ivee looks a lot like a clock radio — simple design, integrated speaker, a jet black minimalist LCD front panel and buttons on top — it’s what’s under the hood that’s different;  ivee promises to bring the HAL 9000 or Star Trek computer experience to your home.  Just say “hello ivee” to enter into a Siri-like voice command experience to do things like:

• Reminders - e.g. “Remind me to pick up the kids from school at 2:45pm.”
• Controls Devices - e.g. “Set the thermostat to 71 degrees.”
• Alarms - e.g. “Wake me up at 6:30am.”
• Time - e.g. “What time is it in Hong Kong?”
• Weather - e.g. “What’s the weather going to be like in New York on Friday?”
• Stocks - e.g. ”What’s the stock price of Google?”
• Sleep Sounds - e.g. “Play ocean waves for 15 minutes.”
• Bed Time Stories - e.g.  “Read me a bed time story, please.”
• Settings - e.g.  “Turn up the volume.”
• FM Radio - e.g. “Tune the radio to 102.7 FM.”
• Personality - e.g. “How old are you?”

One of the project’s goals is to create an open voice platform so that developers can interface to other API-enabled services such as thermostats, robotic vacuum cleaners, smart locks, etc.

It’s interesting to read a bit about what’s under the hood:  ARM9 400 MHz Processor, Linux OS, AT&T’s Speech API, Wolfram|Alpha API, light and temperature sensors.  This looks like a fun and useful gizmo on it’s own, but has great potential to serve as a platform for modifying and hacking — or simply to  use as a voice hub for custom robotics and connected device hacks.  Check it out on Kickstarter.

So what is Lumu and how does it compare?  In short, Lumu is a beautifully designed, highly compact light meter that attaches to an iPhone’s headphone jack.  Compared to existing professional light meters, the size and form-factor is a no-brainer: Lumu kills the competition. Why lug around one of these when you can wear Lumu fits in your pocket, or can be attached to a necklace and worn around the neck.

In terms of price performance, Lumu also wins.  In spite of it’s tiny form factor, they claim to use an underlying sensor with a light range that exceeds most professional dedicated light sensors.  And since Lumu is backed by an iOS app, its feature set will be better (and certainly more upgradeable) than most professional light meters.  Lumu is available on Kickstarter for just $99, which includes a leather case, necklace adapter and free shipping worldwide. Compare that to $200 and on up for traditional standalone light meters that are bulkier and have less functionality than Lumu.

Also of note for anyone out there currently fretting over the script for your next Kickstarter project: Lumu’s video has no words at all.

Check out Lumu on Kickstarter.

Here’s what Lumu looks like:

We had the opportunity to catch up with Huy Tran, a fellow hacker who did such an amazing job with the original Pebble SDK that Pebble decided to hire him! Still a student looking to complete his CS degree at UCLA, Huy likes to think of himself as an aspiring game developer who enjoys doing graphics on the side.

Q: What originally inspired you about the Pebble API?
It was always in the back of my mind that Pebble had an SDK when I first backed the project on Kickstarter. The idea that I could write an app or even a game for what seemed like a tiny handheld with a reasonable screen was intriguing. There were even times I’d hit Google to check if anyone found out more details about the SDK, such as what language the watch apps would have to be in.

Q: What was the first app you built for your Pebble?
The first app would be Droptype, it’s a mix of the puzzle games I’ve played. It wasn’t entirely simple making it because it was my first Pebble app, but I took my time in order to get to know just what the SDK allowed me to do. It’s true that the SDK wasn’t very forgiving at first because it lacked the online documentation that it has now, but the API was well thought out enough that mostly everything functioned just as I thought it would. There was only one thing that tripped me up though, and that was firing a timer with a wait time of zero. This would cause a crash, but you normally don’t need to do that anyway.

However, what really set me back was the app size limit which is set at 24KB. The initial SDK also had some issues removing unused code, so anything you wrote would have 9KB attached to it immediately meaing you actually only had 15KB to work with. I remember that many of us Pebble app developers had to post to our users that new features had to wait until we figured out how to refactor our code until it did the same thing except with a smaller binary size. PebbleKit v1.1 however has since fixed the unused code issue, so you now you truly have 24KB, and that doesn’t include art assets. Considering that PebbleKit v1.1 came with two-way communication and documentation, it was a very good release.

Q: Explain to our readers how you went from a hacker on Pebble to an employee?!
I have to say it’s a funny story I probably won’t be forgetting soon! I remember checking my email and seeing “Pebble 1 Year Anniversary Fiesta.” I thought to myself “I have to go” and messaged a friend right away about it. We went and eventually met Eric after he gave the history of Pebble. At some point Eric turned to me and asked, “So have you developed anything on Pebble?” I’m not sure what prompted the question — maybe he sensed that I was carrying a laptop in my bag — but I responded, “Yeah, I made a game,” and went on to show him. “You made that game?” he exclaimed, and revealed that he currently had it installed on his watch!

A long story short, but I came to help them fix bugs in their SDK and after spending the day with the developers they invited me to come in and start hacking. And now I’m full time at Pebble. Pretty exciting!

Q: What are the challenges in building a developer platform and how is Pebble approaching it?
I believe one of the challenges is making sure that what we ship next is exactly what the developers need. Pebble was afraid of what the developer response was towards the first SDK, but they made the right decision in my opinion because the forums suddenly became a beaming community of happy developers and users trying out the apps after release. However, the SDK was indeed lacking, and If you make a risky move such as releasing a small SDK, you should quickly release an update that incorporates feedback you obtained from the previous release, and that’s just what they did.

