The Pebble smartwatch: a record-breaking Kickstarter success story
The Pebble smartwatch has quickly become the biggest Kickstarter project to date, racking up over $10 million in backings. This "e-paper" watch which interfaces with your iPhone or Android device is set to begin shipping to backers this fall — follow along with the the story of its funding and any future product developments right here.
Pebble smartwatch apps are finally smart, can now talk to iOS and Android apps
Apps for the Pebble smartwatch are about to get a whole lot smarter. Today the company is releasing a new developer toolkit that will allow Pebble apps to fully communicate with a paired iOS or Android app. Until now, existing apps have been limited to the watch's basic functions, but this won't be the case going forward. If a developer builds a phone app and a complementary watch app, the watch can be used to control the phone, display detailed information pushed from the phone, and even...
Play 'Tetris' on your Pebble smartwatch thanks to new SDK
The team behind the Pebble smartwatch released a "proof-of-concept" SDK last week, letting developers create their own watch faces and rudimentary apps. A few are already available on the Pebble forums, but the most impressive so far is a surprisingly playable version of Tetris. Once you get your head around pressing down to move right and up to move left, it's almost like you have a miniature Game Boy with a slightly better screen on your wrist. Installing Pebblis is a simple matter of...
Pebble smartwatch review
The Pebble smartwatch is a lot more than just a watch — it’s the latest attempt to turn your wrist into the launchpad for a wearable computing revolution. It’s also the preeminent symbol of the Kickstarter hardware revolution. After 85,000 orders, 10 million crowdfunded dollars, and one or two slipped ship dates, the Pebble is finally here, ready to pipe emails and texts directly to your wrist.
So is the Pebble a gimmick or the start of a bold new platform? Has an indie hardware...
First Pebble shipments begin as company warns of iOS app delay
The Pebble smartwatch is finally shipping. It's been a long journey to this point, but despite some lingering "kinks and issues" that will be ironed out soon, the company is today dispatching the first wave of watches to its earliest Kickstarter backers — so long as you ordered the black one, at least. Unfortunately the total number of shipments is lower than Pebble first anticipated; less than 500 watches are going out today. Why the small figure? As it races to move outbound units to its...
The Pebble smartwatch keeps it simple (hands-on)
Now that Pebble has announced it's shipping to Kickstarter backers on January 23rd, the company is finally ready to show off the final hardware and software on its smartwatch. We spent some time putting the watch through its paces and talking with CEO Eric Migicovsky, and we've come away more impressed than we expected with the Kickstarter phenomenon.
Smartwatches are a big theme theme here at CES, but few have garnered the kind of interest that the Pebble has. One reason is that it is...
Pebble smartwatch finally shipping January 23rd, we talk to CEO about its future
The Pebble smartwatch is best-known for being a smash hit on Kickstarter. It broke records and leapt to a total of 85,000 orders by the time the campaign ended. The only thing left to do was ship, but unfortunately the company quietly announced a pair of delays that left an actual ship date in limbo — an unfortunately common problem with Kickstarter campaigns.
Today at CES, CEO Eric Migicovsky announced that the company now has a firm shipping date for its backers: January 23rd. It will go...
Watch This: Pebble's 'big news' smartwatch announcement at 9AM PT / 12PM ET
Pebble is one of Kickstarter's biggest success stories, raising more than $10 million from 85,000 backers excited about a watch that connects to your phone and provides apps, features, and notifications. But since it hit its funding goal, the Pebble's been riddled with delays, especially as the company has tried to ramp up production.
Now Pebble has "big news." The company's been teasing an announcement at CES, saying "it's time" — time for the Pebble to ship, maybe? Time for more delays?...
Pebble promises 'big news' at CES on January 9th
Pebble, the massively successful smartwatch Kickstarter project, will make an announcement at CES. The invitation, seen above, tells backers that "it's time" and invites them to watch a livestream of the event on Pebble's site at 12pm ET on January 9th. Though all we're promised is "big news," the invitation hints at a possible product launch — something that's a bit overdue for Pebble. The watches were originally set to ship in September of 2012, but the challenge of producing enough for...
Pebble smartwatch won't ship in time for the holidays, no new timetable given
The Pebble smartwatch, one of the most-watched Kickstarter campaigns ever, has unfortunately hit another roadblock. The team behind Pebble just sent an email update out to its backers letting them know the device would not ship before the holidays. Originally slated to ship back in September, the company announced in late July that it would miss that timeframe, but hoped to ship closely to the original estimates. Obviously, with 2012 nearly over and no solid shipping date in sight, Pebble...
Pebble smartwatch user interface demoed in preview video
In a video posted on the Pebble project's Kickstarter page, designer Martijn Thé has offered a sneak preview of the connected watch's user interface. Linking up with an iPhone or Android device via Bluetooth, the Pebble offers a simple e-paper screen which can be used to read emails, view phone calls, play music, and, of course, check the time — Thé's designs keep the experience clean and relatively uncomplicated, focusing on a simple set of vertical scrolling and horizontal swiping...
