Show HN: I made a Smart Calendar – E-Paper Based, Useful AI, Firmware Access

Hi HN!

My name is Harsh and I've made a Smart Calendar that lives on your desk and syncs with your favorite calendar and task apps. Inku was created to do three things: Be useful, be smart, and be joyful - and that's it. It's mostly a passive device meant to be in your work/home space and not whine for your attention. It started out as a personal project but eventually ended up doing a small alpha test after interest from friends and people on the internet - we’ve now gone all out with a crowdfunding campaign.

The Inku Smart Calendar: Uses Spectra 6 spec E-Paper Connects to the major calendar/todo app providers Has AI summaries Has a bit of a personality

I personally hate having to pull out my phone for mundane things like knowing my schedule for the day and it's even more annoying when (even w/ the notifications) - i still end up missing things. Inku was made because i've loved using paper/pen/whiteboards my whole life but the manual upkeep - as life has gotten busier - has become harder.

This is without the screen strain headaches as well. I have a core belief/aspiration for information to be ambient and around us without locked away behind glass rectangles. One major wave of this is happening via AR/VR - but i personally prefer the not strapping it to my face way of going about it (No hate, I own an Oculus haha).

Inku has no notifications, no speakers and only updates once or twice an hour (only if there's something on your schedule). That said…

I know the design won't work for everyone - it’s definitely not…minimalist - and that there's plenty Inku could be improving on other aspects.

Disclaimer: But what if it's vaporware…it is Kickstarter.

Indeed, valid skepticism - we actually already have done a fully functional alpha test with about 5 people, i primarily made it for myself but ended up making a few more when i found that people were interested in having their own - you can find some of the context in my twitter threads. This is more of a productionizing push rather than an Idea. That said there is always a risk w/ Kickstarter products not shipping.

We also plan to open up the firmware in case people would like to make use of their own endpoints/flash their own firmware + open up integrations code on the server for the community to create their own data sources.

I hope that Inku may be interesting for some of the people here! Feel free to ask any questions - i'll be responding!

You can find most information on the Kickstarter.

Also, Our feature requests and roadmap are public - you can add/comment/upvote on them here: https://inkboard.canny.io/inku-feature-requests

Thank you for your time and attention!