Why no microphone?

[wiseman13]

Coming from Pebble the ability to have the SDK, 3rd party apps, etc is all good, but without a microphone and voice dictation possibilities I just do not see this device as a replacement for my Pebble Time Steel.

[wmchapman]

The compatible Flyer headphone set has a dual microphone microphone (check the pre-release specs)...no doors closed except the dick tracy talking to your wrist thing 😉

[wiseman13]

Yes, but i have a Bragi Dash so will not be buying those and most time I
use the dictation i do not have bt head phones in, it is still a pretty big
closed door to me.

[SunsetRunner]

I'm going to try and phrase this carefully, as I don't want to come across as bashing but seriously? Large colour 1000nits display, gps, pure pulse, NFC to name but a few, versus 2015 spec, discontinued, monochrome, etc... If a separate mic is that important, use your phone's or get a small dictaphone. 

I'm thinking of ditching my AW2 for this. Can't wait, though I will miss the ability to raise my wrist to ask Siri to do various things (like start a timer, set an alarm, start a bike ride). However I think the pros outweigh the small cons.

[wiseman13]

Well voice to text is mainly for sms replies when it is not really possible for me to grab my phone. I will just pass on this and see if anything with longer battery life and voice to text comes along. For now I will keep with my Pebble until they kill it dead and even then we might keep it going with Rebble.

[Rich_Laue]

If ypu asking about voice to text through the Ionic that has no way to respond to texts, i suggest to continue to use the phone.

[bbarrera]

Pebble supported responding to texts, and Fitbit acquired Pebble, so its a bit surprising there is no text reply feature in the manual or mentioned in press launch.

[Rich_Laue]

Fitbit acqured Pebbles assets,  not the pebble tracker.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2017/02/22/fitbit-pebble-acquisition/amp/

[wiseman13]

True, but having those assets and reviewing the market space I am surprised
they would not have included one. Also the lack of any canned reply support
further alienates fitness minded Pebble users looking for third next watch.

[bbarrera]

Yes, and the primary asset they acquired was "intellectual property" which is a legal way of saying the Pebble OS/apps/SDK/etc.

Fitbit owns the code that implemented the reply to text feature on Pebble trackers.

[SunsetRunner]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, given the trouble that Pebbled had integrating canned responses, with the need for carrier support, the hiccoughs they encountered along the way, Apple's closed wall approach, and the multitude of different Android devices with differing OS', I'm not surprised they haven't.

Fitbit have released a fitness orientated smart watch. With all things taken into consideration, canned responses is pretty low priority.

[SunsetRunner]

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@wiseman13 wrote:

Coming from Pebble the ability to have the SDK, 3rd party apps, etc is all good, but without a microphone and voice dictation possibilities I just do not see this device as a replacement for my Pebble Time Steel.

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great idea, if you're able to build a waterproof (and working) microphone.

[Rich_Laue]

The army has had water proof microphones that can work underwater since at least WW II, probably much earlier,  their first designs where open and allowed the water to flow through the case and wireing.

Why? A sealed inside created an air chamber that the soubd waves through the water where unable to press against. With an open model the pressure on both sides of the microphone disk where relatively equal.

[bbarrera]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

Fitbit have released a fitness orientated smart watch. 

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Perfect excuse for "ultimate health and fitness smartwatch." If it's the ultimate why can't I get easy answers to how many miles/time did I run or cycle last week? Pretty basic question. 

FItbit has the technology and didn't implement in first release. Once they make this feature available then the story in this community will change.

[SunsetRunner]

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bbarrera wrote:

Perfect excuse for "ultimate health and fitness smartwatch." If it's the ultimate why can't I get easy answers to how many miles/time did I run or cycle last week? Pretty basic question. 

FItbit has the technology and didn't implement in first release. Once they make this feature available then the story in this community will change.

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Maybe that's why they integrated Strava from the outset, knowing people who wanted those stats would probably have Strava accounts. [Wishful Thinking Mode: On] Before they change their platform to incorporate said stats [Wishful Thinking Mode: Off].

[bbarrera]

The Fitbit platform has the data, they simply don't allow answering a lot of simple questions. Instead you can only see total miles (step based) per week, month, 3 months, and year. 

[pedris]

A voice recorder app that uses an external mic (e.g. on headphones) would be a nice addition for me. I'd like to have the option of recording reminders when out on long runs (and perhaps rides). 

[SunsetRunner]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

The army has had water proof microphones that can work underwater since at least WW II, probably much earlier,  their first designs where open and allowed the water to flow through the case and wireing.

Why? A sealed inside created an air chamber that the soubd waves through the water where unable to press against. With an open model the pressure on both sides of the microphone disk where relatively equal.

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at which price ?

which size ?

i read, this morning, that US Navy wants to use XBox controller (300$) instead of specific submarine component (38 000$) to control camera in their new submarine vessel

[Rich_Laue]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

The army has had water proof microphones that can work underwater.

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at which price ?

which size ?

i read, this morning, that US Navy wants to use XBox controller (300$) instead of specific submarine component (38 000$) to control camera in their new submarine vessel

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 That would not surprise me, these controllers are being used to control many things that where never thought about a few years ago.

As for the microphones price, i don't know, it was at least 70 + years ago.

As for the size, probably bigger than your cell phone and ten times thicker.

[ErickFitbit · Accepted solution]

@wiseman13 @wmchapman @SunsetRunner @bbarrera @SunsetRunner @pedris Thanks for your candid feedback as it's always appreciated. Leaving out a microphone was done to keep the size as sleek and slim as possible, while also including eight different sensors: GPS with GLONASS, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, optical heart rate monitor, SpO2 sensor, NFC chip, altimeter and ambient light sensor.