A Linux based smartwatch surfaces. Read on.
Pine64 – the company behind the single board Linux powered laptop has announced on Twitter that it is developing a budget smartwatch powered named PineTime by Linux based software.
Priced at $25, PineTime is very cheap considering the Apple Watch and others in the market. According to the Twitter announcement thread – PineTime comes with a “nice” charging dock, a heart-rate monitor, and is made from zinc alloy and plastic. It also comes with a battery that lasts several days.
Current smartwatch market is mostly dominated by Apple and Xiaomi and prices are no match what Pine64 offering. Having said that, PineTime can be a really good deal at $25 price band when available.
The company also shows off a prototype version of the phone (actual photo) in Twitter which looks pretty cool indeed.
Offering a smartwatch at cheap price band comes due the fact that it’s components mostly available with other manufacturers.
This smart watch also breaking the round shaped watches to a square shape look which can be a real deal considering trends and aesthetics.
“Since there were questions regarding the body of the watch; yes, the watch body exists and is used by other manufacturers. We decide the internals + and customize the specs. Actual unit in picture below. Hope this clears things up,” – said Pine64 in the tweet.
However, Pine64 is not taking any pre-orders at the moment and said that it is still a side project. It also said that once the actual product is ready for use PineTime inform the world about the buying options.