@Seeds yeah I was wondering how totally;“distracted driver” I would be with this kind of awesome power in my car. Those other drivers need so much of my opinion.
@Seeds, my first thought was how many do I need to buy to tell slow left lane drivers to move right in the most snarky terms. I would put them in the rear window and drive 30mph in front of offenders after I finally got around them so they could know how it feels.
@NAFderwin This is truly inspiring and your write up is pretty funny too. Sadly I missed the name badges but I have a feeling that it cost you more then $14 to build this so maybe I’ll wait til they come back around again.
@craigthom I was given one of these several years ago. I contacted the company for hints about the bluetooth protocol so I could hack it and they were all “you can’t hack this – that would void the warranty.” Such a missed opportunity.
Oi Meh. Can you put some of those fancy arrows on the side of your pics so I can click through without trying to hit the dots? Or maybe there is some secret way to scroll through that I don’t know about?!?
@awk@craigthom@yeppers That works on meh phone. But on my comp it maginfys and does the next pic. Probably a browser setting the zoom. I’ll investigate. Thanks chaps.
Would be cool if they could be hacked to display stock prices or outside temperature or something but I’m too lazy to check. And I probably have enough parts laying around to make something similar anyway, but if I’m too lazy too look up information I’m obviously too lazy to actually do any work.
I’ve always wanted a larger size version of this for my car but have successfully resisted buying or building such. This success has likely contributed greatly to my reaching almost 55 years of age without becoming the source of a road rage news item.
@baqui63 I found online once that someone had made a version of that device Matt Helm (Dean Martin) used to talk into a microphone and display scrolling text along the back of his car. It was a funny fanciful device fifty years ago, but now all the technology is commonplace.
I knew there was a reason I check Meh daily despite not buying anything for over two years. I work at a rescue where the cats free-roam, except for select rooms and “suites” for some that need more alone time. Because of how we get cats surrendered to us most rooms can hold anything; we’ll put signs up, but often these are small and regular 12pt font (we have a standard list format.)
So these things would be amazing to have for labeling rooms and one-offs to attract attention. Or yell at guests to sign in. And we could also use them for our yearly auction.
I’ll have to figure out how to best deal with the keeping the batteries charged, but I am totally in for three… er, six?
@januarymick HOLY CRAP!! I thought I was the only one coping with this same struggle/ realization! Fortunately & very unfortunately (depending) there are all too many times that I have been checking my nightly Meh! after a couple cocktails or just pure happiness/excitement from being off work, and let me tell you…the PAUSED DEALS have saved me so much money. That time to really think (or sober up) has helped me too many times…if I weren’t so greedy & compulsive, I’d say Meh should implement that everyday! But alas…
I really want these… I don’t know why. Light up things that are programmable are my nemesis. I’ve been pondering for an hour about what I could actually use them for. I have one that looks like a little rocket ship on a chain that you spin and all this pondering made me realize that I could probably attach it to my bike wheel and it would light up. So there’s that.
@craigthom I actually have a lcd message board like this. It was made for Target as one of their seasonal gift items in the mens department. It came with a cigarette plug for power and an ir remote to enter messages and select between a few of them. I repurposed it for my christmas lights to tell cars which radio station to use to hear the music.
So sad they sold out. I have a special place in a junk drawer these would have eventually ended up when the novelty wears off! There is always the afternoon sale!
Ordered a pair this morning. I plan to use one of them at work with my current status by my office door since most people seem to ignore the whiteboard sign (“In a meeting” “Video conference” Etc.) Yes, this can be ignored too but it’s more likely to be seen.
I can’t wait to rip this package open, charge them, pair them, make a message, chuckle to myself, say cool, then put them in the drawer and forget about them.
I got my order yesterday. Unfortunately, the android app to program these does not work on Oreo. I’m going to fish out an old tablet and try to program.
@4771cu5 Yeah, it crashes when I try to load it on my Pixel XL, the app will load on my wife’s Galaxy S8 but crashes when I try to save. I cant find my old Tablet or Galaxy S3 to try it out but the hunt is on.
@jml326 They only need to be paired to program them. You can save and load message sets, so you can easily have different sets for each one. And additional sets.
I had no problem connecting one, programming it, then connecting the other and programming it.
I guess I’m missing why you need two connected at the same time.
@craigthom 1) it won’t pair with oreo, 2) Other blue tooth items I have have unique bluetooth names/ signatures (meh purchased eclipse speakers) and I can run them together without having to connect and disconnect.
