Pebble Does It Right By Keeping It (Relatively) Simple
We’ve talked about technology from time to time here on the Atomicdust blog, so I thought I’d share my experiences with a new category, the smartwatch.
Almost exactly one year ago, I read an article on a gadget blog about a Kickstarter project that was making some serious waves: Pebble. Pebble launched its campaign with a goal of $100,000 and ended up bringing in more than $10 million in just 30 days from more than 65,000 backers.
At about the $1 million mark, the media coverage started – and I backed the project. And at long last, I received my Pebble about two weeks ago. It has been a long wait – but it’s definitely worth it.
Pebble connects to my iPhone via Bluetooth, and displays notifications like caller ID, SMS and anything else I select. Unfortunately, the software isn’t perfect – while caller ID & SMS work reliably, others seem like they’re hit and miss.
Overall, though, for the first version of software on a first-version product, it’s pretty darn good.
There’s a built-in music control that lets me see what song is playing from whatever app I’m using. Plus the skip forward and back buttons also control photo slideshows. With a tweak, I’m sure this could work for Keynote presentations as well.
And the cool thing? It’s just the beginning.
They’ve already released a software update for the watch (pushed via the Pebble app on my phone) that streamlined the menus and made music control more accessible. New apps (initially promised for launch) are under development that will link Pebble to RunKeeper, GPS applications and more.
Even watch-based games are on the roadmap.
Oh yeah, it’s also a cool watch. It tells the time via a selection of watchfaces that you can change just by pushing the up and down buttons. More are on the way, too – and with the software development kit due in April, you’ll even be able to create your own.
The long-term prospects are even better. Eventually, developers will be able to create apps that pull all kinds of data from smartphones. The sky’s the limit. Or is it? Several planned apps (and even watchfaces) include the weather.
This all sounds like a ton of functionality for a watch, but the thing I appreciate about the Pebble is that it doesn’t try to do too much. The team didn’t pack in a Dick Tracy-style microphone, a full-color touch-screen or anything else. They knew what they wanted Pebble to be: an extension of your smartphone. And they made it, with help from 65,000 of their closest friends.
Bravo.
