Pebble smart watch hits Best Buy online, coming to retail this Sunday
Pebble, the Kickstarter-funded smart watch, is headed to retail stores this Sunday, when Best Buy will begin carrying the iPhone-compatible Bluetooth accessory for $149.95.
Best Buy will be the exclusive retail partner carrying Pebble watches, the company announced on Tuesday, starting with the "Jet Black" model. Customers will be able to buy online as of Tuesday, while retail locations will begin selling the Pebble on Sunday.
"It's been so rewarding to see and share the great things our early backers and development partners have done with Pebble already," Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky said. "Their work and our evolving app ecosystem has kept demand very high. Best Buy's partnership with us is a big step towards meeting that demand."
The watch features an e-paper display and displays information from a connected smartphone, such as text messages, phone calls, emails, or even fitness data. It's compatible with both Apple's iOS and Google's Android.
The Pebble band is fully customizable, compatible with any standard 22-millimeter strap. Following the "Jet Black" Pebbles, "Cherry Red" versions will become available in August.
"The outpouring of support from our Kickstarter backers was the first signal to our team that Pebble's approach to smart, wearable technology was something the world was ready for," Migicovsky said. "We've learned that people want their Pebbles. Thanks to Best Buy, we're giving folks more ways to make that happen."
The retail debut of Pebble comes as Apple is rumored to be working on its own smart watch accessory, potentially with biometric feedback. The company has been filing trademark applications for the name "iWatch" across the globe, lending some credibility to those rumors.
Best Buy will be the exclusive retail partner carrying Pebble watches, the company announced on Tuesday, starting with the "Jet Black" model. Customers will be able to buy online as of Tuesday, while retail locations will begin selling the Pebble on Sunday.
"It's been so rewarding to see and share the great things our early backers and development partners have done with Pebble already," Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky said. "Their work and our evolving app ecosystem has kept demand very high. Best Buy's partnership with us is a big step towards meeting that demand."
The watch features an e-paper display and displays information from a connected smartphone, such as text messages, phone calls, emails, or even fitness data. It's compatible with both Apple's iOS and Google's Android.
The Pebble band is fully customizable, compatible with any standard 22-millimeter strap. Following the "Jet Black" Pebbles, "Cherry Red" versions will become available in August.
"The outpouring of support from our Kickstarter backers was the first signal to our team that Pebble's approach to smart, wearable technology was something the world was ready for," Migicovsky said. "We've learned that people want their Pebbles. Thanks to Best Buy, we're giving folks more ways to make that happen."
The retail debut of Pebble comes as Apple is rumored to be working on its own smart watch accessory, potentially with biometric feedback. The company has been filing trademark applications for the name "iWatch" across the globe, lending some credibility to those rumors.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by bennettvista
The whole "Smart Watch" idea is actually really dumb. Wait until we start seeing instances of bone cancer in people's wrists from wearing these all day. The idea of any electronic device with bluetooth or wi-fi connectivity constantly attached to the body is going to create health problems. It's one of the reasons why Google glass will never really take off. At least with a smart phone you can choose how long you want it touching your body.
It's also one of the reasons why the idea of a bluetooth earpiece will never take off. Oh, wait, it did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bennettvista
The whole "Smart Watch" idea is actually really dumb. Wait until we start seeing instances of bone cancer in people's wrists from wearing these all day. The idea of any electronic device with bluetooth or wi-fi connectivity constantly attached to the body is going to create health problems. It's one of the reasons why Google glass will never really take off. At least with a smart phone you can choose how long you want it touching your body.
You do realize that to cause cancer it has to give off ionizing radiation, correct? Bluetooth and WiFi do not give off ionizing radiation. Your statement is as silly as the people who claim a WiFi "allergy". The worse this could possibly due is to midly warm your skin.
That's the last reason Google Glass will never take off. All the reasons for that are very clear, 20-20 if you will, for everyone who understands where implementing technology actually makes sense.
Hopefully with it going mass market they'll have this problem solved. Imagine not being able to buy charging cables for your new iPod after having lost your original - quite frustrating.
Also, this watch will do much more for me once iOS7 hits - right now Apple's APIs for notifications lead to flakiness for my pebble that my friends on Android don't suffer. Fingers crossed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJones
You do realize that to cause cancer it has to give off ionizing radiation, correct? Bluetooth and WiFi do not give off ionizing radiation. Your statement is as silly as the people who claim a WiFi "allergy". The worse this could possibly due is to midly warm your skin.
No doubt it will cause numerous deaths due to people fiddling with it while driving an not paying attention to the road.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
No doubt it will cause numerous deaths due to people fiddling with it while driving an not paying attention to the road.
Yes, that would be a far greater danger than silly claims of someone eventually getting bone cancer.
There is much more higher-energy RF given off and penetrating your body from countless other sources than anything given off by a Bluetooth device or from WiFi.
Looks like a solution in search of a problem. And an ugly one at that. E-paper display? Are you kidding me?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJones
There is much more higher-energy RF given off and penetrating your body from countless other sources than anything given off by a Bluetooth device or from WiFi.