@jml326 1) Incompatibility with Oreo has nothing to do with needing to connect two at the same time.
This uses Bluetooth LE, which is not the same as the standard Bluetooth that speakers use. In particular, it doesn’t support streaming audio.
No connection is needed to run them. The connection is only needed when uploading or downloading sets of messages. They run fine without the connection. This isn’t designed for a continuous Bluetooth connection.
If your goal is to sit there and push new messages to them continuously, then, yes, having to disconnect them is a drawback. I can’t see how that would be useful, since you can program them with eight messages each.
Running the Bluetooth radio continuously will also shorten battery life, although Bluetooth LE uses a lot less power than standard Bluetooth.
@craigthom Well, maybe I’m missing something. The only way I can see to play the 8 messages is to hit the button on the back of the smart badge so the 8 messages do me no good unless I can also switch between them on the app.
Let’s say I want this in the rear window of my car to send messages of hate/love to other drives. eight messages doesn’t work when I have to hit that little botton to select the message
Also, I have to keep hitting that little button on the back to link the app to the badge. Compared to them linking automatically when they see each other
@jml326 What good would it be to display a specific message to the person behind you if you had to stop your car to change it? You would stop the car before messing with a phone app, wouldn’t you?
These were designed to be name tags, to be reprogrammed from time to time, not to be continuously variable displays. There are plenty of cheap displays out there designed specifically for rear window messages.
The Bluetooth protocol they used is not intended for a continuous connections, anyway. This is not like headphones or speakers.
@craigthom That’s my point I don’t want to stop to change it. I also don’t want to have to connect and disconnect the way they have it set up. Look you’re over analyzing this, to begin with. To me I expected a different Bluetooth set up. I didn’t get it. I expect the app to be able to switch between the messages. I can’t. I want this app to work on my phone. It doesn’t. I love the idea and will use it somewhere else for something fun.
@xenophod yes you can have multiple devices connected, but you can also have 2 audio sources connected. aka 2 separate speakers sets. I have set of speakers in my living room and kitchen.
@jml326 Folks like you are the reason it takes each car 1-2 seconds before they react to a green light. If you’re the 11th car in line, the people playing on their phones in front of you just added like 10-20 seconds onto your commute per stoplight. Very annoying.
OK, it was easy to snap open, and the switches are mounted on the PCB and go through holes on the back cover. No glue was holding the back cover to the bezel.
It’s got six HA595 shift registers and a little rechargeable battery. The LEDs appear to be mounted directly on the back (or front, I guess) of the PCB.
The business part is a little breakout board mounted to the main board. My eyes aren’t what they used to be, and I don’t have sufficient magnification, but the chip seems to be a CC2640 Bluetooth LE microcontroller.
The antenna is on the back cover, but it connects to the little microcontroller board with spring contacts, so it didn’t break when I snapped it open.
I was even able to snap it back together without damaging anything!
I have up-to-date Android (8.1.0) and the Ion app does not work. The badge also seems to need the app in order to pair with my phone. If anyone figures out how to make this work please post it here! Is there any way to program the badge by connecting it to a computer? Is there a Smart Badge App that works on an iPad?
It took me a few, but I figured out how to program the clock. Switch to clock mode by holding the messages button on the back. Then, connect to your phone. That’ll auto-update the time.
@billchase2 OK, when I pressed the button it showed 50% (before it turned off again due to low battery), so I think the brightness was 100%. When it’s charged I’ll test it at 50%.
I imagine the LEDs are going to draw almost all the current the thing uses.
Is the display flickering for anyone else? Actually, it’s more like sparkling: the illuminated text kind of sparkles. Is that just how they work or is mine being weird?
When you are trying to pair up first try and it will not connect to the badge will say access denied then go to your app and hit connect, It will connect immediately with your message, the app also has plenty of options, Their 30 bucks + shipping on the Ion site so 7 bucks delivered is a steal they are actually worth full price in my humble opinion.
@hscheie@SkyyPunk Just a black screen on my Oreo Moto Z 2 Force. And now the app has been removed from the Google Play Store. I just gave the 2nd one to my kid and the app is gone.
Dang it, looks like one of mine is dead. It does nothing when I turn it on. When I plug it in, the charging symbol appears and it eventually says it’s full. But then I try turning it on and it does nothing. Any ideas for me?
I actually never downloaded it initially and now its gone… i can see why they unloaded them. I wonder if meh knew app support is dwindling.
Was there link to app originally in the write up or description?
