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Checking Out the Forecast

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Thanks to Kickstarter fiend, Eri, I have a new weather “app” to check out. It’s called Forecast, but it’s not your traditional mobile app. You won’t find this free version in the Apple App Store, instead you head to forecast.io on your mobile device (or any platform) and follow the instructions. Although not a native app, Forecast feels and operates like an app and is clean, functional, and easy to understand. Here are some screen shots.

Tapping and swiping brings up different views or more details yet navigating the app isn’t overly confusing. Forecast also doesn’t use real images or rendered images to represent the current weather. I always found these visual representations misleading thinking that the images were live shots, not stock images.

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Weather 2x

I don’t know why I have a thing for weather apps living in temperate Hawaii. The weather just doesn’t vary very much, but still, I have gone through at least 5 different weather apps. So far, the new Yahoo Weather app has been my favorite, but it showcases images on Flickr taken in the area. While the images are gorgeous, they feel somewhat misleading. Solar is interesting and artistic but a little difficult to use. Weather 2x has been a weather mainstay of mine. I like the app’s overall balance of information and ease of use. I stopped using Weathercube. While it was neat, I was so lost when trying to swipe in different directions for additional data. Living Earth was just overkill for my weather needs. Of course, there’s the built-in iOS Weather app that I always fall back to. I like the way the information is presented though the interface does feel dated.

I’ll give Forecast a try but I’ve noticed one shortcoming already. Since it’s not a true app, it doesn’t provide notifications for impending weather alerts. Accessing the app will show you alerts but there are no notifications outside of the app. This might be a deal breaker for me.

A Short Pebble Review

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I’ll get right to it. The Pebble watch is good but not yet great. Oh, there’s potential, but it’s not yet materialized.

When I learned of the Pebble project on Kickstarter, I backed it without hesitation. The promise of a “smartwatch” working in conjunction with a smartphone aka iPhone was, well, simply smart.

What’s Great

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Reflected clouds

The e-paper display is absolutely great. It’s readable and visible under almost any condition. The only time it falls short is in pure darkness. Kinda no duh, but because it’s easy to see in dim light, you forget the obvious. But the Pebble does have a backlight. Push a button, tap the watch, or even cooler, shake your wrist, and the configurable backlight engages for a few seconds.

The setup of the Pebble is also a thing to marvel. It’s so easy; you’re up and running in no time. No complicated instructions, just download the app and follow along. The app’s diagnostic function lets you know of any problems or available updates.

Message and phone call notifications work! The Pebble vibrates upon incoming text messages or phone calls. No additional setup needed that I recall. I was surprised when the Pebble started vibrating on my wrist showing Caller ID information as my iPhone started to ring.

What’s Good

The look of the Pebble isn’t Apple-esque. It’s made of quality materials but not of Apple’s caliber or design aesthetic. The included watchband is basic, but you can easily change it. In the box, the Pebble didn’t immediately strike me as attractive but once on your wrist, it does look better. I personally like the Big Time watchface that shows off the readability of the e-paper display.

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Pebble face

Navigating the watch’s controls is definitely manageable. Even with four hard buttons, the watch’s menus lead you along so there’s no question which button to push.

Controlling iTunes music playback is a neat trick. It works after you fire up the Music app on the Pebble. I thought the Pebble would be more telepathic, knowing that my music was playing and therefore have the Music app already loaded.

What’s Not So Good

Maybe I haven’t learned everything about the Pebble that I should, but some features seem like they’re missing. I can’t readily see how you’d use the Pebble to help track runs. I thought I remember reading about partnering with RunKeeper but don’t yet see this feature (yup, not available at launch). I’d like to see Nike+ integration at some point but doubt it since Nike also sells their own run-tracking watches.

More notifications. Right now, the Pebble can notify you of text messages and phone calls. Email notification and display isn’t yet available for iOS. It’d also be cool if any/all notifications could be Pebblified (without jailbreaking your iPhone).

Along these lines is the dearth of apps for the Pebble. Seemingly, the only customization available are a few watchfaces. At this early stage, the Pebble App Marketplace isn’t thriving, but hopefully that changes over time as more developers crank out apps.

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Charging cable

The charging cable is unique to the Pebble which is good and bad. The magnetic coupling of the charger is what helps the Pebble be water resistant, but on the other hand, without this special cable, you can’t charge your watch. Fortunately, the battery life is approximated at one week (which I’m nearing).

Recapping at this early juncture, the Pebble watch is good with awesomeness in reach.

Unboxing Pictures

Backed Simple Bracket

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You ever participate in those March Madness brackets with the weighted scoring system where whoever picks the final winning team typically wins the bracket? Yeah, it’s pretty standard, and it’s kind of a bummer scoring system. A biostatistician, Ted Gooley, developed a more equitable way of assigning points based on many variables. I won’t explain his system but you can read about it here.

So what’s it to you? There’s a Kickstarter project that has taken the Gooley method and created an iOS app called Simple Bracket for the upcoming March Madness festivities. For a mere $1, you can have access to the app. Pay more for additional goodies.

Now here’s the challenge from my point of view. The app is the thing, but the developers are only asking for $1. The entire project is aiming at $10,000 in funding by March 5. That’s a heck of a lot of $1 pledges in a short period of time. Sure, there are higher pledge packages, but I don’t see many paying more. I’m hoping this project gets funded, and this video will convince you to offer up a buck.

Back That Linsanity Up

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The legend of Linsanity is definitely not forgotten, but its early origin is only now being told. Linsanity: the Movie previewed at Sundance to a limited audience but through Kickstarter, the goal is to finish and distribute this documentary of kismet.

Although this project has reached its goal, you can still back the project to get your own copy of the DVD and other goodies. Deadline is February 15, 2013.

Got My Manoa Chocolate

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Back in October, I supported the Hawaii small business Manoa Chocolate on Kickstarter, and today was time to collect!

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Manoa Chocolate

I stopped by the store to pick up my bean-to-bar chocolate. Unfortunately, they weren’t fully stocked with their entire product line due to the demand of the Holidays. But fortunately, they did have three of their best available (and I did get to sample others). My three picks are the Lavender, the 72% dark chocolate Peru, and the coffee-infused Breakfast Bar. I did like the new Pineapple Chili chocolate (which was being made), but you have to endure that building smolder from the ghost chilis.

I saw the new grinder in action which was the direct result of Kickstarter pledges. This guy can churn out 60 pounds of chocolate compared to their original 8-pound grinders. With this extra capacity, you’ll soon see Manoa Chocolate bars at Whole Foods Markets.

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Soon at Whole Foods Markets
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Got My Juicies

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It’s been a long journey for the Kickstarter-powered Juicies project. Started in 2011, Juicies goal was to bring colorful cables made out of recycled materials to the iPhone market. The colors were delicious, the price was right, and hey, Laurens from Hawaii was behind it all so why not back this project?

Then there was a string of manufacturing delays that Laurens explained in detail. Then Apple moved from the de facto 30-pin dock connector to Lightning. Juicies persevered with production and allowed backers to change cable types to a USB extension or a micro USB cable.

After a long wait, here are the results.

Love this display.

Juicies display of colors

The box design deserves some attention and credit as well. No fuss, no muss but good looking.

Juicies box

What’s in the box is minimal and looks made out of recycled materials as well.

What’s inside the Juicies box

At long last, my Juicies cable in lime green. It was either green or orange, but I thought the green was more vibrant. Actually, the pink and purple colors had a good sheen on them as well.

Juicies lime green USB extension

Thanks Laurens! Oh yeah, he may have extra cables to purchase for the holidays.