Hardware Podcasts

Shiny New Pebble with Eric Migicovsky

The Amp Hour · 10 Feb 2026 · 58m · Episode 715

What this episode covers

Eric Migicovsky, founder of the original Pebble and CEO of CoreDevices, discusses the relaunch of Pebble and the development of the Index 01 smart ring. He contrasts the early days of Pebble—where he made costly mistakes like designing custom Bluetooth hardware instead of using modules—with the modern ease of finding factories and using off-the-shelf components like the Sifly chip for the new watch. Migicovsky explains the design philosophy behind the Index 01, which prioritizes a two-year battery life and 100% reliability over health tracking, using a Dialog Semiconductor chip to achieve its 'external brain RAM' function.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up and early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
CoreDevices, Y Combinator
Products
Pebble, Index 01, Beeper, Pebble OS
Chips
Sifly, Dialog Semiconductor, Nordic, STM32, NXP
Also
Zephyr, FreeRTOS, Nimble, LVGL, GitHub

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • TRADEOFFS · 40m

    T-26-012 : Founders From The Show Floor - CES 2026

    Chris and Nate interview founders from Eureka Park at CES 2026, including Rajeev Ramanath of Blueberry Technology, Cole Ashman of Pila Energy, and Scott Hickle of Throne. They discuss specific products like the autonomous Blueberry Go airport robot, Pila Energy's modular home batteries, and Throne's toilet health tracker. The episode highlights trade-offs in hardware design, such as Pebble's Eric Migicovsky choosing ODMs for speed over control, and Roam's Aaron Pollack accepting thickness for battery life. Other founders like Niclas Bertelsen of Naya and Michael Churchill of Kombu discuss modular ecosystems and material choices for fermentation.

    Prototyping & iterationDesign for manufacturing & NPI
    14 chapters

  • Coredump Sessions · 49m

    #003: Pebble's Code is Free: Three Former Pebble Engineers Discuss Why It's Important (PART 1/2)

    Francois Baldassari, Chris Coleman, and Brad Murray, former engineers at Pebble, discuss the technical architecture and engineering decisions behind PebbleOS. They explain how a single codebase supported multiple hardware variants, enabling a platform approach that simplified updates and app compatibility. The team details their custom NOR Flash file system, app sandboxing using MPU fault handlers, and the strategic use of intentional crashes to generate core dumps for debugging. They also highlight the importance of analytics, serial protocols, and the collaboration between firmware and hardware teams in shaping the final product.

    Embedded firmwareDebugging & failure analysis
    13 chapters

  • Coredump Sessions · 1h 13m

    #006: Pebble’s Code is Free: Three Former Pebble Engineers Discuss Why It's Important (PART 2/2)

    Brad Murray, former head of Pebble firmware, and Tomas, former developer evangelist at Pebble, discuss the risks and decisions behind building firmware for Pebble smartwatches. They detail a critical OTA update bug that nearly bricked nearly a million devices, which was recovered using a clever BLE-based stack overflow hack. The team also explains how they built a massive developer ecosystem through tools like CloudPebble and the Watch Face Generator, and how they optimized code size to backport Pebble 3.0 to legacy hardware using techniques like Link Time Optimization and bootloader rewriting.

    Embedded firmwareSecurity & privacy
    8 chapters

  • Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast · 1h 22m

    069 - Canned Cheese and Onion Rings

    Ian from Dangerous Prototypes discusses the evolution of the BusPirate, culminating in the BusPirate 5, which utilizes an RP2040 microcontroller and features an LCD, adjustable power supply, and current sensing. He details the creation of DirtyPCBs and other services like DirtyCables, explaining how he automated PCB ordering in Shenzhen to disrupt the market. Ian also shares anecdotes about his time in Huaqiangbei, including the 'Expressway to Pleasure' project and his experiences with local manufacturing quirks.

    PCB design & layoutMicrocontrollers & dev platforms
    8 chapters

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 04m

    510: The Secret Chip

    Christina Cyr, CEO of dTOOR, discusses her journey building The Cyrcle Phone, an Android device with a round display, and her company's status as a social purpose corporation. She details the technical challenges of sourcing components like ADH connectors, the high costs of industry awards, and the emerging economics of lithium-ion battery recycling. Cyr also shares insights on navigating the hardware startup landscape, including the difficulty of fundraising and strategies for re-entering the workforce after a career break.

    Starting a product companyPCB design & layout
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Amp Hour. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.