Specs
What’s in the Box?
2x Smart Badge
Price Comparison
$51.68 (for 2) at Amazon
Warranty
90 day Ion
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Oct 30 - Thursday, Nov 2
Wow
Meh sign- here’s your sign meh
Wow, true geekdom right here.
How could you not suggest putting them in your rear window to incite road rage?
@Seeds To read this, someone is tailgating.
@hchavers All the better to tell them what you think of their driving, car, or face.
@Seeds yeah I was wondering how totally;“distracted driver” I would be with this kind of awesome power in my car. Those other drivers need so much of my opinion.
@Seeds I built a device like this. it says THANKS and MY BAD controlled by buttons on my dash.
https://m.imgur.com/a/TRbC7
@NAFderwin @Seeds I’ve wanted something like that for a while! Thanks for sharing
@NAFderwin That’s amazing! I always wanted different words, but your logic for THANKS and MY BAD is sound.
@Seeds, my first thought was how many do I need to buy to tell slow left lane drivers to move right in the most snarky terms. I would put them in the rear window and drive 30mph in front of offenders after I finally got around them so they could know how it feels.
@NAFderwin This is truly inspiring and your write up is pretty funny too. Sadly I missed the name badges but I have a feeling that it cost you more then $14 to build this so maybe I’ll wait til they come back around again.
@NAFderwin
That is awesome. Make them, manufacture them, sell them on meh.com!
I see kickstarter in your future.
I would be happy with one that just said, “USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL”.
these make really shitty margaritas, no matter how hard you try.
Badges?
I don’t need no stinkin’ badges!
@daveinwarsh Treas.ofSieraMadre
@daveinwarsh @Zebra
@Kerig3 @Zebra Great video! I didn’t know that phrase was used so many times…
I wish they came in blue.
@Kerig3 I wish they came in purple
@heartny @Kerig3 I wish they came in time for Easter
I think I might need this, but I don’t know why.
I should google to see if anyone has hacked these.
@craigthom I’ve found them sold under several different brands, but so far only hardware hacks.
@ruouttaurmind Any links? I’ve only found ones with no Bluetooth and button cell batteries that people have reprogrammed.
But I guess if they are just changing hardware I’m not interested, so never mind. I was think more like reprogramming the suckers.
@craigthom I was given one of these several years ago. I contacted the company for hints about the bluetooth protocol so I could hack it and they were all “you can’t hack this – that would void the warranty.” Such a missed opportunity.
I’m really not sure what I would do with one of these, but I find their concept intriguing and I’m tempted to buy anyway at this low of a price.
@lljk This.
Gawd, these are dumb. I’m in. rapid-bashful-monk
@Pony I’m in too, but I don’t know why. At least they don’t take up much space.
@medz Great, but then I have to change my name to Bob!
Hello, It’s me.
@pcolachiller
/giphy Hello. Goodbye.
@pcolachiller
@pcolachiller
The app only has a 2.8 star rating at the Play store. It seems to be somewhat buggy.
I have a non-Bluetooth version which is a big pain in the butt to program. But if the app is buggy, that doesn’t really help me.
“Ion Audio”…so what kind of sound do they make?
@Kyser_Soze “Clicky click click” as you push the buttons on the back!
@Kyser_Soze Maybe “woosh”?
Sorry, that’s the sound of your money disappearing.
Why is her name “Cunthia?”. She seems nice. /buy
I don’t know why I just ordered 2 x 2, but I did. Thanks, meh!
Will they continue to display messages while charging? If so, I’ve got a new out of office sign… that totally won’t get stolen or messed with.
@kabijj
/image lavender grimy harbor
@kabijj One of the Amazon reviews says it won’t.
@kabijj I was kinda thinking the same thing. Power it up when I’m out to lunch with “At lunch” and the PIC name scrolling across.
@craigthom @kabijj This is the real tragedy.
@kabijj no
I want the bigger GB’s
Give me the bigger GB’s
@jmhsrv
/giphy gingerbread
If the timing is accurate enough, might be fun to put 6 end to end to send LONG messages.
/buy
@jake5snooze It worked! Your order number is: straight-laddered-cereal
/image straight laddered cereal
I will never have a use for these but also feel like I’ll regret not having them for some reason.
Is this what having children is like
@uninflammable It’s what being a Meh VMP is like.
I’d love a pair to wear at PAXEast as I’m an Enforcer, but I don’t want to risk them not coming in on time.
Got a six year old grandson with a birthday coming up.
