I love watches and although previously I didn’t think the features were compelling enough for an iOS user, the only smartwatch I would have gotten was the Pebble. Their first device, the Pebble Watch, struck me as fun and playful. Their follow-up, the Pebble Steel, looked kind of terrible with a huge logo on the face.
With perfect timing before the Apple Watch launch, Pebble have started a bizarre crowdfunding campaign for the next iteration, the Pebble Time which has an enhanced interface that is also coming to the original Pebble watches as well as a color e-paper screen which is exclusive to this new model.
I called this campaign bizarre because this product looks finished and without the need for community feedback during development or funding because this is an established business with millions of investor funds, it doesn’t seem kosher for Pebble to return to crowdfunding as if they were a new company establishing a new product.
One other odd thing about this campaign. In the video Pebble have this message:
Has Samsung divorced themselves so far from Android in the way they market their devices?
Nobody is as good at smart watches as Pebble is right now, but with Apple’s March 9th announcement coming up it will be interesting to see if the Pebble Time crowdfunding backers keep their money in the project. It’s their option to back out any time before the March 27th Kickstarter deadline. The Apple Watch has a higher price tag, but the Pebble Time’s unique interface style and longer battery life is very compelling. If I were using an Android device as my primary phone, I’d get a Pebble in a second.
Leave a Reply