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Pebble founder's Small Android Phone team wants to keep the dream alive
The small Android phone dream, that is
Despite a near-constant outcry from people across the internet, small smartphones are few and far between these days. Apple's miniature iPhone series appears dead after just two entries, while the last few Android manufacturers who even bothered to design smaller devices are looking towards bigger displays for modern successors. Still, if you're craving a pocket-sized smartphone, you aren't alone. Some of the folks behind Pebble are looking to deliver their own gadget to a niche audience later this year,
The Pixel 7 now pairs with Pebble watches thanks to a major update
There, but for the grace of Google, go I
When we're talking about the best of the best fitness trackers and smartwatches these days, examples like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 come to mind. But if you've been into smart wear for a while, you'll be aware of Pebble, a promising startup crowdfunded its way to producing adorable, cult-favorite watches with e-paper displays, only to acquired by Fitbit, which has since been acquired by Google. Perhaps, owing to its fandom and where it's ended up, the official Pebble watch app is now getting a new lease on life with Google enabling 64-bit support for the app, thus making it compatible with the newly launched Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro flagships.
Wildly optimistic petition thinks it can convince companies to make Android flagship phones small again
Pebble's founder believes there are enough people interested in a premium small phone to make it happen
You don't have to read Android Police very long to pick up on the fact that many of us are quite vocal proponents of smaller smartphones. Market forces have utterly decimated your options when looking for a more petite Android handset, and the few phones we do get just don't tend to be very good. Frankly, it's nearly enough to drive someone over to the iPhone side of the fence, where small phones still get some respect. Now one man has made it his mission to convince Android manufacturers to give this maligned form factor another shot.
Pebble's founder looks back on how this wearable trendsetter met its demise
The Pebble Time wasn't as big of a hit as the company hoped it would be
When we think of smartwatches today, we go right to devices like the Apple Watch or the Galaxy Watch4 — wrist-mounted companions to our smartphones that let us see and reply to messages, make calls, track our fitness and health, and even use some apps. But the concept of smartwatches wasn't born at Apple, nor Samsung, and some of you might recall another big player in the segment that used to be pretty popular a few years back: Pebble. It helped push smartwatches into the public eye with the first Pebble watch in 2013, but the company met its untimely end just a few years later. Now on the tenth anniversary of its initial crowfunding effort, founder Eric Migicovsky is giving us some insight into what went wrong.
At some point, someone decided that smartwatches have to be capable of replacing your phone. While that might work okay-ish on Apple's platform, it's a disaster over in the Android world – underpowered but battery-sucking Snapdragon chips meet poorly written software on Wear OS. With Pebble gone, there aren't many options left for people looking for a simple wearable that just shows them notifications. Wearable fan Samson March took matters into his own hands (literally) and created a smartwatch with a custom OS, custom design, and a battery life of one whole week that simply mirrors his iPhone's notifications, with no bells and whistles, all while open sourcing the entire project. Sometimes, less is more.
After Fitbit purchased Pebble and killed off its future products, many customers were left wondering how long they had left until their watches became unusable. Putting those fears to rest, Pebble has released an update for its iOS and Android apps, ensuring the watches will continue to work for the foreseeable future.
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- Pebble has just published the news on its official site: it's shutting down all orders, and all Kickstarter pre-orders that have not been fulfilled will be refunded as a chargeback to credit cards.
The Pebble 2, Pebble Time 2, and Pebble Core were introduced in May as part of a Kickstarter campaign that ended up getting over 66000 pledges and more than $12 Million in cash. However, since then, only the Pebble 2 has begun shipping to backers and the Time 2 that was slated for shipping in November is nowhere to be seen. Even the latest update by the team mentioned Time 2 units being EVT (Engineering Verification Testing units), but didn't say anything about a shipping date. Naturally, backers were pissed and they might be even more so now that there's a chance the Time 2 and the small Core will never be sent to them.
