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Pebblis app crams Tetris clone into your Pebble watch
If you're an electronic device, you really haven't made it to the world's stage until you can run Tetris. Pebblis, a free app for the Kickstarted e-paper smart watch Pebble, presents the clone seen here.
The Daily Roundup for 04.15.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Got a sec? Clear some Tetris lines on your Pebble
Put that silly smartphone back in your pocket, Tetris fan! The Pebble e-paper watch is now able to do more than just tell you when you've received a new SMS and play Snake -- a new application called "Pebblis" clones the iconic Russian puzzle game for Pebble with stunning accuracy. Even better? It's free, and super easy to get working. All we had to do with our Android was click through the source link and the Pebble app took care of the rest. Apparently it's a bit tougher to get running via iOS, but then again, Pebblis isn't really an "official" application anyway. And yes, playing Tetris on a watch is pretty difficult. Obviously.%Gallery-185701%
PebbleOS 1.10 supports third-party watch faces, sorts out iOS issues
Pebble has been on a rapid cadence with smartwatch updates to justify those crowdfunded dollars, and it's not letting up just because watch shipments are well underway. PebbleOS 1.10 has arrived with support for custom watch faces built using the matching (and newly available) SDK. The revamp will be especially helpful for iOS users -- we see several fixes for crashes, permissions and power in store. Everyone gets options to disable backlighting and vibrations in certain conditions, too. As such, there's every reason to fire up the Pebble app for an upgrade, even if it's just for some visual variety. [Thanks, Uday]
Remaining black Pebbles set to ship, red flavor due in two to three weeks
Kickstarter backers have been receiving Pebble smartwatches with a black paint job since January, but if you're a supporter and haven't gotten ahold of your own yet, that's about to change. The folks behind the hardware announced today that the remaining watches are out of the factory and are being readied for delivery, making for over 55,000 shipped. Now that noir Pebbles are out of the way, the team says it's hard at work perfecting the production of the devices in other colors, and that the very first red Pebbles should be ready for shipping in two to three weeks. Other flavors don't have an estimated ship date just yet, but the team says orange hardware will come next, with gray / white tagging along afterwards. Those who cherish speed over color can switch their order to a black ticker and snag one within roughly two weeks. On the software side, the e-paper timepiece can now take advantage of five 12-hour watch faces, so long as they carry firmware version 1.9.1. Hit the source link for details on the tribulations of color Pebble production and the perils of plastic injection.
Pebble 1.9.1 firmware update arrives to resolve shutdown woes
Some Pebble owners were understandably perturbed when their smartwatches seemingly went dead after a shutdown -- that's not the best first impression of an emerging technology. Some credit is due for a rapid turnaround, however, as the Pebble team just delivered a 1.9.1 firmware upgrade that should tackle the problem. It fixes a bug that occasionally prevented the microcontroller from reconfiguring itself before the watch went dark, leaving the buttons unresponsive on wake and the Pebble more of a paperweight. You'll still have to swap out for a replacement if your watch has already fallen ill and won't recover, but the experience should be more reliable for already functional watches from here on out. Let fellow owners know how well the upgrade worked in the comments. [Thanks, Daniel]
Some Pebble smartwatches bricking after shutdown, company replacing faulty units
It appears that Pebble's smartwatch is officially feeling its largest growing pain since debuting just two months ago. A five-page long (and growing) thread on the company's forum has some owners describing a bug that's leaving their Pebbles pebbled bricked after shutdown. Pebble's Eric Migicovsky let us know that the company is actively replacing affected units, while examining those being sent in to find out the root cause: We've had reports of this issue, and we understand of course that it's annoying for users. We're replacing any Pebbles for users who report this issue. We're reviewing the Pebbles that get returned, working to get to the bottom of the issue. We have our support team ready to follow up to any user that reports this issue. As it stands, there's no word on whether firmware update 1.9 has any role in keeping the devices from turning on after being shut down. Owners have further reported that no amount of charging their Pebble will help it to actually come back to life. We've reached out to the company for more info on the matter (including nailing down how many units the company has replaced so far), and we'll be sure to keep you updated. For now, let us know whether your experience with Pebble has been rocky at all so far. Update: That was fast -- apparently Pebble has received about 30 reports of this issue since Friday. Here's the official word from Migicovsky: We're tracking a few reports of this issue. Up to Friday, we've had 20-30 reports (out of 30,000+ pebbles in the field). We've gotten several back to the office, and we're getting to the bottom of it. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
The Daily Roundup for 03.20.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Pebble updates smartwatch firmware to version 1.9, improved interface and Snake game in tow
Sony's not the only manufacturer updating its smartwatch firmware this week. Pebble's pushing an update, too, with a few changes on the way. Version 1.9, which has already begun rolling out to users, delivers a much cleaner UI. To update, head to the Pebble smartphone app and tap "check for FW update." Once installed, you'll find a cleaner menu structure, which groups all watchfaces together and moves primary navigation controls to the buttons on the right side of the device. You can also cycle through faces by simply tapping the up and down buttons -- there's no need to hop into the main menu for those adjustments. There are also some new faces available for download, along with a Snake game, which is admittedly a bit awkward to play on a wristwatch, but it's a welcome addition nonetheless. We imagine the update was released in order to prep users for an onslaught of watchfaces -- a Pebble SDK is due to be released next month.
