Day: January 28, 2025

Google Open Sources PebbleOS: New Pebble Device In Development

January 28, 2025 by 34 Comments

The Pebble smartwatch was introduced in 2012 as part of a Kickstarter campaign and saw moderate success before the company behind it got bought out by Fitbit. Although a group of enthusiasts kept their Pebble devices alive, including via the alternate Rebble project for online services, it seemed that no new Pebble devices would grace this Earth. However, we now got a flurry of Pebble updates, with Google, the current owner of Fitbit, open sourcing the PebbleOS source, and [Eric Migicovsky] as the original Pebble founder announcing new Pebble watches.

These new Pebble watches would be very much like the original Pebble, though switching from a memory LCD to an e-paper screen but keeping compatibility with the original Pebble watch and its hackability. Currently there’s just a rePebble site where you can sign up for announcements. Over at the Rebble project people are understandably excited, with the PebbleOS source available on GitHub.

A lot of work still remains, of course. The Apache 2.0-licensed PebbleOS source was stripped of everything from fonts to the voice codec and Bluetooth stack, and of course bootstrapping whole new hardware production will require serious investment. Even so, for lovers of smart watches that work with modern-day smartphones, featuring an always-on display and amazing battery life the future has never been more bright.

Thanks to [Will0] for the tip.

A Little Pigment Helps With Laser Glass Engraving

January 28, 2025 by 19 Comments

The range of materials suitable for even the cheapest laser cutter is part of what makes them such versatile and desirable tools. As long as you temper your expectations, there’s plenty of material to cut with your 40 watt CO2 laser or at least engrave—just not glass; that’s a tough one.

Or is it? According to [rschoenm], all it takes to engrave glass is a special coating. The recipe is easy: two parts white PVA glue, one part water, and two parts powdered titanium dioxide. The TiO2 is the important part; it changes color when heated by the laser, forming a deep black line that adheres to the surface of the glass. The glue is just there as a binder to keep the TiO2 from being blasted away by the air assist, and the water thins out the goop for easy spreading with a paintbrush. Apply one or two coats, let it dry, and blast away. Vector files work better than raster files, and you’ll probably have to play with settings to get optimal results.

With plain float glass, [rschoenm] gets really nice results. He also tried ceramic tile and achieved similar results, although he says he had to add a drop or two of food coloring to the coating so he could see it against the white tile surface. Acrylic didn’t work, but there are other methods to do that.

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