The DISPLIO is a mini e-ink display that lets you customize the data you receive. By adding your favorite widgets, you can display such information as the weather, email notifications, new tweets, and more.
Draugiem Group, the company making the DISPLIO, is looking for crowdfunding on Kickstarter to mass-produce the device. You can preorder it for as low as $79 (early bird special). A special edition wood version is available for $119.
The e-ink display will show you a number of different widgets, which you can add using an Android or iOS compatible app. It connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, so you will receive up-to-date information as long as the gadget is in range.
It includes notification support. So, whenever you receive a new email or get a reminder, you can receive an alert right from the tiny box.
There are no buttons. This minimalist gadget uses gestures to control features. Tap or shake it to reload. Rotate the screen to switch between widgets.
It is battery powered, so there are no cables to muck up your tidy countertop. Since it uses an e-ink display instead of an LCD screen, the battery consumption is less.
What I like about this device is that it captures bite-sized information that you can check into without having to immerse yourself in the Internet.
In addition to about a dozen pre-existing widgets to choose from, the DISPLIO will have a developer API available for anyone (not just professional app makers) to create their own content.
I am a sucker for widgets and this display is made for them. It lets you focus on specific details like your FitBit progress, traffic conditions, package shipment tracking, and more.
Draugiem Group expects to ship the DISPLIO by June of 2015.
via TechCrunch
Cool device. Nice to have a widget off a main display and onto a dedicated display. I actually would prefer it not to be battery powered, and would prefer it to have a front-lighted eInk display.
Can it be used for an alarm clock? Can it display text messages? If not, then I’m not interested
So it’s a smart watch…that’s not a WATCH?
A good 10 years ago you could have this built into programmable keyboards with LCD-s. I don’t think there was twitter back in than thou…
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Logitech_Gaming-Keyboard_G15.jpg
Around 2001, I used to have a 5.25″ bay device with a VFD display. It was connected via serial, and displayed things like CPU temp, fan speed, and I worked for weeks at getting a plugin working to show email notifications.
I suppose the usefulness of having that sort of notification show up on a 5.25″ bay would depend on whether your desktop PC was actually sitting atop your desk (rather than under it).
Cool thing to play with just for the novelty of it though.
Looks a lot like a Chumby but with an e-ink display. I wonder if they could get into legal trouble.
They should have called it the Chumb-e-ink.
Legal matters aside, Chumby devices bundle radio, alarms, and access to photos along with info widgets, and present them all with a color display. I’m struggling to see the value proposition here.