The Daily Roundup for 03.13.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
iFixit rips apart Pebble and finds very little inside, even less that's repairable (updated)
Generally when iFixit tears something down we're treated to scrumptious piles of technological gore. Screws, chips, connectors and all sorts of components end up scattered around the table. With the Pebble smartwatch? Well, there's not so much in the way of digital guts to pull out. Upon cracking open the shell, which was apparently impossible to do without shattering the screen, iFixit found a single assembly that housed all the components. Everything from the 120MHz Cortex-M3 MCU to the three-axis accelerometer and the Bluetooth radio was on a single board. It was under that Bluetooth EMI shield where the one surprise crops up. It appears that the Texas Instruments controller chosen for the e-paper watch does not support the wireless protocol's low energy profile, something Pebble lists as one of the specs on its site (we've reached out to the company for clarification on this matter). As you might expect, the compact construction means this is not a particularly repairable device. So, rather than pull your own apart, just check out the electronic autopsy at the source. Update: Well, we've finally heard back from Pebble and it seems the watch does have support for Bluetooth Low Energy. The confusion comes from the fact that, although the TI controller inside is label as a CC2560 (which lacks support for BLE) it actually carries the same firmware as the CC2564 which does support the protocol through Panasonic's RF module.
Hack brings all iPhone notifications to Pebble watch
Pebble watch owners have a good reason to jailbreak their iOS device. A new jailbreak app from developer Conrad Kramer lets the smartwatch accept all incoming notifications, not just the ones from native iOS apps, like messages and phone calls. This hack is available to most iPhone owners now that the iPhone 6 and iOS 6.1 is jailbroken. Pebble owners with a jailbroken device can download the BTNotificationEnabler tweak for free from Cydia. [Via BGR]
Pebble watch pulls all notifications from the iPhone, but only if you jailbreak
The Pebble already does a good job of pulling notifications from stock iOS apps to your wrist, including SMS, email previews and calendar appointments. But if you want a broader range of alerts from third-party apps -- say, Google+ -- then you're basically stuck. Unless, it seems, you're prepared to jailbreak your iPhone. Developer Conrad Kramer recently tweeted to say that his "BTNotificationEnabler" tool is available on Cydia, and that it allows every single arrival in your Notification Center to be sent to a Pebble or other compatible Bluetooth device. It's unlikely to induce many smartwatch owners to liberate their phones, even with the relatively easy and untethered evasi0n hack now available, but at least we'll have one more bullet point the next time someone asks "why jailbreak?".
Editorial: iWatch app speculation is filler, not killer
Innovation is problem-solving. Radical innovation is seeing normalcy as problematic, and solving it. That level of invention, which solves a generally unrecognized problem to create a new product category, or user experience, can be difficult to recognize in the conceptual stage. A far-reaching idea can seem trivial if it solves routineness. Sometimes it takes the product itself, the manifested experience, to demonstrate how to rise above the customary. Email solved postal mail, which died another incremental death last week by announcing a proposal to end Saturday letter deliveries. Cell phones solved the disconnect between phones and the walking-around life. Mobile apps solved the gap between computers and cell phones. Perhaps HTML5 will solve apps. So forgive me if I'm being small-minded, but Bruce Tognazzini's speculative manifesto about an Apple iWatch fails to make a convincing futurist case for the imagined device -- despite whipping up a whirlwind of attention. What is the future of wearable computing?
