Pebble smartwatch gets $50 price cut, background tracking for fitness & sleep
In the wake of the Apple Watch announcement, startup smartwatch maker Pebble has countered with a $50 price cut for its entry-level and high-end Steel model, while also adding new background tracking capabilities for exercise and sleep.
Activity tracking applications from Misfit, Jawbone and Swim.com now work seamlessly in the background on all Pebble hardware. Users can view installed "Activity" apps and toggle their preferences in the Pebble Settings menu, and a dedicated icon is visible within menus when a compatible app is installed and running.
The Misfit app for Pebble allows continuous, around-the-clock activity tracking and sleep monitoring. Jawbone has also launched its own activity tracking watface for Pebble which shows daily and weekly activity progress, and it syncs with the Up app for iOS.
Finally, Swim.com is the first watch app that allows users to measure distance, pace, times, stroke and efficiency while swimming with their Pebble, which has a water resistance rating of 5 ATM. The watch app also syncs data with the iPhone and the cloud once the user is out of the pool.
Pebble is differentiating itself from Apple Watch and Android Wear devices by focusing on its multi-day battery life, which offers uptime of as many as seven days before a recharge is needed. And the company has also responded to competitors with a $50 price cut, and is now selling its original plastic model for $99, or the premium Steel for $199.
In addition to the new activity functions, all Pebble models also gain a new "Quick Launch" feature, which allows users to set shortcuts from a watchface to their favorite apps. These shortcuts can be accessed with a long press of the unit's up or down buttons after the feature has been enabled in settings.
Pebble now also displays a persistent battery icon within menus. And iPhone users running iOS 8 gain notification dismissal for both their watch and phone when pressing the select button.
The accessory maker revealed on Tuesday that the Pebble appstore has more than 4,000 applications available, and that they have been downloaded over five million times. There are more than 18,000 developers on the Pebble platform, and partners include Mercedez-Benz, Pandora, the Weather Channel, and ESPN.
Pebble hardware is also expanding its retail presence in the U.S to Sam's Club, Fry's Electronics, and Sprint stores, while the U.K. will seee availability at Dixons, O2, and Amazon.co.uk. They join Best Buy, Target, AT&T stores and Amazon.com in America.
Activity tracking applications from Misfit, Jawbone and Swim.com now work seamlessly in the background on all Pebble hardware. Users can view installed "Activity" apps and toggle their preferences in the Pebble Settings menu, and a dedicated icon is visible within menus when a compatible app is installed and running.
The Misfit app for Pebble allows continuous, around-the-clock activity tracking and sleep monitoring. Jawbone has also launched its own activity tracking watface for Pebble which shows daily and weekly activity progress, and it syncs with the Up app for iOS.
Finally, Swim.com is the first watch app that allows users to measure distance, pace, times, stroke and efficiency while swimming with their Pebble, which has a water resistance rating of 5 ATM. The watch app also syncs data with the iPhone and the cloud once the user is out of the pool.
Pebble is differentiating itself from Apple Watch and Android Wear devices by focusing on its multi-day battery life, which offers uptime of as many as seven days before a recharge is needed. And the company has also responded to competitors with a $50 price cut, and is now selling its original plastic model for $99, or the premium Steel for $199.
In addition to the new activity functions, all Pebble models also gain a new "Quick Launch" feature, which allows users to set shortcuts from a watchface to their favorite apps. These shortcuts can be accessed with a long press of the unit's up or down buttons after the feature has been enabled in settings.
Pebble now also displays a persistent battery icon within menus. And iPhone users running iOS 8 gain notification dismissal for both their watch and phone when pressing the select button.
The accessory maker revealed on Tuesday that the Pebble appstore has more than 4,000 applications available, and that they have been downloaded over five million times. There are more than 18,000 developers on the Pebble platform, and partners include Mercedez-Benz, Pandora, the Weather Channel, and ESPN.
Pebble hardware is also expanding its retail presence in the U.S to Sam's Club, Fry's Electronics, and Sprint stores, while the U.K. will seee availability at Dixons, O2, and Amazon.co.uk. They join Best Buy, Target, AT&T stores and Amazon.com in America.
Comments
Dear Pebble.
(No, not *that* bottom, Evilution. LOL.)