/buy
@rand3y It worked! Your order number is: affable-teeming-base
/image affable teeming base
“Hi, I’m Harry. But aren’t we all?”
@hchavers My former boss…Harry Sailor!
I shit you not…
@hchavers @Kerig3 what do you do with a hairy sailor, what do you do with a hairy sailor, what do you do with a hairy sailor, early in the morning???
Oi Meh. Can you put some of those fancy arrows on the side of your pics so I can click through without trying to hit the dots? Or maybe there is some secret way to scroll through that I don’t know about?!?
@JBizzy I click on the image to see the next one, like a caveman.
@JBizzy @awk Johnson is right! Just click anywhere on the picture to advance.
@craigthom @JBizzy Who is Johnson?
@awk @craigthom @JBizzy An autocorrected JBizzy?
@awk @craigthom @yeppers That works on meh phone. But on my comp it maginfys and does the next pic. Probably a browser setting the zoom. I’ll investigate. Thanks chaps.
@awk @craigthom @JBizzy @yeppers a blazing saddles reference
/youtube Howard Johnson is right
@awk @JBizzy @medz @yeppers Gabby Johnson is right!
To tell the truth, I wrote it for my own amusement and didn’t expect anyone else to get it. Like this joke I made up:
If Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems was in Rock Ridge, everyone would be named John Johnson.
Would be cool if they could be hacked to display stock prices or outside temperature or something but I’m too lazy to check. And I probably have enough parts laying around to make something similar anyway, but if I’m too lazy too look up information I’m obviously too lazy to actually do any work.
@awk Red LED arrays are cheap. Add something like an ESP8266 board and you could make a wifi display.
But, yeah. It would require work.
/buy
@Vrysen It worked! Your order number is: colorful-antsy-cave
/image colorful antsy cave
I’ve always wanted a larger size version of this for my car but have successfully resisted buying or building such. This success has likely contributed greatly to my reaching almost 55 years of age without becoming the source of a road rage news item.
Not sure why (yet) but in for three:
/giphy respectable-mentionable-thumb
@baqui63 I found online once that someone had made a version of that device Matt Helm (Dean Martin) used to talk into a microphone and display scrolling text along the back of his car. It was a funny fanciful device fifty years ago, but now all the technology is commonplace.
@Kyser_Soze Then you can name them both. We know one is Cynthia, but what is the other one called?
@sligett Mastectomy?
I’m very disappointed.
In myself.
/giphy neanderthal-cylindrical-territory
I knew there was a reason I check Meh daily despite not buying anything for over two years. I work at a rescue where the cats free-roam, except for select rooms and “suites” for some that need more alone time. Because of how we get cats surrendered to us most rooms can hold anything; we’ll put signs up, but often these are small and regular 12pt font (we have a standard list format.)
So these things would be amazing to have for labeling rooms and one-offs to attract attention. Or yell at guests to sign in. And we could also use them for our yearly auction.
I’ll have to figure out how to best deal with the keeping the batteries charged, but I am totally in for three… er, six?
Whatever.
/giphy cat-signs
Fun!
/giphy alcoholic-overblown-rat
Ermigerd it’s Ratatouille
/buy
@Cynamon It worked! Your order number is: jaded-deep-jellyfish
/image jaded deep jellyfish
/buy
@jester747 It worked! Your order number is: grateful-totally-mustard
/image grateful totally mustard
/buy
@canuk It worked! Your order number is: prissy-ungainly-stranger
/image prissy ungainly stranger
/buy
@Sohcahtoa82 Sorry, the
/buycommand is currently only available to VMP members.@mediocrebot @Sohcahtoa82 seriously?
@mediocrebot @mollama @Sohcahtoa82 Seriously. We need to get something for our five bucks a month.
Sometimes I really appreciate the “Deal Paused” status. Gives me a chance to come to my senses before I click “Buy It”
@januarymick HOLY CRAP!! I thought I was the only one coping with this same struggle/ realization! Fortunately & very unfortunately (depending) there are all too many times that I have been checking my nightly Meh! after a couple cocktails or just pure happiness/excitement from being off work, and let me tell you…the PAUSED DEALS have saved me so much money. That time to really think (or sober up) has helped me too many times…if I weren’t so greedy & compulsive, I’d say Meh should implement that everyday! But alas…
I really want these… I don’t know why. Light up things that are programmable are my nemesis. I’ve been pondering for an hour about what I could actually use them for. I have one that looks like a little rocket ship on a chain that you spin and all this pondering made me realize that I could probably attach it to my bike wheel and it would light up. So there’s that.
