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Pebble founder's comeback is a battery case for iPhone and AirPods
After ushering in the smartwatch movement in 2012, Eric Migicovsky's Pebble brand fell by the wayside. The company was saved from bankruptcy by Fitbit, which acquired its talent and software last year, but ditched its beloved devices. Now, the man behind the e-watch timepiece is returning to the site of his greatest success: Kickstarter. And, this time, he's packing an iPhone case.
Your Pebble watch will still work after its servers shut down
After Fitbit bought the beleaguered Pebble last November, we bid a fond (and at times bitter) farewell to the first big fitness smartwatch. Its acquisition spelled the beginning of the end for the device, given how dependent it is on cloud services. Or so it seemed: Pebble just released a final update that liberates its lingering diaspora of smartwatches from online servers, allowing folks to keep using their devices and linked smartphone apps once Fitbit finally kills its cloud component.
I'm excited for Fitbit's mythical smartwatch
It hasn't been a great year for wearables, with sluggish sales and underwhelming products dominating the space. If the category had an Oscars-style 'In Memoriam' reel, it would feature several smartwatches that I loved deeply. For me, at least, devices from Apple, Samsung and Google that try to recreate the smartphone experience on the wrist just aren't compelling. But those companies want to be the only games in town after the demise of low-power companies like Pebble, Vector and Basis. That is why I'm hoping that Fitbit can swoop in and produce a smartwatch that people actually want to use.
Smartwatches failed to excite in 2016
When the first smartwatches made it to our wrists a few years ago, we were willing to overlook shortcomings because the product category was in its infancy. But the technology has had time to mature, and 2016 should have been an exciting year in this space. Instead, we saw a number of important brands pull out of the smartwatch race; meanwhile Google deferred major updates to 2017. Smaller but significant companies were swallowed by competitors, and the devices that did launch this year were unexciting at best. Smartwatch sales started to decline in the second quarter, and while the all-important holiday shopping numbers haven't been tallied yet, the future isn't looking good for the category.
Fitbit will keep Pebble's services running through 2017
Fitbit might no longer sell Pebble's devices, but it won't brick the smartwatches the smaller company already sold. In a blog post today, Pebble developer Jon Barlow has assured fans that Fitbit will keep their e-paper smartwatches running through 2017. Pebble's apps, app store, firmware and API, among other services, will remain accessible next year. While it sounds like Fitbit will no longer support those services after that, Barlow and his team are already taking steps to make sure they'll still work in 2018.
After Math: Game over
This was a week of tremendous loss. America said goodbye to John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, Twitter accidentally murdered @-replies for a day, Fitbit cannibalized its new acquisition of Pebble and new studies suggest that robots are probably going to decimate retail jobs right after they finish working over those manufacturing and shipping positions. Numbers, because how else will you know how many survivors remain?
Goodbye (and maybe good riddance) to Pebble
Before Android Wear and the Apple Watch, there was Pebble. The original Pebble smartwatch was, in many ways, a trailblazer. It was one of the first to play nice with the iPhone, it had downloadable watchfaces so you could switch up the look anytime you wanted, and it was the first gadget to bring in millions of dollars via Kickstarter, putting the crowdsourcing site on the map. Pebble's luster faded over the years as more sophisticated, feature-rich wearables came on the market. Still, the company kept going, thanks to a loyal fanbase, making Pebble something of a cult favorite. Now, thanks to this week's Fitbit acquisition, Pebble is going away, living on only in the form of patents and software code. As it turns out, Engadget editors have been harboring strong feelings about the underdog company. Join us as we say goodbye -- or, in one case, good riddance.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 17: Mansion on the Hill
Executive editor Christopher Trout and reviews editor Cherlynn Low join host Terrence O'Brien to talk about the week's biggest news, including: Pandora Premium, Fitbit's purchase of Pebble and the gaming industry's nostalgia overload. Then Chris will tell the panel about his investigation into a failed gaming accessory that's found a second life as a sex toy -- clearly things get a little NSFW. Then all three will talk about what Amazon Go and other advancements in automation and mean for low-skill and low-wage jobs.
Fitbit's Pebble acquisition risks alienating loyal users
After days of rumors and speculation, Pebble finally confirmed yesterday that it's getting acquired by Fitbit. At first, this sounded like it might be a good thing, as Pebble was struggling to gain market share in the wearables industry and may have gone under without an exit plan. Unfortunately, however, it appears that the deal doesn't include Pebble's hardware. According to Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky, the only assets carrying over are key talent, software and intellectual property, leaving existing and future products to be discontinued. Considering Pebble's hardware is what helped the company build a following in the first place, killing its run strikes me as a mistake. Fitbit risks not only disappointing the thousands of loyal fans that believed in Pebble despite the odds but also punishing them. It's not a good look for either company.
Fitbit buys Pebble's smarts, but not its products
The rumors were true: Fitbit is buying Pebble. Well, its talent and intellectual property, at least. The wearable maker confirmed today that it has acquired "specific assets" of Pebble, including key staff members and its software and firmware developments. Once a shining example of how crowdfunding can help smaller companies share their technology with the world, Pebble will cease the manufacturing, promotion and selling of all its devices and shut down.
Bloomberg: Fitbit acquisition will kill Pebble Time 2 and Core
According to Bloomberg, Fitbit is close to buying up Pebble for less than $40 million, which aligns with what we reported when info on the acquisition first came out. Since the fitness tracker maker is only interested in Pebble's software assets and Pebble is neck-deep in debt, though, the Time 2 and Core watches will no longer be released. While Pebble 2 has already started shipping out to Kickstarter backers, the company will reportedly cancel all Time 2 and Core shipments and will issue refunds through the crowdfunding website. Pebble's Time 2 is made of marine-grade stainless steel and has a much bigger screen than the original Time smartwatch, while Core is an Android-powered, non-watch GPS wearable for runners.
