Pebble updated its website this morning to tease a new model of its popular smartwatch. The announcement is scheduled for 10 AM on Tuesday next week, but Pebble has not specified what exactly is launching. However, multiple sources tell us that a major update to both the Pebble’s hardware and software have been in the works and that these changes could be ready to debut next week. The new watch is said to (finally) gain a slightly wider, color, e-paper-like display that will be encased in an overall thinner design. The screen will still not be touch like the Apple Watch…
While thinner and brighter, the new watch will still include battery life specifications in line with the current models. The new hardware in development also includes a microphone, which could bolster a new series of apps by third-party developers for the Pebble platform, along with Nuance voice recognition software. An improved backlight has also been added to the display.
Heart rate monitor features based on sensors are on the long-term Pebble roadmap, but Pebble’s limited resources will prevent those features from launching anytime soon. “Smart Bands†will be available in the future that can add additional sensors to the watch. The charging and data transfer pins have been moved to the bottom of the device, which now sports a plastic body with aluminum edges.
The new hardware will run a brand-new version of the Pebble watch operating system, which has been redesigned from the ground-up to be “dramatically different†by the team behind webOS. The new software will feature a timeline view that records a list of recent notifications and the entire UI features many new animations. Third-party applications will not go away, but the operating system will turn its focus to alerts and notifications for future calendar events.
The software will run on a new, noticeably faster Cortex M4 processor with a 6-axis gyroscope. The pricing for this new model will come in around the price of the Pebble Steel. We’re told that the new Pebble will be initially sold via Kickstarter, not Pebble’s retail partners or official website. It’s possible that Tuesday’s announcement does not revolve around the aforementioned hardware and software upgrades, but these should still be expected at some point in the near-future.
Sony reportedly plans to introduce style-focused e-paper smartwatch in 2015
Pebble Steel smartwatch leaks: metal Gorilla Glass version on the way (Update:Â Announced)
I have the original Pebble and love its simplicity and funcionality.
This is the kind of Watch Apple should have made.
Less is More.
Cant wait!
Try controling Spotify while taking a shower with the Apple Watch. You cant.
I dont know how old are you but the Pebble is popular among retro style hipsters.
Plastic fantastic, casual retro digital kind of thing all for $99
There is also a Metal model which looks more formal.
If you pay attention to The Verge Reviewers in their videos most of them are wearing the Pebble. :)
This is exactly why it’s doomed. It’s popular because of fashion, not because of good design.
As someone who lived through the original 2 bit, 8 bit, and 16 bit worlds, I can tell you that there wasn’t really anything good about them. What looks like “cool history†to the hipsters of today, is really just a temporary fad like the fascination with crappy vinyl records.
Pebble is like 10% “useful device†and 90% … (valleygirl voice) “Isn’t it cool? It’s soooo retro!â€
Not at all. I love my pebble, but there is soooo much that it CAN’T do that it frustrates me. The design of the Pebble is childish, but not bad. It can only hold 8 apps or watch faces at the same time, you can’t act on anything that it does, it basically JUST shows you notifications. I love it for $79, but Apple will blow theirs away with what it can do. But that’s ok. There’s a market for both.
Pebble still has first-to-market advantage. But Pebble Is now about to face competition from a company that pretty much wrote the whole book on how to do UI and UX right.
But Nit sure since WatchKit, unlike other AppleKits is made solely for the Apple Watch.
We ll see.
Other than positioning themselves for the hoped for Google/Samsung buyout, I don’t see what the point is. I guess the engineers are all having fun and stuff, but It’s like living (and working) on a dead end street really.
1) You don’t actually know what the battery life is yet
2) The stated battery life is commensurate with almost every other smart watche out there (daily charging)
It sounds to me like you are the one with ego and identity problems.
So, Pebble is an outlier at best, and even if viewed as a mainstream smart watch, it’s unique. The question is whether consumers will go for much fancier better looking watches that do a lot of stuff, or bare bones “ugly†utilitarian watches like Pebble that do a bit less.
It just seems patently obvious, almost self-evident, that the concept of a better looking more capable watch will win out over the Pebble.
I think Pebble has a year, possibly two at most to come up with a better sales proposition. The colour model (if true) will help but I don’t see anything about the product ultimately winning out over the competition, which will be fierce.
you can also sell your iphone or smarthphone for a 90†Nokia and get like 4 days battery or more. lol
Get the battery life up to a week, eliminate the need to be attached to other devices to function properly, add a thick nylon sports band, round face, and expand the actual sports function of the watch to mimic things like Polar watches or release an edition that is actually a “sports†edition (and not just because you slap a cheap band on it) and I’d give it a second look.
I can control my Nest, SmartThings, my alarm, open my garage, fitness band, display stats while running. Don’t want google maps to interrupt your music while driving? No problem, notifications show up on the watch. Can’t carry your phone with you while at work (like me), no problem!
It looks rude when you pop your smartphone out of your pocket to check a message or a phone call. People don’t even notice it when you do it on a smart watch. Just a quick glance.
The pebble has been indestructible for me. I run restaurants and it will take the heat of the kitchen, all the water from dishwashing, 1 hour in a -10 degree freezer… It’s been great honestly.
I won’t mind if it dissapear and give place for a bigger screen.
Also , i have used it with both iOS and Android. Not many others can do that, of course not the future Apple watch nor Android wear. What’s left?
I use my peeble for all i need:
â€" all kind of notifications, and now i can reply directly in the watch (look for the last firmware)
â€" auto lock unlock my cellphone, just wearing the watch connected
â€" find the phone with the watch
â€" controlling my music
â€" see endomondo data while doing any sports.
â€" watch my evernote notes
â€" use misfit for activity tracking
â€" see the time all time without having to press anything!
That’s all i need in a smartwatch. I don’t want to play games or read long texts in it!
And specially i don’t want to be afraid the watch won’t last even just a day of battery!!
It does not try to be a smartphone replacement nor a work of art. To me the steel (with steel band) is classy and understated, neither a toy nor an oversized monstrosity on your arm. An improved (even color) e-ink device that is THINNER will be a major hit.
I know I’ll be flamed for this opinion, but go ahead. As a lifelong Seiko (yes, the Japanese rolex) owner, my Seiko Solar has been gathering dust on the shelf for four months now. At the price of the Pebble Steel (got it for $150 on sale) I have no fear of destroying it because I’ll be able to buy 2-3 of them for the price of one Apple Watch.