I haven’t asked for a lot from Fitbit over the years. Really only one thing. I would like another Pebble—a gorgeous smartwatch that lasts for days, has a healthy selection of apps, and isn’t sized to fit the wrist of a seven foot tall, 300-pound football player. Finally, I think, Fitbit might be giving me what I…
Fitbit may make some of the best, and easiest to use fitness trackers out there, but when it comes to smartwatches the company makes big bold eye sores. However, according to images acquired by Wareable, the next Fitbit smartwatch, expected early this year, could be.... not ugly?
What began as one of the original Kickstarter success stories, Pebble quickly matured into one of the most beloved smartwatch brands, years before Apple found its groove with the Watch. But after being bought out by Fitbit, it was only a matter of time before Pebble’s endeavors came to an end.
In 2012, when everyone assumed that no one wanted a smartwatch, the original Pebble became the poster-child for the crowdfunding site Kickstarter when it raised just over $10 million from excited backers. Five years later, Pebble is no more, its intellectual assets are now owned by Fitbit, and the company’s CEO is …
One of the biggest reasons Pebble was a damn fine smartwatch was its entirely reasonable price. Back in December, the Kickstarter success story sold off its assets to Fitbit and was promptly shut down. Today, we learned how much it was sold for, and it seems those low, low prices continued into its demise.
Pebble is dead. You might recall that last week, the company sold off its assets to fitness tracker company Fitbit. Pebble watches will no longer be sold, its warranties will no longer be supported, and replacement accessories will now only be available through third parties. Now Pebble has promised that it won’t shut…
Pebble, one of the best-known smartwatch brands, is dead. Rumors about the company’s demise have been swirling since The Information reported a potential Fitbit buyout last week. Today in a post on Kickstarter, Pebble confirmed that Fitbit was acquiring “key Pebble assets” and that Pebble would “no longer be operating…
Pebble, the maker of the original e-ink smartwatch, has a lot of passionate and loyal customers, and those customers are pissed. Following the rumors that Pebble is about to crumble under the heel of Fitbit, the company’s many Kickstarter backers are in an uproar.
Outside of big brands like Apple and Samsung, there are only two companies that really define wearables: Pebble and Fitbit. Fitbit is the hugely successful fitness tracker brand that’s been struggling to make a device that isn’t just long-lasting and great at tracking steps, but as functional as an Apple Watch. Pebble…
The smartwatch and fitness tracker markets might be in a race to the bottom, but that hasn’t stopped Huawei, the Chinese phone maker, from tossing a watch-shaped tracker into the mix. It’s an interesting tack for a company known primarily for its phones (and barely known at all in the US). If this thing takes off when…
When it comes to choosing a smartwatch, do you really need to spend $370 on a device that almost does more than your phone—including reminding you to breath? No. The Pebble has always been about simplifying the smartwatch, and even with improved fitness features, the Pebble 2 remains exactly as much smartwatch as you…
Smartwatches leave a lot to be desired, but Pebble usually brings refreshingly different ideas to the wearable conversation. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve always been such big fans. Pebble continually done wrist notifications and battery life very well. Now, it’s adding a third: fitness.
The lifecycle of a new gadget is relatively predictable: When it’s brand new, only early adopters are interested. Once the technology matures, everybody buys one. But smartwatches still haven’t caught on with most people—and that’s because no one has made a smartwatch that’s worth its cost.
Pebble smartwatches have always taken a more basic approach when it comes to cramming functionality into a wearable. But for those hoping their Pebble was a little more capable as a fitness tracker, Tylt has designed a simple case that upgrades the Pebble Time with a heart rate monitor.
Pebble has been the “little wearable that could” ever since it debuted its first smartwatch on Kickstarter in 2012. Since then, the company’s added impressive hardware and software piecemeal over the last three years, and its latest addition is Pebble Health.
Smartwatches are subjected to many metaphors: “Smartphones on your wrist.” Mmm, not quite. Maybe in a few more years. “A wearable computer.” Depends on your definition of “computer.” Better keep looking. “An extension of your smartphone.” Now, that’s an idea–one that Pebble has perfected with the Pebble Time Round.
“It looks like a watch!” my wife proclaimed, when I showed her the Pebble Time Round. She wasn’t stating the obvious. She meant that out of all the smartwatches she’d ever seen, it’s the first one that looks like something she would wear.
The original Pebble Steel was a great smartwatch in a surprisingly fashionable costume. Its successor, the Time Steel, keeps the sex appeal but crams more brains inside.
The Pebble Time has a firmware update that makes it a whole lot better: a brighter backlight, buzzing notifications that don’t shake your wrist off, and the long-overdue option to dismiss all notifications.
You can now buy the new Pebble Time smartwatch at Best Buy and Pebble.com. It still feels like a work in progress... but in some ways, it’s the best smartwatch out there. Just know that the Pebble Time Steel is also on the way. [Pebble Blog]