Pebble is one of the best Kickstarter success stories. Predating the original Samsung Gear and Android Wear, Pebble's first fundraising campaign raised over $10 million and spawned multiple generations and models of e-paper wearables. But as many tech startups eventually do, Pebble is being acquired by wearable competitor Fitbit.
We reported on Pebble's site yesterday, noting that it was teasing a big announcement, which we expected to be a watch. (Although we were kind of off on the shape of said new watch.)
Pebble's fortunes have soured somewhat as more powerful wearable devices have hit the market, but now it's teasing a big announcement. On May 24th (tomorrow) at 10AM EDT, we'll get the details. What ever could it be? Since we're talking about Pebble, it could really only be a new version of the watch.
Pebble's unique smartwatch platform still has a few advantages over Android Wear and the like, particularly in battery life. And the latest version, the Pebble Time Round, is worth considering for anyone who was a fan of the original Pebble. It's considerably better-looking than the square Pebble Time (relatively large bezels notwithstanding), and the color screen and three-button interface are preserved. Today several of the Pebble Time models with leather straps have a generous discount over on Amazon.Prospective buyers can pick up the black case + black strap model (20mm), black with red strap (20mm), or steel with tan strap (14mm) for $143.99, a $56 discount off of the retail price. The silver 20mm version is still full price at $249, and the 14mm "rose gold" version has only a slight discount to $191.87. Note that the 20mm strap is much wider, and generally thought of as a "men's" model, while 14mm straps are usually marketed for women. (They're also harder to find replacements for.)Like its predecessors, the Pebble Time Round is compatible with all Android phones running 4.3 or later, including essentially all phone notifications plus custom watch faces and Pebble apps. The watch lasts for about 2 days on a charge and features IPX7 water resistance. This doesn't appear to be a price drop from Pebble itself, so there's no telling how long the reduced price will last.Source: Amazon
If Android Wear doesn't meet all your smartwatch needs, the Pebble series of devices is an impressive alternative... and it doesn't hurt that most of the time, it's the cheaper option. That's especially true today: discount online retailer Monoprice has the latest version of the platform, the Pebble Time, on sale. You can pick one up for just $97.99, plus shipping and local sales tax, when you apply the coupon code "AP20" at checkout. That's a discount of over fifty dollars compared to the retail price of the plastic model.
Part of the appeal of smartwatches is using them in place of a dedicated activity tracker. Pebble watches have had a number of third-party options available, but now Pebble is making a full effort of its own. The company has rolled out Pebble Health, watch software that tracks your steps and monitors your sleeping.
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- As some of you pointed out, this functionality doesn't require you to have both a Pebble and a Misfit. In fact, the Misfit app for the Pebble effectively makes the smartwatch act like a Misfit, so you can save on buying a separate activity tracker. Previously, the Pebble app logged sleep and steps locally on the watch, so you only had access to 7 days worth of data without any detailed graphs or lengthy history (like Rita pointed out in her Misfit review and comparison). Now, it syncs to the Misfit Android app, allowing you almost all the privileges of owning a Misfit without actually paying for one.
Are you cool enough to strap two wearables to your arms at once? The makers of the Misfit Shine fitness tracker think that you are. The company's new app for the Pebble family of smartwatches allows both devices to stay in sync, but it needs a smartphone in the middle (Android or iPhone) and apps for both the Misfit and the Pebble on the phone, too. What an age we live in.
Before there was Android Wear and the Apple Watch, there was Pebble. Honestly, it kind of started the whole smartwatch trend - sure, there were others before it, but Pebble was the first to really gain what could be described as popularity. In fact, it was the only watch dbrand offered skins for at first. At least until now.
Remember that report that claimed Google was preparing to make the Android Wear platform compatible with iOS? Yeah, that might not go down as smoothly as you had hoped. There's still no official word on Wear for iOS, but the latest news out of the Apple camp has disturbing implications. According to one developer over on the official Pebble Watch forum, Apple is rejecting apps from its App Store simply for mentioning Pebble wearable support.