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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 drops price of Time and Time Round by $50
If you've been holding out on getting your very own Pebble Time, congratulations, because your patience has been rewarded. Today, the company is dropping the price of two of its Time smartwatches -- both the Time and the Time Round -- by $50, which means they're both now $149.99 and $199.99 respectively (the Time Steel remains the same at $249.99). Also of note is that the Time Round (arguably the better looking of the two) is now available at several retail locations in the UK and the EU. Oh, and that price drop should be reflected in those countries as well.
Pebble smartwatches get a built-in fitness tracking app
If you've wanted to use your Pebble smartwatch as an activity tracker so far, you've had to grab a third-party app -- unlike Apple or Google, you didn't have anything built-in. Well, that won't be an issue after today. Pebble is rolling out a firmware update to the Time, Time Steel and Time Round that introduces Pebble Health, a native fitness tracking app. It continuously tracks your step counts and sleep, like the earlier apps, but you now have coaching (built with help from Stanford University) to see where you need improvement. Your results won't exist in a vacuum, either, since they plug into Apple's HealthKit, Google Fit and (soon) third-party watch apps.
Pebble Time Round review: A prettier design comes with tradeoffs
Earlier this year, Pebble released two new smartwatches: The Time and the Time Steel. Both feature color e-ink displays, an updated "Timeline" interface, support for voice replies, and a new accessory port that promises to increase the watch's functionality over time through third-party "smart straps." But two watches wasn't enough for Pebble. In September, the company unveiled yet another new model: the Pebble Time Round. As its name suggests, it's basically just a circular version of the Time, and will be available in stores starting November 8th for $249. It's also thinner, lighter and the strap comes in both 14mm and 20mm widths, making it ideal for smaller wrists. But with this more fashionable look comes a couple of concessions: it has much shorter battery life than its predecessors and isn't nearly as water-resistant. The Time Round is, without a doubt, the best-looking device the company has ever put out, but those tradeoffs lessen its value considerably.
Pebble Time smartwatch apps are getting voice dictation
If you're a Pebble Time owner and would like to respond to emails or texts without pulling out your phone, we've got good news. Starting today, Android users can employ the Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel to reply to those messages using their voice. The feature is scheduled to arrive on the Pebble Time Round on November 8th. What's more, the wearable company has teamed up with Nuance for the voice-driven tools and the duo is releasing a Dictation API for third-party developers to build apps for both iOS and Android. The functionality is limited to emails and text messages for now, but we'll be interested to see if more voice commands arrive in the future.
Pebble's Time Round smartwatch sacrifices battery life for style
While Pebble has already sold over 95,000 units of its Time and Time Steel smartwatches thanks to its highly successful Kickstarter campaign, it's not done with its 2015 lineup just yet. Today, the company is revealing the $249 Pebble Time Round, which, you guessed it, has a circular watchface. But that's not the only thing that sets the Time Round apart from the rest of Pebble's lineup. It's also thinner, lighter and the strap comes in both 14mm and 20mm widths, making it the slimmest and most lightweight Pebble to-date. Though there are a couple of downsides -- it only has a couple days of battery life and is not nearly as water-resistant as its square cousins -- the Time Round is by far the most elegant smartwatch Pebble has ever made.
