Update 1/28/2013

Christina · January 2013

Hi Everyone,

The day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived. We've released firmware update 1.2.

Here's what's included in the release:
1. Vibration sensor functionality.
2. Several small reductions in power consumption.
3. Celsius functioning, for all our international friends.
4. UI improvements, including Wi-Fi signal and battery life bars and an improved fast mode switch.

Save your rules, and you'll get the update!

You can read more about it here: http://supermechanical.tumblr.com/post/41735615422/update-1-2

-Christina

Robert Pettengill · March 2013

I'm thinking that the only features that Twine offers that differentiates itself from much less expensive competition was that it promised ease of use with practical battery powered operation. If I've got to plug it in and futz with it, I'm going to use a $25 Raspberry Pi or one of the similar products.

It is clear to me, that the only chance of a future for twine is a new design:

1. It has to take a larger battery, that can last at least 3 months although to be honest I think that the real minimum is 6. My guess is that 3 months is achievable with AA batteries and software tuning.

2. The case is a disaster - acceptable in something that might have to be opened once a year but not every few weeks. The twine has to have an easy to open battery compartment. The last time I almost got the batteries changed in under 3 minutes with a lot of pulling and tugging. I've had packaging that wasn't designed to be opened that is easier to open than replacing batteries on the twine.

I think that next time I'll just take a knife to it an cut a flap over the battery compartment .

3. It needs to be reliable with all features working as promised.

4. Supermechanical needs to offer owners of the the current unworkable design a free or low cost upgade to the new design. I can't imagine any Twine owner, who's had it for more than a few weeks, who would actually recommend it to a friend, can you? Twine needs to turn this around quickly.

Currently the twine is like an electric car that has a 10 mile range - a recall is in order.

Joel Finkle · January 2013

Very cool. I think we'll need a FAQ for vibration: How big of a mili-G is typical for motorized thingies (washing machines, sump pumps), advice on shaking/bumping kinds of actions, etc.

David Albert · January 2013

Can we still see the battery power in volts? I found it helpful.

Kurt Peeters · January 2013

I see the vibration sensor but I ca't make a rule with it?

David Albert · January 2013

(Answering my own question from earlier -- hovering over the battery monitor will show the voltage).

Christina · January 2013

Joel, a FAQ/list of frequently used milli-gs is a great idea! We'll work on putting something together.

David, if you hover your cursor over the battery bars, it'll display the voltage.

Kurt, it looks like your Twine doesn't have the update yet. Move it closer to your router (your Twine isn't getting good reception) and save your rules for the update.

Sean McPherson · January 2013

Had to move the twine, taking it off wall power, for the first time since 1.2 update and playing w/ vibration sensing. Went ahead & put new batteries in it while it was totally off. Now it can't find the network. Also, it will go into solid light mode but none of my devices (ipad, iPhone, laptop, etc) that I've used to setup the unit before can see a network named Twine or any variation thereof. Is this a post 1.2 bug? Anyone else disconnected their twine from power totally after upgrading and been unable to get back into the unit in setup mode or get it back on their network?

Alvaro Martinez · January 2013

Vibration sensor working ok in Uruguay, South America!

Piero Cinotti · January 2013

Hi,

I have now

firmware: 1.2.0

radio: Oct 31 2012-08:21:10

other people have

Firmware 1.2.0

Radio Nov 15 2012 14:37:27

Why my radio is locked at Oct 31 version ?

Clark Mitchell · January 2013

Is it possible for you to increase in the character limit in the "then HTTP request" section of the rule website? I want to send data to a google docs and I don't have enough characters available in the then window for my target url and the necessary parameters.

Also, is there any way to see what's happening when I click the test url button? If the test does not go as expected, it's impossible to see what went wrong.

Thanks!

Clark

YoYo Pete · January 2013

Nice update!

Varun Nangia · January 2013

I wonder if the next thing you can consider putting out is a two-way splitter for the sensors. I love the moisture board, but I also want to use the the vibration sensor - think, cat knocked something over, was it the aquarium or the TV?

Any chance of such a gadget?

Gustaf Rosell · January 2013

Cool.

Did tweets not make it to this version?

Joel Finkle · January 2013

Nice to see the new Wi-Fi strength too (did you just add that in the last few minutes?)

One problem with the 1.2 website: The slider for vibration sensitivity is not touch-friendly. I can't operate it on either my Android Jellybean stock browser, or on my Kindle Fire (1G) stock (Amazon) browser.