Though there are ongoing studies regarding cell phone radiation so there might be some legitimate concern but nothing conclusive yet. That is one reason why hands free automobile interfaces and BT earpieces are a good idea, Better safe than sorry. Keep your phone in your pocket. Better to let your testicles take the hit than your brain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bennettvista
Wait until we start seeing instances of bone cancer in people's wrists from wearing these all day.
Well, I suppose that for every intelligent person out there who keeps quiet, there is going to be someone in the other corner doing the polar opposite.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJones
You do realize that to cause cancer it has to give off ionizing radiation, correct? Bluetooth and WiFi do not give off ionizing radiation. Your statement is as silly as the people who claim a WiFi "allergy". The worse this could possibly due is to midly warm your skin.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/laptop-wifi-sperm-damage-electromagnetic-radiation_n_1118726.html
You can't simply make conclusive statements like this until we see long-term effects. We all know the tobacco analogy from the 1950's and today the big money is with the communication companies which will work to dampen any of these kinds of worries. The truth is we don't really know, so my statement about bone cancer is no more real than yours that I'm wrong. Time will tell. I guess at this point we only need to be concerned if Apple or Google come out with "iPenis" to take market share away from Viagra.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bennettvista
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/laptop-wifi-sperm-damage-electromagnetic-radiation_n_1118726.html
You can't simply make conclusive statements like this until we see long-term effects. We all know the tobacco analogy from the 1950's and today the big money is with the communication companies which will work to dampen any of these kinds of worries. The truth is we don't really know, so my statement about bone cancer is no more real than yours that I'm wrong. Time will tell. I guess at this point we only need to be concerned if Apple or Google come out with "iPenis" to take market share away from Viagra.
Nice article with quotes such as:
"Further in vitro and in vivo studies are needed to prove this contention"
As in they not actually proved a causal link. Or such good ones as:
"This is not real-life biology, this is a completely artificial setting," Dr. Robert Oates, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology, told Reuters. "It is scientifically interesting, but to me it doesn't have any human biological relevance."
"In addition, Oates told Reuters that there's no scientific evidence from studies that pregnancy success is linked at all with the use of laptops."
Seems you picked a poor article to back you up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bennettvista
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/laptop-wifi-sperm-damage-electromagnetic-radiation_n_1118726.html
You can't simply make conclusive statements like this until we see long-term effects. We all know the tobacco analogy from the 1950's and today the big money is with the communication companies which will work to dampen any of these kinds of worries. The truth is we don't really know, so my statement about bone cancer is no more real than yours that I'm wrong. Time will tell. I guess at this point we only need to be concerned if Apple or Google come out with "iPenis" to take market share away from Viagra.
compare to the amount of radiation from close proximity fluorescent lights, and all the other broadcast radio signals - bt 4.0 is extremely weak.
as a wearer of a watch (esp during working hours) who enjoys the convenience of being in sync with meetings, daily routines without grabbing my iPhone out of the pocket like an old fashioned pocket watch, and who chooses not to look around (depending in the room or office i am in) to look for a clock - i can see the need for such a device.
A problem many of you dis-likers of this sort of thing is that the usefulness and 'need' depend entirely upon the occasion. SOmetimes i get to work offsite on a small boat - and having the ability to keep in touch without taking my iphone out of its protective sandwich bag would be great.
this watch is not for all people - nor for some people all of the time, but for some people some of the time i think, if engineered well, it could we ll prove beneficial.
I've owned the Pebble for about a month now and I absolutely love it. The screen is beautiful, easy to read and the auto-backlight works great; and it's perfect at what it does. I'm often in meetings and I love getting inconspicuous notifications when a new text or call comes in; I can see who's calling and reject or take the call at the push of a button without having to take the phone out of my pocket. Perfect! There are other watches that offer similar features but they only work with Android and really suck for one reason or another (usually very poor battery life and unreliable notifications)
So, if you think it's crap, great, don't buy it, but that's only your opinion. The Pebble has been one of the most, if not the most successful Kickstarter campaign ever, so obviously not everybody thinks it's a useless device. As a user, I can tell you that it has been well designed, is well made, and if you're intrigued and interested in the product, rest assured that it does deliver. Check it out for yourself and don't pay attention to the negative ninnies on this board!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bennettvista
Wait until we start seeing instances of bone cancer in people's wrists from wearing these all day. The idea of any electronic device with bluetooth or wi-fi connectivity constantly attached to the body is going to create health problems.
"The idea... is going to create health problems."
Probably not what you meant. But certainly the worry over such benign risks will cause more health problems than the perceived hazard. So I won't disagree.
[Odds of Death by Heart Attack] > > > > [Odds of Lung Cancer from Cigarettes] > > > > > [Odds of Death in Traffic] > > > > [Odds of Death in Traffic While Wearing Seatbelt] > > > > > > > >[Odds of Death by Falling Down Stairs] > > > > > > >[Odds of Death by Airplane Crash] > > > > > > [Odds of Death by Lightning Strike] > > > [Odds of Winning Powerball Jackpot] > > > > > > > [Odds of Bone Cancer Caused by Smartwatch] ~ [Odds of Flying Pigs]
BS