Group Actions
Engagement
  • Author Author: ralphjy
  • Date Created: Date Created
  • Views 1750 views
  • Likes 12 likes
  • Comments 11 comments
Related
Recommended

Oboo Smart Clock - Very Disappointed

ralphjy

I was very excited to try out my Oboo Smart Clock. I really wanted to demonstrate some of the features to my wife who wondered why I would back a clock on Kickstarter.  Unfortunately, the out-of-the-box experience was not very good.  The instructions included were minimal, which would have been fine if everything had functioned correctly.  They have a browser based app (not a downloadable mobile app as the instructions imply).  The app is not well designed and because the scroll boxes don't scroll - you have to guess what acceptable input is based on the ones that you can see.  And once you have done the basic setup - if you try to use the reconfigure option to fix a setting, it appears to cause the WiFi to disconnect (or maybe it just suppresses the icon).  Initially I had a problem with the battery indicator not working and I also could not change the displayed units from Metric to English.  I managed to find an instruction manual using Google and did a firmware update.  That fixed the problem with changing the units and it also added a calendar card (it initially had a timer card, a music card and a weather card).  There is no traffic card yet.  I assume that will be in an update.

 

image

image

                                                                            Timer Card

                                                                                                                                                                    image

                                                                         Music Card

image

                                                                  Calendar Card

image

                                                                Weather Card

 

 

If the features that are currently available would work reliably I'd be pretty satisfied, but it appears that the firmware is still extremely buggy.  The gesture sensor and the touch buttons don't work consistently and after I had left it on for a few hours, the cards stopped functioning.  I've been reading through the comments on the Kickstarter page and it appears that these are all problems that others have encountered.  Some of them were supposedly fixed by previous software updates.

 

It appears that the Onion team underestimated the amount of effort required for this project and doesn't have the resources to complete it in a reasonable time frame.  The User Manual that I did find is poorly written.

 

I do hope that they can manage to make this clock work the way that they had intended and that these are all firmware and not hardware issues.  What I would really like to see is for them to make the firmware Open Source.  That way, the community could help them make this a better product or at least get all the features working.  I haven't seen any indication as to when the Internet Radio and Home Automation Integration might show up.

Parents

  • Hi Ralph,

     

    It's an interesting looking device, it was the first I'd heard of it when you mentioned you received it.

    The touchless control makes it seem ideal for a different purpose - a kitchen menu browser with timer : ) I don't like turning book pages while cooking, since my hands are usually covered with stuff..

    I hope they release the firmware so you and others can improve it as you say, or adapt it to other purposes since a display can always be handy.

     

    I think we should have a Project14 or other challenge for clocks/timers : ) since I think we'll design way better clocks overall than many kickstarters..

    A Pi and small TFT could make a nice info-panel with clock perhaps. I saw a nice cube called 'TimeBox' in a store, it was on sale, but it was completely sealed and I wanted to hack it without destroying it : ( so I didn't buy it.

    image source: amazonimage

     

    I've created several clocks, but don't have many of them any more : ( I've lost my design files for this one (lesson learned: backup things, and don't leave the PC in the car even if it is hidden! - it was a very long time ago), but it was a straightforward design. This was pre-Arduino and pre-NeoPixel, so it's using a more obscure processor, and using a Maxim chip to drive tri-color LEDs:

    The fattest hand, Yellow, represents hour (12.00), red is seconds, and green is minutes, so the time is 12:47pm and 12 seconds. There's a built-in alarm and battery-backup too (battery is long expired).

    image

    Also everything is exposed and doesn't look home-friendly, but in my defence, it was ages ago.. pre-IoT too : )

  • in reply to shabaz

    Shabaz,

     

    I think we should always be ready to consider alternative user interfaces, such as your clock. I think it pays to shake things up every now and then.

     

    Dubbie

Comment Children
No Data