For those who have expressed a desire to use this in a car to communicate with other drivers, here’s the basic concept:
@craigthom OK, that is awesome. Alexa, tell the French Police to stop shooting.
@craigthom I actually have a lcd message board like this. It was made for Target as one of their seasonal gift items in the mens department. It came with a cigarette plug for power and an ir remote to enter messages and select between a few of them. I repurposed it for my christmas lights to tell cars which radio station to use to hear the music.
/buy
@Oneroundrobb It worked! Your order number is: mammoth-murderous-wound
/image mammoth murderous wound
Thanks, @mediocrebot
/giphy mammoth murderous wound
/buy
@bramby2 It worked! Your order number is: bizarre-organic-show
/image bizarre organic show
/buy
@wiz8 It worked! Your order number is: melancholy-lovely-tea
/image melancholy lovely tea
Gotta justify that VMP somehow. Should be good for a large around the office.
/giphy damaging-lawful-goldfish
/buy
@rescuesmack Wow, these are selling fast and we’re busy processing other orders. Try again in a little bit.
/buy qty:3
@MWPollard It worked! Your order number is: fixed-private-jackal
/image fixed private jackal
Why the hysteria?
$10 - 10%
$9
And more
See these as low as $6 a lot with a little search effort. Which I’m lazy, so…
@Woody1 Neither of those are Bluetooth. I stopped using a phone with mini USB a long time ago. And they are both more than the $7 these are.
@MWPollard I said I was lazy. It took me way too long to get the 2 links from tablet and formatted right, so I quit.
I see them for $6 all the time. Not with BT but the novelty wears off in about 90 seconds anyway.
You can program any of them with an OTG and an android.
Now I’m late er for work, augh!
What’s your sign?
It didn’t do the qty…
/buy -q 2
@MWPollard It worked! Your order number is: absorbed-gaunt-surprise
/image absorbed gaunt surprise
Try to find my casements coupon code…then…sold out! Thanks meh!
@donrull it’s vmpbribe.
I so wanted this…
Ugh…
So sad they sold out. I have a special place in a junk drawer these would have eventually ended up when the novelty wears off! There is always the afternoon sale!
This seems completely useless…I need them, see you guys at 4 PM.
VMP OUT
@TaRDy I was wondering about this. Does it just show up as available again at 4EST, or is there some sort of secret handshake I’m supposed to know?
@arielleslie It will magically show up as available for VMPs at 4 EST.
@arielleslie wait…you don’t know the secret handshake?
@sammydog01 Thanks.
@TaRDy it doesn’t say paused until 4pm. I’d say we’re SOL on this. IF they didn’t save some for us VMP’s, then I’m done with the VMP.
@spl152db you’re not currently vmp, that’s why it shows sold out. You need to contact support.
Meh.com/support
@thumperchick
@RiotDemon @Thumperchick I already did that. auto response, we’re too busy, sorry.
@arielleslie Actually, the VMP batch gets released at 4 pm Central Time (Texas).
@RiotDemon @spl152db Thanks for the tag. Now be ready at 4…
@spl152db
Thanks @Thumperchick!
@arielleslie @RedOak It says ET…
@arielleslie @RedOak Don’t believe RedOak- he just forgot to buy them this morning. 4 EST
@arielleslie @moondrake @RedOak Definitely 4 PM Eastern.
@sammydog01 Actually, while I normally take a peak at midnight, in this case I didn’t even check meh until about an hour ago at 2pm (Eastern).
Still,
@RiotDemon @Thumperchick Thank you! unfortunately I missed them. Dangit! stupid work meetings running long.
Yeah, I let myself get “too busy” at 8:00 and I really need these… to bad I can’t just /buy the damn things…
@PocketBrain Awww, I haz a sad.
You could use it to let people know your pronouns. Maybe with this they’d actually remember.
@Zeklandia With two you could have one showing your pronouns and the other scrolling the answers to obnoxious FAQs.
If only these were battery powered.
@DrunkCat How would people read these in the fridge?
Does this come in large?
@goldnectar TWSS
Missed this.
I also have no money, and stupidly dropped by VMP subscription. (Left country, it was gone when i came back.) But this thing looks so totally meh.
/youtube i’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it. I’m about to lose control and I think I like it.
