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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.

  • Jamie Keene

    May 2, 2012

    Jamie Keene

    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 Allerta has previously described the watch as an app platform, suggesting that it's trying to attract a number of apps to its service, and it's pleasing to hear that a major developer like RunKeeper is already on board. RunKeeper itself is a big name, and its support could be a big draw for Pebble — the current RunKeeper app has over 6,000 reviews on the iTunes App Store, and millions of installs in the last 30 days alone on Android. Software developers are bound to be encouraged by the Pebble's success on Kickstarter, too: at the time of writing, the project has 53,258 backers, who have collectively pitched more than $7.9 million. The app will be available when the Pebble watch is released in the fall.

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  • Sam Byford

    Apr 17, 2012

    Sam Byford

    Kickstarter funding record smashed by $3.3 million of Pebble smartwatch pledges

    pebble smartwatch
    pebble smartwatch

    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 clear that money isn't going to be a problem, and just yesterday said that there were additional "cool announcements" to come. It looks like Kickstarter's popularity is accelerating fast — since the first $1 million project was funded back in February, we've seen six more pass the milestone.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Apr 16, 2012

    Andrew Webster

    Pebble smartwatch will now be waterproof after raising $3.1 million on Kickstarter

    Pebble smartwatch
    Pebble smartwatch

    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 development kit will be made available before the watch is released, which means there should be a decent line-up of apps in time for the launch. So why are the creators being so generous? With more than a month to go, the Pebble project has surged past its initial $100,000 funding goal and raised more than $3.1 million. And while that number will likely continue to grow, so will the list of features — the team promises additional "cool announcements" before the Kickstarter campaign is done.

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  • Chris Ziegler

    Apr 11, 2012

    Chris Ziegler

    Allerta's Pebble smartwatch comes to Kickstarter with e-paper display

    Pebble smartwatch
    Pebble smartwatch

    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 store. Thanks to a three-axis accelerometer, the Pebble should be able to function in place of a device like Jawbone's Up or Nike's FuelBand. Several colors are planned, and from Allerta's pictures and renders of prototypes on its Kickstarter page, this is shaping up to be one of the more attractive (and less geeky) smartwatches to date. The $99 "early bird" special is sold out, but interested parties can sign up for Pebble packages ranging from $115 to $1,250 to help get the device funded. Deliveries are expected in September, though some packages promise prototype delivery in August.

    Kickstarter projects come and go, but this one stands a very real chance of making it to production: along with Fossil spinoff MetaWatch, Allerta has been actively selling legitimate smartwatches for longer than just about anyone. That's not saying much — the company first started selling its original inPulse in 2010 — but this is a young industry that's still trying to find a way to get average consumers interested in wearing watches again. (The success of the iPod nano wristband market is a promising sign.)

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