The Weekly Roundup for 01.21.2013
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Pebble smartwatch review
More Info Pebble smartwatch hands-on Pebble smartwatch unboxing Pebble smartwatch raises $100,000 in two hours What is Kickstarter? The answer you'll hear, as long-winded as it may be, will likely touch on Pebble. If it doesn't, you'll probably want to ask someone else -- with more than $10 million pledged, the people's smartwatch catapulted past the crowdfunding site's records and the startup's own expectations. It achieved a $100,000 funding goal in two hours, and it was clearly a favorite among our readers. Of course, there were doubts that Eric Migicovsky, the company's founder, would deliver such an appealing and seemingly powerful product for $125, but following our first look during the company's CES press conference, that dream became real. So, what is Pebble? It's not a smartphone for your wrist, as we've seen attempted before. In fact, it's far less sophisticated than you might expect -- the lightweight device reads out basic text, lets you skip through music tracks and, of course, displays the time. It's hardly the greatest achievement of our generation, or even the device of the year. It's become incredibly popular, sure, but despite the hype, you certainly don't need to own one. Yet, somehow, even the most technologically inept people in our lives have heard it mentioned on morning talk shows, FM radio stations or from pre-teens anxious to impress their friends. Having a smartphone alone isn't enough anymore. Or is it?
Pebble smartwatch unboxing (video)
It's here! After nine months of waiting and a whopping 31 project updates, our very first Pebble smartwatch has finally arrived. Despite all of the excitement surrounding this device, the unboxing itself was rather anticlimactic -- there's nothing but a watch and USB cable inside, and the box took all of 10 seconds to open, despite an unexpected cardboard zipper failure. The packaging is very similar to what Amazon uses to ship its Kindles, and we definitely don't mind the no-frills design, especially considering that it's efficient, made from recycled materials and dead-simple to open. If you're a Pebble backer, your device is coming soon, if it hasn't arrived already -- that doesn't mean you can't unbox one with us, though. There's a gallery below, followed by a quick video after the break.
Pebble Smartwatch app hits the App Store
Just hours after Pebble announced that it shipped out its first few hundred units of Pebble watches to early Kickstarter benefactors, Pebble Smartwatch, the companion app to the device, has hit the App Store. Users don't need the app to use most of the features of the watch, however the app is required for software updates and installing timepiece faces. The app works on the iPhone and iPod touch but is not optimized for the iPad. From the Pebble Smartwatch app description: PEBBLE - E-PAPER WATCH FOR IPHONE AND IPOD Pebble is the first watch built for the 21st century. It's infinitely customizable, with beautiful watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps. Pebble connects to iPhone and iPod using Bluetooth, alerting you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. While designing Pebble, we strove to create a minimalist yet fashionable product that seamlessly blends into everyday life. The Pebble app provides a dashboard for your Pebble smartwatch: - Notifies you when software updates for Pebble ready to install - Installs and remove custom watchfaces onto your Pebble - Sends ping test messages to your Pebble - Helps you troubleshoot issues Pebble Smartwatch is a free download. Pebble watches are currently available for pre-order. They cost US$150.
Limited number of Pebble watches ship
Today is the day that Pebble begins to ship its Kickstarter-backed smart watches. The company announced in an update that it will ship out less than 500 units from its fulfillment centers. Customers who backed early should expect to see an address confirmation email in their inbox and a tracking number shortly thereafter. Pebble also announced that its iOS app is still pending approval, while its Android app will debut on January 24 in the Google Play store. iOS customers who receive their Pebble early will be limited to notifications and music control until the iOS app is approved. Customers who are not in this first round won't have to wait too long as Pebble is producing watches at a rate of roughly 800 to 1,000 units per day, with a five- to seven-day wait for the watches to go from production to shipping. Pebble also confirmed that it is producing the black models now and hopes to get color production online soon.
Pebble smartwatches begin shipping to backers this afternoon, iOS app still pending (update: app ready)
Pebble has just informed backers that the very first orders will begin shipping today, though the iOS app is still pending approval from Apple. In the meantime, Android users will have access to a compatible app in Google Play beginning tomorrow -- just in time to start using those freshly unboxed smartwatches. iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users will be able to display notifications and control music in the meantime, though advanced features like watchface and OS updates won't be possible until the app is ready for download. Now, a bit more bad news: the Pebble team reportedly jumped the gun on shipment notifications, so even though you may have received word that your watch is on the way, it may not be in the first batch of 500. If you've also received a tracking number, however, your device is likely to be in the mail. We're holding out hope that our Pebbles fall within that latter group -- stay tuned for a review just as soon as we've had time to put the device through its paces. In the meantime, hit up the source link for some more pics from factory. Update: That was quick -- the iOS app is ready to go.
