Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch

Re:Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch by xtiansimon on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @04:52PM (#26321434)

Funny the picture shows a subway exit. One of the apps I want from a smart watch is a compass. I work(d) in NYC and I’m always turned around when I exit the subway at an unfamiliar stop.

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Re:Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch by dheera on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @05:19PM (#26321846)

I found compasses don't work well in NYC either. My phone's compass is always wrong in NYC.

I really wish NYC would paint or engrave a N/S/E/W indicator on the sidewalk at every subway exit.

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Re:Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch by renewiltord on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @06:00PM (#26322365)

How strange. Why is that? They use a magnetometer.

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Re:Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch by toss1 on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @06:35PM (#26322736)

Exactly - the steel everywhere in the infrastructure, buildings, and vehicles messes with the ambient magnetic field so the magnetometer can't consistently get a true field reading.

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Re:Watchy: Hackable $50 Smartwatch by johnjboren on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @05:17PM (#26321808)

When I lived in NYC during the Summers of 2005 and 2006 I carried a real compass for this exact purpose.

Walking a block in the wrong direction before figuring it out was not worth going without.

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