Pebble has proven themselves a worthy competitor and are far from being a copycat. The e-ink screen along with multiple day battery life provides a completely different set of functions and addresses different priorities than the AppleWatch. I'm glad to see them still innovating, improving their value proposition and keeping Apple's feet to the fire. I already have my watch choice (Tomtom Multisport) but if I didn't I'd choose this before the AppleWatch.
I seriously hope it's as water-resistant as my Pebble - if so, then I'll bid a fond farewell to my Kickstarter timepiece.
Thank you for making me feel marginally better about myself. I know now that, despite how pathetic and horrible I am, there are “people” out there even worse than me. On purpose.
A good product continues to evolve and add new features while lowering its price, and you just have to spew childish snark all over it because it doesn't come from Cupertino. Unlike you, I actually own a Pebble, and it's great at doing what it's designed to. The ability to get notifications without making a public spectacle at work or in social settings, all while looking like a quality timepiece and not some gaudy children's toy, is worth every penny I paid when the Steel was first released. Why you feel the need to trash the company, their product, and their customers like myself, is just beyond me. Is it insecurity? Jealousy? Is it somehow only permissible for an attractive and innovative product to exist if it has an Apple logo on it? I would love to hear some honest justifications for your hostile negativity.
Do you find that the Pebble occasionally, and randomly, loses its LE connection with the iPhone and stops providing alerts for anything other than calls? That's really the only thing I would like to see fixed, but it has persisted (at least for me) across multiple firmware and software upgrades.
Nothing quite says "quality" like a price cut. Now, let's get these into the finest truck stops in the country where they can be sold along side all the other geegaws and singing fish.
That may be their fate if the Apple Watch hits the mark, but for now the Pebble is a reasonable solution for anyone wanting that functionality.
Pebble also took a swipe at Jony Ive telling him to "breathe" and that its "just a watch". Seems to me they're just dissing their own product in the process.
I'm sure that they are pretty worried about the future, and history says that they should be.
Do you find that the Pebble occasionally, and randomly, loses its LE connection with the iPhone and stops providing alerts for anything other than calls? That's really the only thing I would like to see fixed, but it has persisted (at least for me) across multiple firmware and software upgrades.
Yes, I get that at times too, but usually after being up for multi-day's or after a patch. Then close and restart works. Like anything tech, you do have to occasionally turn off the watch, and close the program. Then restart them.I would usually agree except in this case Pebble has made a snark remark against Jony Ive.
So now your post doesn't make any sense any more.
http://mashable.com/2014/09/30/pebbles-snarky-reply-apple-watch-jony-ive/
I wouldn't call that snark, which I think of as abrasive and unpleasant. What Pebble said was a bit teasing of some of Apple's more self-indulgent habits, but it was't hostile or snide. I'm sure Pebble aren't alone even amongst Apple fans if they're rolling their eyes a little when Jony Ive starts talking about how profound and beautifully simple Apple's latest ground-up rethink of how to chamfer an edge is. You can think Apple are occasionally a bit silly and pompous while still liking the company and respecting their products.
If companies are trying to make apple more irrelevant the best thing they could do is stop talking about Apple! I was following Apple's keynote on Twitter and my feed was full of people saying they didn't want an A-Watch but after Jony Ive's 10 minute video they're drooling over it and now want one. LOTS of comments on his voice, some even joking that they'd enjoy Ive reading names out of the phone book to them. Competitors can mock Ive all they want. But those videos he does work. If they didn't Apple would have stopped doing them by now.
A good product continues to evolve and add new features while lowering its price, and you just have to spew childish snark all over it because it doesn't come from Cupertino. Unlike you, I actually own a Pebble, and it's great at doing what it's designed to. The ability to get notifications without making a public spectacle at work or in social settings, all while looking like a quality timepiece and not some gaudy children's toy, is worth every penny I paid when the Steel was first released. Why you feel the need to trash the company, their product, and their customers like myself, is just beyond me. Is it insecurity? Jealousy? Is it somehow only permissible for an attractive and innovative product to exist if it has an Apple logo on it? I would love to hear some honest justifications for your hostile negativity.
who are you talking to? it kinda makes a difference.
also, according watch geeks, the steel aint that great looking.
Pebble also took a swipe at Jony Ive telling him to "breathe" and that its "just a watch". Seems to me they're just dissing their own product in the process.
and its in rather poor taste.