I'm wondering whether you can query your notes/memory with voice. I'd like to ask questions to the ring, e.g.: "What was that book that Jerry recommended?"

Is that an existing feature, or is that something possibly planned for future?

Best of luck with your project, Eric.

I actually like the device and can see the purpose of it - I’ve tried to kick together similar solutions in the past, but I like the very “one thing only” nature of this.

That said, I absolutely cannot buy a device like this without a replaceable battery. I don’t actually care about the recharge, I get what you’re trying to do with it, but given the state of the e-waste world and, bluntly, the history of hardware brands - a big, big part of the sales pitch for the pebble is the OSS nature of the device because we need to hedge against any one company for longevity. I’d seriously consider this if I knew the battery was replaceable, but I can’t bet on you being around in 4, 6, or 8 years, and I’m not willing to buy intentionally disposable tech anymore.

could this be a used a bluetooth microphone, so I could use it with a laptop as a quick voice dictation/input for various uses? I'm thinking like a simple microphone for an localy hosted app like Hex: https://github.com/kitlangton/Hex

what safety measures does this have to avoid some incident (held down button, software bug, etc) draining the entire battery within a few hours, thus bricking the device?

how large are the STT and LLM models that you use on-device? are they part of the OS or downloaded with the app?

Why aren't you doing a wild degree of miniaturized power electronics R&D for your low-cost beta test of a new computing modality?

/s