Hands-on with the Pebble smart watch
The company behind the Pebble Kickstarter project showed off a number of prototype and final versions of its smart watch product at CES this week, with consumer units shipping out to backers on Jan. 23.
Disclosure: The reporter is a Kickstarter backer of the Pebble project.
It was announced on Wednesday that Pebble will start shipments on Jan. 23, and we had a chance to look at the unit up close as the company invited backers attending CES to join them in their suites at the Venetian Hotel to see the long-awaited timepiece.
Looking at the Pebble's hardware, the side control buttons were responsive and the screen looked crisp, with an evenly-diffused backlight that turns on with a tap of the bezel.
Pebble's menu back button and charging port are located to the left of the watch face.
Users can control the e-paper screen with two scroll buttons and one selection button on the right of the watch, while a single larger button on the left is used as a "back button" for the watch's UI. Pebble's polycarbonate shell houses an accelerometer used to operate the backlight, which is activated by tapping on the bezel.
The selection and function buttons are located to the right of the watch face.
Sample text messages and emails pushed from phone to watch quickly and without fault. The watchband wasn?t overly stiff (as some rubber watch bands can be) and the company is offering a longer length band to backers for $3 if the one provided is not suitable.
After a brief amount of wrist time, I can say that handling the watch was a rare moment when a product feels like it?s worth more than what you paid for it. The UI is responsive, the text is clear and the materials are of top quality.
While the software selection is currently sparse, and the SDK doesn?t allow for much more than creating new watch faces, Pebble still holds a lot of promise. The company said it will be rolling out new software versions every few weeks, including an update for IFTTT support that will hit soon after launch.
Other future developments aim to take advantage of the built-in sensors, like a compass and the aforementioned accelerometer. An example would be turn-by-turn directions based on data taken from Pebble's compass rather than the phone's sensor.
Disclosure: The reporter is a Kickstarter backer of the Pebble project.
It was announced on Wednesday that Pebble will start shipments on Jan. 23, and we had a chance to look at the unit up close as the company invited backers attending CES to join them in their suites at the Venetian Hotel to see the long-awaited timepiece.
Looking at the Pebble's hardware, the side control buttons were responsive and the screen looked crisp, with an evenly-diffused backlight that turns on with a tap of the bezel.
Pebble's menu back button and charging port are located to the left of the watch face.
Users can control the e-paper screen with two scroll buttons and one selection button on the right of the watch, while a single larger button on the left is used as a "back button" for the watch's UI. Pebble's polycarbonate shell houses an accelerometer used to operate the backlight, which is activated by tapping on the bezel.
The selection and function buttons are located to the right of the watch face.
Sample text messages and emails pushed from phone to watch quickly and without fault. The watchband wasn?t overly stiff (as some rubber watch bands can be) and the company is offering a longer length band to backers for $3 if the one provided is not suitable.
After a brief amount of wrist time, I can say that handling the watch was a rare moment when a product feels like it?s worth more than what you paid for it. The UI is responsive, the text is clear and the materials are of top quality.
While the software selection is currently sparse, and the SDK doesn?t allow for much more than creating new watch faces, Pebble still holds a lot of promise. The company said it will be rolling out new software versions every few weeks, including an update for IFTTT support that will hit soon after launch.
Other future developments aim to take advantage of the built-in sensors, like a compass and the aforementioned accelerometer. An example would be turn-by-turn directions based on data taken from Pebble's compass rather than the phone's sensor.
Comments
I prefer my 6th generation iPod nano watch. Better looking clock. The only limitation is no speaker.
Sorry, but in today's world of smartphones, the only purpose a watch serves is as a fashion statement. This makes a little bit of a fashion statement because of the coolness factor, but the extreme ugliness just ruins it.
The iPod Nano makes as much of a "geeky cool" fashion statement, and is pretty good looking to boot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by addicted44
Looks really ugly.
Sorry, but in today's world of smartphones, the only purpose a watch serves is as a fashion statement. This makes a little bit of a fashion statement because of the coolness factor, but the extreme ugliness just ruins it.
The iPod Nano makes as much of a "geeky cool" fashion statement, and is pretty good looking to boot.
Not a sports-type, are you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I like what they are trying to do but there is nothing about the current design I would consider buying. It's too limited, too thick, and simply looks cheap.
Sadly, I entirely share that statement. In a world where this dream exists: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1655017763/cst-01-the-worlds-thinnest-watch ... competition is heavy.
That is also a use case for flexible displays. I do see flexible display tech taking off at some point when wearable computers (less jewelresy and more clothesy) become feasible.
Autumn 2013 : Apple reinvents the watch: iWatch (human skin surface currents being used to transmit information to earphones. At that time, rumours already circulated that Apple was secretly working on a way to convey the audio information directly to the brain. Other rumours from sources (which insisted to remain unidentified) also speculated that Apple was working on the most secret project of its history (code name « Wozniak »), aiming at implementing a neuronal version of the iOS into the human brain (the only minor remaining technical difficulty being to implement into it a 5.1 encoded audio information).
The watch screen resolution seems pretty bad.
I personally also don't really like the design. And it's all plastic, so I don't really know where the comment "top quality materials" came from. I do however, like the idea and I honestly believe that the watch would be very useful if it had some sort of way to also respond to text messages. Being able to read them is 1 thing, but you still need to get the phone out of your bag/pocket to respond
On the other hand, this is what I believe to be top quality materials… not exactly the same type of watch (the Pebble is a smart watch after all), but this is where I'd love to see watches go as far as looks go. For me this would be infinitely more useful (no longer having a bulge on your wrist for one):
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1655017763/cst-01-the-worlds-thinnest-watch?ref=live
Looks positively terrible.
Dream? More like nightmare. I don't think that watch is any more attractive than the one in this article.
Different people have different tastes. In order to be successful, Pebble doesn't have to appeal to everyone - just enough to create a viable business. Much like Apple, they realize that trying to appeal to everyone is a huge mistake - and leads to product that don't really appeal to anyone. I would fully expect that at some point, they'll have a range of products with different styles. Until then, it's a niche product - and they wisely realize that it is.
I hope Apple comes out with a smart watch type accessory.
The Nano 6 was already perfect. It just needed Bluetooth.
Come on. Nobody is going to buy this thing until it has a chamfered edge.
I wish them all the success in the world & I hope they all become multimillionaires because of this.
I kickstarted my Pebble -- Cherry Red -- early, so January 23rd can't get here quick enough!
Quote:
Originally Posted by addicted44
Looks really ugly.
Sorry, but in today's world of smartphones, the only purpose a watch serves is as a fashion statement. This makes a little bit of a fashion statement because of the coolness factor, but the extreme ugliness just ruins it.
The iPod Nano makes as much of a "geeky cool" fashion statement, and is pretty good looking to boot.
I have to agree with this.
When I heard about these "smart watches" I thought, well, if you wear a watch this might be cool, but functionally what effective purpose does it serve but save you a couple nano-seconds from pulling your phone out of your pocket? And your phone has a much bigger, easier to read display and already shows the time, not to mention other notifications. And there's people like me who haven't worn a watch since I got my first mobile phone. It's utterly pointless.