Now we just need to make sure we keep doing this, and the platform should eventually grow. I think what we have planned will cover more than enough use cases developers have in mind, so our challenge is more about deciding what use cases to target first and having enough people working on the associated systems to be able to release it quick enough for everyone to try out! Communication is also definitely an important factor and I’m actually working on setting up a techblog for the Pebble Team to start writing for the developer community. We also have an awesome SDK Guy, Philip, that regularly responds to developers on the official forums.

Q: How many developers are on the platform and how many apps have they launched?
There are quite a few developers. I can’t count how many are making watchfaces, but I know that there are a few app developers that are each churning out apps that are impressive. Gavin Maxwell for example looks like he’s out on a quest to remake every retro or handheld game on the Pebble. Jonathan Panttaja created MiniDungeon which is an RPG in the form factor of a watch. One developer even made a watchface generator. You can get a good idea of what’s out there by visiting My Pebble Faces.

Q: When do you expect developers to start charging for their apps?
I think developers haven’t been charging for their apps currently because there’s no feasible solution right now. There are quite a few developers sporting Paypal and Bitcoin addresses for donations at the moment. From what I remember, the Pebble Team has given many hints that there will be something like an app store for Pebble.

Q: If a developer builds an app, how can Pebble users find it? Today it’s hard.
It definitely is hard! I went through the trouble of making little info pages complete with a tweet button, but the metrics are horrid — trust me. I’m quite confident no one pressed the tweet buttons.

Right now, the two main ways to release an app is to post in the official watchapp directory or use a third party website such as My Pebble Faces. It’s a well-made site, but I’m unsure if all Pebble users are even aware that it exists. There might be people out there wearing the Pebble watch that only check the few apps available through the phone. This is both good and bad. With this arrangement, only the few that truly want something new on the Pebble will go through the trouble of finding the avenues to try something and sort of understand that they’re going through unknown territory. The others can wait it out and once everything is in place, they’ll have access to great apps right on their phone through the official Pebble phone apps.

Q: Before you go, what is your favorite Pebble app?
I transitioned from working on Pebble apps all day to working at Pebble all day, so I’ve had little time to check out what’s out there, but before there was any SDK, I enjoyed the built-in Music app the most. People are always impressed by how you’re able to command your phone to start playing music from a distance via your watch. It’s especially useful when you’re driving a car without bluetooth music controls on the wheel.

“Several Startup Weekend Maker events organically grew out of the enthusiasm of entrepreneurs; we now want to be more intentional and help accelerate this phenomenon. The Startup Weekend multi-disciplinary recipe will bring Designers and Makers together with the business and Tech community to envision and build amazing products that could be the next big hardware startup.”
- Ludovic Ulrich, VP of Development at Startup Weekend

Seattle already has a lot of the DNA needed to foster a strong maker movement. VC firms like Madrona Venture Group, my employer, believe strongly in the Maker Movement and the potential for 3D printing, open-source microcontrollers, low-cost sensors, and other technologies to be the inspiration behind many interesting investment opportunities in the coming years. Several Seattle-based firms like Pensar, General Assembly, Synapse, and ProductCreationStudio provide services to help makers and entrepreneurs design, develop, and produce their products. The University of Washington has spawned hardware businesses like Contour, one of Seattle’s largest hardware companies, and more recently SNUPI Technologies, which has raised money from top investors. We are also seeing several successful software execs trying their hands at hardware. A few examples include Vikas Gupta of Play-i and Joe Heitzeberg and Ethan Lowry of HackThings (which not only includes this blog, but also a broader mission of understanding and participating in the Maker space). Scott Jacobson, a Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group, will be a judge at the hackathon and believes that when you take experienced software designers and set them to work on hardware, you will get amazing results. Additionally, the recent opening of MakerHaus, which will be the venue for the event, is expected to be a major boon to the region.

At the most recent Startup Weekend, only 2 of the roughly 60 ideas pitched at the outset of the event involved hardware. This is reflective of the fact that hardware has generally been harder to create and harder to fund in the past. This Startup Weekend is focused on bringing attention to the fact that both of these barriers are coming down. Monica Houston, a Startup Weekend veteran and the lead organizer of this event, has been excited about a Maker Startup Weekend for a while.

“I volunteer at the Maker Space ‘Jigsaw Renaissance’ and run the Seattle Arduino Meetup. If there’s anyone who should attend Startup Weekend, it’s the makers whom I’ve met through these organizations. With just a tiny bit of confidence and startup know-how, any one of them could launch the next world changing hardware startup. Startup Weekend plus the maker movement is a marriage of true minds. Why Seattle? I think that because of the technology here, Seattle is positioned to become a hub of the third industrial revolution.”
- Monica Houston, Startup Weekend Organizer

What can we expect from this event? The possibilities are limitless. The one thing I’m sure of is that it will get people thinking beyond the screen. Expect a lot of amazing prototypes to come out of it.

You can learn more about Startup Weekend, Seattle Maker Edition and register to participate at http://seattlemaker.startupweekend.org/. If you want more information about the event or have any questions, you can reach the organizers at seattlemaker@startupweekend.org.