/buy
@spl152db Sorry, the
/buycommand is currently only available to VMP members.Dang, missed it. I’m probably going to be in the theater at 4est. Maybe I could take a well timed bathroom break…
@moondrake set your meh background to nighttime, problem solved.
Ordered a pair this morning. I plan to use one of them at work with my current status by my office door since most people seem to ignore the whiteboard sign (“In a meeting” “Video conference” Etc.) Yes, this can be ignored too but it’s more likely to be seen.
/buy
@ticklescratch It worked! Your order number is: unadvised-whole-tail
/image unadvised whole tail
/giphy mangy-moving-tequila
/giphy mute-perfumed-smell
/buy 2
@TaRDy Oops, sorry. We’re sold out.
@mediocrebot You’re not sorry! I tried right at 4 PM as any good VMP would do and you stiffed me.
My co-worker hates me now.
/giphy ANGRY
27 submits for my order at 4…then sorry, sold out! Mediocre indeed!
Damn. In the time it took me to enter my credit card they were gone.
Wow, kept getting buy timeouts. Never had that as a VMP
How many VMPs are left, anyway, that it can overload the servers?
@MrGlass same crap here.
@TaRDy we should get double secret priority, with our K status
Oh well, its not like I didn’t have an opportunity to buy this last night, was trying to grab for my brother.
/giphy unqualified-kind-elbow
I think I just got something I didn’t really need but kinda looks cool.
Hmm. Do I cancel or not?
I had two (x2) orders in my cart and kept getting that darn timeout. I dropped it to one and presto (ala peanut butter sandwiches)
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)
I can’t wait to rip this package open, charge them, pair them, make a message, chuckle to myself, say cool, then put them in the drawer and forget about them.
/buy sellout_override=true
@medz Oops, sorry. We’re sold out.
@medz it’s fucking_override_sellout=true
/buy fucking_override_sellout=true
@MrMark Oops, sorry. We’re sold out.
Damn, this is one I’m sad I missed out on. Always thought these LED badges were cool.
Why did you guys even buy this, I can’t believe it’s sold out! It was over 1,300 of you! Shame. Hope you enjoy them
How did i miss this? I thought for sure I was here.
I got my order yesterday. Unfortunately, the android app to program these does not work on Oreo. I’m going to fish out an old tablet and try to program.
@4771cu5 Same here, but we have an old Samsung S4 that the app seems to work on, so far…
@4771cu5 It’s crapping out on Marshmallow on my GalaxyS5, too.
@4771cu5 Yeah, it crashes when I try to load it on my Pixel XL, the app will load on my wife’s Galaxy S8 but crashes when I try to save. I cant find my old Tablet or Galaxy S3 to try it out but the hunt is on.
The app has now been removed from the Google Play Store.
Please explain the audio part don’t see anything that is audio in the discription
@mellowirishgent It’s the name of the company that made them- Ion Audio.
Cant figure out how to run 2 at the same time
@jml326 Bluetooth is typically a one to one connection. Sucks
@xenophod s8+ can link multiple bluetooth, but the app can’t. The app is also glitchy with oreo from what ive been reading.
@jml326 They only need to be paired to program them. You can save and load message sets, so you can easily have different sets for each one. And additional sets.
I had no problem connecting one, programming it, then connecting the other and programming it.
I guess I’m missing why you need two connected at the same time.
@craigthom 1) it won’t pair with oreo, 2) Other blue tooth items I have have unique bluetooth names/ signatures (meh purchased eclipse speakers) and I can run them together without having to connect and disconnect.
@jml326 1) Incompatibility with Oreo has nothing to do with needing to connect two at the same time.
This uses Bluetooth LE, which is not the same as the standard Bluetooth that speakers use. In particular, it doesn’t support streaming audio.
No connection is needed to run them. The connection is only needed when uploading or downloading sets of messages. They run fine without the connection. This isn’t designed for a continuous Bluetooth connection.
If your goal is to sit there and push new messages to them continuously, then, yes, having to disconnect them is a drawback. I can’t see how that would be useful, since you can program them with eight messages each.
Running the Bluetooth radio continuously will also shorten battery life, although Bluetooth LE uses a lot less power than standard Bluetooth.
@craigthom Well, maybe I’m missing something. The only way I can see to play the 8 messages is to hit the button on the back of the smart badge so the 8 messages do me no good unless I can also switch between them on the app.
Let’s say I want this in the rear window of my car to send messages of hate/love to other drives. eight messages doesn’t work when I have to hit that little botton to select the message
Also, I have to keep hitting that little button on the back to link the app to the badge. Compared to them linking automatically when they see each other
@jml326 the most likely thing you’ll get by putting this in the rear window of your car is rear ended. Or not noticed.