Christina · January 2013

We're limited with the amount of space for http requests now (Twine doesn't have a lot of memory), but it may increase in the future.

Tweets didn't make it into this version, but don't give up hope, it's coming!

Robert Pettengill · February 2013

Finally the functionality is there, now to get it reliable. The vibration sensor works most of the time, but sometimes when I should get a notification I don't even though I'm sure it registered because I see the light on the twine light up. The opposite seems to happen as well and I've gotten multiple notifications even though the reset time hadn't expired from the first event.

And of course real SMS support (or at least SMS's originating from the same phone number) and useful battery life.

It would have been so easy to use AA batteries and have 3X the battery life at about the same battery cost.

Robert Pettengill · February 2013

I just got my first battery warning after just 6 days. Looks like there is a lot of work to do there still.

Tom Mellor · February 2013

Good update. Worked exactly as described.

Barry Levine · February 2013

My batteries used to last 11 days+/-, and now they last 6 days+/-........great update (not!)

YoYo Pete · February 2013

I gave up on batteries... Works great plugged in.

My batteries failed with no warning (initial firmware). AC power seems to work much better. AC from PC USB does some weird device recognition over and over (I.E. The USB connection beep happens ever second or so).

But AC = WIN (but I know that's not always an option so I apologize to the folks who cant use it)

Nicolas Hauviller · February 2013

People are lucky, I have less than 5 rules, my Twine is 3 meters away from my Wi-fi router and my batteries last 2 days (or less)

Ellis Golub · February 2013

WiFi meter? Where is it? I see the battery meter, and can do the rollover voltage, but no WiFi meter. If the dashboard button says Slow, does that mean its in fast mode, and pushing the button will convert it to slow mode?

Mike Iem · February 2013

Working well. thanks!!

Alan Graham · February 2013

Having far reduced battery life now. I keep seeing the LED come on and flash a couple of times every couple of minutes or so; I'm guessing that's why it's draining so quickly. Statically IPd, etc here.

Still, definitely forward progress - keep up the good work, guys! Any thoughts on open-sourcing the firmware?

Miguel Buenrostro · February 2013

My Twine worked just fine for months until about 2 weeks ago. Now I get an email occasionally with my magnetic switch. I also see no Wifi Meter. And "move it closer to your router" won't suffice since it's 5ft away and has always been.

Any ideas/help is appreciated.

Simon Hirschmann · February 2013

Me neither, is your button "capture the current vibration amount" working?

Christina · February 2013

If you can't make vibration rules, resave a rule and the firmware will update (should read 1.2.0 when you hover your cursor over the Twine's name).

Steve S · March 2013

Totally agree with Robert P. When I signed up on KickStarter for Twine I never imagined that battery life would be 3 or 4 days. It's completely useless to me. What's even more frustrating is that when I returned the product I wasn't told about a 15% restocking fee until after returning it. Restocking fee would be fair if it was my fault, but it's not cool if it's a defect/deficiency that wasn't advertised and I return something that was barely touched. I want to support development of these kinds of products, but they need to basically work - I'll probably avoid Kickstarter hardware projects in the future. The software's getting better, but buyer beware.

And no I can't recommend it to anyone.

David Albert · March 2013

At least they let you return it. I have been asking since a week after I received it to be allowed to return this product and they have refused point-blank.

Robert Pettengill · March 2013

Just checking in hoping for a miracle... I do have some data on battery life with the new software. I'm about 30' from my router - corner to corner line of site across the living room. I have a single rule - vibration to detect if my screen door has moved. I put in new batteries before leaving for a two week vacation. The rule triggered a couple of times when I did the painful install of the new batteries. After my return, it triggered less than a half dozen times as I used the door. The total battery life was 3 weeks. I think that this is pretty close to best practical case for battery life. Unfortunately it is only about 1/10 of what is needed to cut the cord with this device.

There are good Kickstarter projects, I just bought a nice iPhone eyepiece adapter from one. The perception is that Kickstarter projects are good ideas that have been well thought out that need the purchase commitments to go to production. However in many cases, Twine included, the principles just haven't thought their ideas through and there is a good reason that they haven't been able to get conventional funding.

I like the idea of Kickstarter, but something is missing. Does anyone know of an organization that does under the cover due diligence and produces a rating of Kickstarter projects?

Howdy, Stranger!

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Update 1/28/2013

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