Fitbit is reportedly buying Pebble
Pebble might only live on in our memories and Fitbit's devices in the future. According to The Information, Fitbit is buying smartwatch maker Pebble for an undisclosed amount. An anonymous source indicates to Engadget that Fitbit is buying the indie smartwatch maker for only $34 to $40 million -- barely enough to cover its debts to suppliers, which amount to at least $25 million. Pebble has apparently been looking to sell for quite a while now due to financial issues. If you'll recall, the indie smartwatch company laid off 25 percent of its workforce back in March this year because money was "pretty tight."
Smartwatch shipments dropped ahead of new models
The smartwatch market isn't quite as red-hot as it looked in recent months. IDC estimates that smartwatch shipments fell by just shy of 52 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2016, with the biggest names often being the hardest hit. Apple was still the top dog, but its shipments fell almost 72 percent to 1.1 million. Samsung's shipments were virtually flat, while Lenovo and Pebble saw their unit numbers drop sharply. Interestingly, the only company in the top five to see a big surge was Garmin -- its shipments more than tripled to 600,000. Should the industry be worried? Not necessarily.
Pebble 2 review: An affordable smartwatch with a fitness bent
Pebble is in a tough spot. Once a pioneer in smartwatches, it now has to fight off competition from brands like Apple and Samsung, as well as more affordable devices, even ones that feel more like fitness trackers. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a pair of smartwatches designed to occupy that middle ground. They are the Pebble 2 and the Pebble Time 2, both of which retain much of the same functionality as previous-gen Pebbles, but with one key difference: They now have built-in heart rate monitors. Combined with a revamped Health app, the Pebble line is much more fitness-focused than before. At $129, the Pebble 2 is the more affordable of the two, and it's aimed at those who want a no-frills smartwatch with some workout features. Think of it as a fitness tracker with basic smartwatch functionality thrown in -- and priced for people who don't want to spend "smartwatch money."
Pebble's latest update adds quick views and more shortcuts
When Pebble announced its latest Pebble 2 and Time 2 watches earlier this year, it also revealed several software improvements that would roll out not just to the new models, but to most other existing Pebble hardware. Today, the company is finally releasing that update. Now even old-school Pebble users can get Quick View peeks, shortcut buttons, a revamped Health app plus more email features for iOS users.
Pebble's Time Round now comes in polished gold and silver
When Pebble unveiled its latest line of watches for 2016, noticeably absent was a successor to the Time Round, a bummer for those who love its thinner and circular design. To appease Round lovers, the company is releasing a couple of new special Kickstarter editions that come in polished gold and silver. It has that same round color e-paper display as before, along with a marine-grade stainless steel chassis. These particular editions have a black bezel with smoked numbers on the three-hour marks and ship with a 20mm black leather band. It's worth noting that these new Round models do not have optical heart sensors like the recently announced Pebble 2 and Time 2.
Pebble pubs its activity-tracking algorithms and Happiness app
Pebble has a few health-related updates to share following the launch of its crowdfunding campaign for three new fitness-focused smartwatches. In particular, it has revealed how its first native fitness-tracking app works by publishing the algorithms behind it, launched a mood-tracking app and published the results of a sleep study. Nathaniel Stockham, a Stanford U Ph.D. student in Neuroscience and the person who developed the app's algorithms, wrote about their details in a blog post. He explained that one of them detects and measures motion while the other counts steps and can distinguish if you're walking or running.
Pebble adds Alexa's voice controls to its upcoming Core wearable
Pebble announced its 3G-enabled Core device just last week, and even though the gadget won't ship until 2017, the company is already adding features. Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant will be available on the wearable exercise accessory, bringing voice controls to the iPod Shuffle-esque device. With the Core, Alexa can still handle tasks like playing music, reading news headlines, shopping on Amazon, ordering food, controlling smart home tech and more. In terms of more Pebble-specific chores, the virtual assistant can read your Pebble Health summary to keep you up to speed on your daily stats.
Pebble's first non-watch is basically a next-gen iPod Shuffle
One of Pebble's big goals for 2016 was to focus its efforts on health and fitness. It updated its Health app to provide more-meaningful stats, and just today, it announced two new smartwatches with built-in heart rate monitors. But that wasn't quite enough. The company also wanted to make something that would let people run without their phones: It needed to have GPS and be able to play music. Unfortunately, bundling all of that functionality into a watch would make it very expensive, so Pebble didn't want to go that route. Instead, it built something entirely different. This is the Pebble Core, the company's first-ever non-smartwatch. It's an Android-powered wearable designed for runners. It has GPS so you can track your runs and -- here's the interesting part -- a built-in 3G modem that lets you stream music over Spotify. Think of it as a next-generation iPod Shuffle.
Pebble's new smartwatches focus on fitness
Way before there was Android Wear or the Apple Watch, there was Pebble. It was arguably one of the more successful smartwatches on the market, raising a whopping $10 million on Kickstarter with its simple e-paper design. The company has faced quite a few challenges since then, but it came back fighting last year with the Time, a revamped version of the Pebble, complete with a color e-paper screen and a redesigned user interface. Still, Pebble wanted to take it further. So this year, it has. Say hello to two new Pebbles: The Pebble 2 and the Pebble Time 2. The big new addition to both? Built-in heart rate monitors.