I had an LED sign that was designed for that purpose at one time. It was easily twice the size of the third brake light, though.
@jml326 What good would it be to display a specific message to the person behind you if you had to stop your car to change it? You would stop the car before messing with a phone app, wouldn’t you?
These were designed to be name tags, to be reprogrammed from time to time, not to be continuously variable displays. There are plenty of cheap displays out there designed specifically for rear window messages.
The Bluetooth protocol they used is not intended for a continuous connections, anyway. This is not like headphones or speakers.
@craigthom That’s my point I don’t want to stop to change it. I also don’t want to have to connect and disconnect the way they have it set up. Look you’re over analyzing this, to begin with. To me I expected a different Bluetooth set up. I didn’t get it. I expect the app to be able to switch between the messages. I can’t. I want this app to work on my phone. It doesn’t. I love the idea and will use it somewhere else for something fun.
@djslack Well, that would be my business and their insurance claim.
@jml326 You would need to stop the car to change the message with the app. You should not be playing with your phone while driving. That’s dangerous.
@craigthom i live in a major city. Lots of red lights
@jml326 I just noticed that I had two bluetooth devices connected to my S8+ today. My Samsung Gear and my Car Audio. Neat!
@xenophod yes you can have multiple devices connected, but you can also have 2 audio sources connected. aka 2 separate speakers sets. I have set of speakers in my living room and kitchen.
@jml326 Folks like you are the reason it takes each car 1-2 seconds before they react to a green light. If you’re the 11th car in line, the people playing on their phones in front of you just added like 10-20 seconds onto your commute per stoplight. Very annoying.
@medz
light turns red i stop change message and im done. Nope not missing a green light 3 mins later
@jml326
/image it can wait
@medz
/image stop riding my ass
@jml326
/image green means go!
@medz
/image red means stop!
@medz
/image yellow means slow down
@jml326
@medz nice lawsuit!
I got mine.
Will not work when charging. It switches from the display to the charging icon.
The buttons on the back are nice and clicky. I might have to plan a bit before I crack one open and see what’s inside.
OK, it was easy to snap open, and the switches are mounted on the PCB and go through holes on the back cover. No glue was holding the back cover to the bezel.
It’s got six HA595 shift registers and a little rechargeable battery. The LEDs appear to be mounted directly on the back (or front, I guess) of the PCB.
The business part is a little breakout board mounted to the main board. My eyes aren’t what they used to be, and I don’t have sufficient magnification, but the chip seems to be a CC2640 Bluetooth LE microcontroller.
The antenna is on the back cover, but it connects to the little microcontroller board with spring contacts, so it didn’t break when I snapped it open.
I was even able to snap it back together without damaging anything!
I have up-to-date Android (8.1.0) and the Ion app does not work. The badge also seems to need the app in order to pair with my phone. If anyone figures out how to make this work please post it here! Is there any way to program the badge by connecting it to a computer? Is there a Smart Badge App that works on an iPad?
@zenoid works fine on my note8 with android 8.1
There is a thread about the Android app on Ion’s support site, here: http://community.ionaudio.com/ion_audio/topics/smart-badge-android-app-doesnt-work
@zenoid Thanks, I posted there myself, and would encourage anyone else here to post in that thread too, to try and get ION to make a fix.
@zenoid It seems that Oreo is the problem. I’m running Nougat and it works fine. I hope it’s just a recompile or something.
@craigthom @zenoid I’m running Marshmallow, and it doesn’t work. It crashes if I try to do anything besides send one message in slot 2.
I’m testing battery life. I’ve had one scrolling away, stuck to the side of my computer, for eight hours.
Let me pair it and see what it says for the battery…
The green battery bar in the app is still over a half. I don’t know how big the increments are.
Twenty hours, still shows about a third battery when I switch it off and turn it back on.
@craigthom What brightness setting have you been using? Seems like pretty excellent battery life.
@billchase2 I think 75%, but it could have been 50%.
I just noticed that the battery died in the last couple of hours, so let’s call it about 36 hours of run time.
@billchase2 Well, I replied in the wrong place.
I think the battery was 100%, because it showed 50% when I pressed the button, and 50% is pretty dim.
So I fully charged both and just started them, one at 50% and the other at 100%.
It’s not as if I have anything else to do with them.