Pebble smartwatch to miss original September shipping estimate
The folks behind the Pebble smartwatch have been providing detailed, regular updates on their progress on Kickstarter every few weeks. The latest reveals that the color option which will be available to backers who joined at the $125 level will be a glossy orange finish. That positive (for some, anyway) detail was leavened with a slightly disappointing one: the company won't make its original September shipping estimate.
While we won't be able to start shipping Pebbles in September, our...
Android
Pebble releases Android preview SDK for e-paper smartwatch
Kickstarter poster child Pebble was on hand at Google I/O this week — and while the smartwatch wasn't fully functional, a preview SDK for Android was made available, giving developers an early look at how the device and its e-paper display interacts with the operating system's intent messaging service. The information in the software development kit is still in its early stages and changes will likely happen before the actual product ships out this fall. If you're looking to get a head...
Twine sensor now connects to Pebble watch, sends alerts to your wrist
In a fun bit of Kickstarter synergy, the makers of Twine — a small square that adds sensors and enables alerts on just about anything — announced today that Twine will now integrate with the Pebble Smartwatch, allowing you to receive all kinds of alerts on your wrist. The Wi-Fi-enabled Twine box can be used to monitor for motion, temperature, and more, and whenever it's tripped will send an alert via text, email, or Twitter. Now, it'll also send the alert to your Pebble watch — ...
Apps & Software
Pebble smartwatch sells out: $10 million raised and over 85,000 sold
Would-be Pebble early adopters are officially too late. Shortly after announcing that they would be capping orders at 85,000 units, the team reached its goal and has closed down orders for the e-paper smartwatch. There are still eight days to go on the Kickstarter project, but the only available pledge is $1, which will get you "exclusive updates, Pebble availability, or more." The Pebble team, meanwhile, has around five months to build and ship a total of 85,420 watches with a growing list...
Apple
Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky hosts Reddit AMA to talk about the biggest Kickstarter to date
There's now nine days and counting until the Pebble smartwatch gets its funding on Kickstarter, and it's still raking in cash at a rapid rate (nearly $10 million in backings as of today). With the production phase soon to begin, Pebble creator Eric Migicovsky hosted an AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit yesterday to answer all of the burning questions around behing the biggest Kickstarter project ever. From a hardware perspective, Migicovsky was firm on saying the Pebble's design was finalized...
Android
Pebble smartwatch hardware upgraded to Bluetooth 4.0, will be enabled via software update
There's only 10 days left to back the Pebble smartwatch, currently the hottest Kickstarter project to date by a wide margin. Pebble's not resting though — the watch will now include Bluetooth 4.0 onboard, though Pebble's quick to note that it "probably" won't be enabled right off the bat. Instead, Bluetooth 4.0 will get turned on via a software update that'll come later. Pebble's also noting that even though Bluetooth 4.0 has "low energy" features, it likely won't affect the performance of...
Android
Pebble teams up with RunKeeper for its first app
The record-breaking Pebble smartwatch might still have another 16 days to go on Kickstarter, but it already has its first software partner in popular exercise app RunKeeper. A blog post by the RunKeeper team says how excited they are over the concept of the Pebble, and that they see it as the perfect way to "make your fitness tracking easier" by letting you view details of your workout right from your wrist and linking into the app running on your Android or iOS device.
Pebble's manufacturer...
Web & Social
Kickstarter funding record smashed by $3.3 million of Pebble smartwatch pledges
Allerta's Pebble smartwatch started its Kickstarter funding round less than a week ago, but it's already raised more money than any project in the site's history, having smashed the record set by Double Fine's adventure game last month. The current figure of $3,378,384 is over 33 times the originally set goal, and there's still a full month left for the Pebble project to receive pledges. Allerta has been adding features like waterproofing to the Pebble smartwatch as it's become increasingly...
Pebble smartwatch will now be waterproof after raising $3.1 million on Kickstarter
With its stylish good looks and functional e-paper display, the Pebble smartwatch immediately grabbed our attention when it first hit Kickstarter — and now we can add waterproof to its list of features. The team at Allerta hasn't decided what waterproof rating the Pebble will have, though they do specify that it won't be a diving-quality watch. Instead, it'll be good enough for when you want to go swimming or if you get stuck in the rain.
The team also announced that the Pebble software...
Allerta's Pebble smartwatch comes to Kickstarter with e-paper display
Allerta has rolled out its Pebble project on Kickstarter, a smartwatch that might strike one of the best balances between functionality and power drain to date — it uses a 144 x 168 low-power Sharp Memory LCD display, rather than the OLED and traditional LCD screens seen on other smartwatches in recent memory (including Sony's new SmartWatch). It connects to your iOS or Android device over Bluetooth 2.1, has a vibrating motor for alerts, and can load apps through a dedicated Pebble app...
