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.
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Awesomeness 1 week battery life.
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!
This is the stupidest design out there. Plasticky geeky watch. When it first came out, I honestly thought it was a joke. How in the world can something like this sell.
Buy one and you will understand.
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. :)
@ToroVolt: re: “… the Pebble is popular among retro style hipsters.”
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!”
The metal version is just as hideous. I work in a technology store and I walk past it every day and just think “that thing really is horrible”. I would take one Apple Watch over thirty Pebbles…
@Toro show me your evidence that definitively says the Watch can’t be worn in the shower.
You haven’t tried the Pebble Stell sir.
“This is the kind of watch Apple should have made”
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.
I was a 4-Pebble Watch backer on their Kickstarter campaign and wear my black, red, or white one occasionally. The only way you can get a Pebble to work for a week is to turn-off notifications. Link an app and you can watch the battery drain through the day. The UI is one only the UI designer’s mother could love.
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.
Another possibility on the anouncement is not a new hardware but the integration with WatchKit.
But Nit sure since WatchKit, unlike other AppleKits is made solely for the Apple Watch.
We ll see.
I find Pebble interesting, but they must see that ultimately they’re doomed to be just another also-ran for the history books.
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.
This company is dead as soon as Apple Watch comes out…they have nothing on Apple.
That’s cute.
they have a watch that won’t need recharging every hour :D
Apple Watch is shit, and ALL just because of one thing: the battery life, whoever buys the 1.st gen must really have a little ego and identity problems
Except:
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.
My Pebble lasts a week on one charge and I use it for tracking sleep. So for me, it doesn’t make sense to charge the Apple Watch nightly. This is coming from a HUGE apple nerd. I”ll wait till the battery lasts longer.
@ Mac McIntyre: I’m just saying that most smart watches need to be charged daily (true) and that Pebble is unique in that respect. For the same reason, a lot of folks wouldn’t put Pebble in the “smart watch” category, because it doesn’t do a lot of things that smart watches are supposed to do.
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 either have greater functionality OR long battery life. You can’t have both. Apple is going with greater functionality. Pebble is going with battery life which is a great play for them. But when people are doing some amazing things with their Apple Watch a lot of pebble owners will be like, “Cool! Well…my watch lasts a week….”
Haha I adore how people think that the second generation will have significantly increased battery life. God that’s just a glaring declaration of ignorance. Please bestow upon all of the rest of us that have a clue, how the second or even third or fourth generation will have significantly better battery life (without a new battery tech).
@o0smoothies0o I get what you are saying but Apple is always claiming improved battery performance in their new generation of products. The battery is just one of the concerns. Who knows, I’ll most likely end up buying the Apple Watch but for that price, the list of functions better impress me.
If you want a low end watch with ancient screen but good battery you get the peeble, if you want a hi res diaplay you have to deal with 1 day battery probably. it hasnt been annoucent yet.
you can also sell your iphone or smarthphone for a 90” Nokia and get like 4 days battery or more. lol
I have not worn a watch since 2008 when I purchased my first iPhone and realized I was using my phone all the time to check the time as well as all the other functions it provided. So far I have not seen anything compelling in the form of smart watches that will bring me back to wearing a watch.
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.
So you’re saying you’re not in the market for a smart watch. Duly noted.
My history with this watch has been up and down. I bought it 1.5 years ago and returned it. Then I missed having it so I bought it back. Thought about returning it then they came out with 2.0 firmware and it changed everything about it.
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.
Thinner bezel please! And drop that logo on the Steel version. Those are the factors that kept me from buying a Pebble Steel. (I have a regular Pebble as a backer)
I don’t mind the Pebble logo on it, the text is really thin and you don’t notice it much.
I won’t mind if it dissapear and give place for a bigger screen.
This is the watch that I really want.
I’ve worn a Pebble for a year and I love it, BUT they use the cheapest LCD display out there. For literally pennies more per watch, they could incorporate a display very superior to what they ship today.
Do you have any recommendation that would reduce the battery uptime?
It’s certainly not the cheapest. It’s the Sharp memory screen, and while I don’t know if it is the dearest of monochrome LCD technologies, it is certainly among the dearest. It’s designed for low power consumption, resulting the the long battery life of the Pebble.
It’s a great watch! I have had the original plastic one, and now the steel. I think it’s a good enough design, but of course it could be better: same size, but with thinner bezels, and with more resolution and a brighter screen. But i don’t want color if the screen wouldn’t be a e-ink. The e-ink screen is awesome! Very easy to read, all the time on, and it still last 1 week. I wouldn’t change that.
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:
– all kind of notifications, and now i can reply directly in the watch (look for the last firmware)
– auto lock unlock my cellphone, just wearing the watch connected
– find the phone with the watch
– controlling my music
– see endomondo data while doing any sports.
– watch my evernote notes
– use misfit for activity tracking
– 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!!
In order to understand the value proposition of the Pebble, you have to use one for more than a week. I bought the steel version last fall, and fell in love with it, because it does what MOST smartwatch users are going to want – notifications (stop pulling out your phone all the time); simple apps for watch faces, weather, sports notifications, etc.; LONG battery life (4-5 days easily). the fact that it can swing between iOS and Android makes it a near perfect device.
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.
I’m really interested to see what Pebble brings to the party. Each device of theirs is better designed and is an improvement on the previous. I am still constantly amazed by how amazing and simple my Pebble Steel is. Its cheaper, smarter, less geeky and more functional than all other smart watches at this moment. Really looking forward to their updates