@billchase2 @craigthom Mine rite out of the box lasted 5 hours on 100% brite and I turned it off pretty happy about that…
@billchase2 @mellowirishgent Battery test update:
The one set to 100% failed during the night, so it lasted somewhere between 28 and 35 hours.
The one set to 50% is still going.
Am I the only one who didn’t get a charging cable? Not like I don’t have a dozen laying about. But, still.
@Aramat Was yours in the packaging? My charging cables were in the fat part at the bottom of the package, inside the cardboard.
@craigthom nope, just the instructions.
@Aramat Well, that sucks. I had charging cables in the bottom of both mine inside the bump with the UPC code on it.
It took me a few, but I figured out how to program the clock. Switch to clock mode by holding the messages button on the back. Then, connect to your phone. That’ll auto-update the time.
@billchase2 The one I tested seems to lose the time when I power cycle it.
@billchase2 OK, when I pressed the button it showed 50% (before it turned off again due to low battery), so I think the brightness was 100%. When it’s charged I’ll test it at 50%.
I imagine the LEDs are going to draw almost all the current the thing uses.
@craigthom Dang, you’re right: it loses the time after power cycling. That’s frustrating.
Is the display flickering for anyone else? Actually, it’s more like sparkling: the illuminated text kind of sparkles. Is that just how they work or is mine being weird?
@billchase2 Mine are sparkly as well.
@kathyl Cool, good to know mine aren’t defective. Thanks! They’re quite fun. Glad I picked them up!
@billchase2 @kathyl Check out your app may have the wrong font or something with so many options blink, fast, slow medium etc etc
I did a little debugging and posted some info for them on their forum. http://community.ionaudio.com/ion_audio/topics/smart-badge-android-app-doesnt-work#reply_19442514
When you are trying to pair up first try and it will not connect to the badge will say access denied then go to your app and hit connect, It will connect immediately with your message, the app also has plenty of options, Their 30 bucks + shipping on the Ion site so 7 bucks delivered is a steal they are actually worth full price in my humble opinion.
These are great fun, worth the meh price.
Please bring back.
App doesn’t work with Android Oreo.
@hscheie Seeing just a black screen too?
@hscheie @SkyyPunk Just a black screen on my Oreo Moto Z 2 Force. And now the app has been removed from the Google Play Store. I just gave the 2nd one to my kid and the app is gone.
Dang it, looks like one of mine is dead. It does nothing when I turn it on. When I plug it in, the charging symbol appears and it eventually says it’s full. But then I try turning it on and it does nothing. Any ideas for me?
@billchase2 contact support.
Meh.com/support
I had one of these set to clock mode at 50%, it lasted 40 hours and then finally gave out.
@thismyusername Yeah, I got around 30 at 100% and around 40 at 50%. Not bad.
@craigthom sure was hoping it would be a 2 pack of these for sale tonight… but we get balls on a string on a stick… oh well…
Anyone else having problems with the app. Seems to have gone black, and is no longer in the google play store.
@jml326 Yeah, the app doesn’t work, and when a bunch of us complained on their official forums, they locked the thread and basically just brushed us off and told us “thanks for the feedback.” http://community.ionaudio.com/ion_audio/topics/smart-badge-android-app-doesnt-work/changes the forum is also broken, now, it seems…
@jml326 the ios one is still working and still in app store… got an old ios device laying around?
Sooo… No alternatives to ded app?
I actually never downloaded it initially and now its gone…
i can see why they unloaded them. I wonder if meh knew app support is dwindling.
Was there link to app originally in the write up or description?
@username
Which OS do you need the app for?
@PlacidPenguin Android. 8.1
Comments and links above suggested no support
@username
Well, I could send you the APK, but it wouldn’t do much good for you, since it doesn’t work with Oreo (or Android P DP3).
@PlacidPenguin maybe I could use apk or is it available anywhere on apk mirror sites?
wonder if someone can get it to decompile http://www.decompileandroid.com/ and maybe get the bits necessary out of it for homebrewski.
If you go to this thread on Ion’s support site, a user identified as an Ion employee says he has the Android app on his Google Drive. http://community.ionaudio.com/ion_audio/topics/what-happened-to-smart-badge-app-on-google-play-store
But it’s v. 1.5.1 and it doesn’t work with Android Oreo.
Here it is 2023 and all the links I tried above are dead. I think this will work, but I was having trouble with the old tablet I’m going to put it on, so I haven’t done it yet.
https://apkcombo.com/ion-smart-badge/com.ion.iul8/download/apk