Jan 28
Pebble Steel Review
Posted in: Today's ChiliPebble might not agree that 2014 is set to be the year of wearables: the smartwatch startup closed out last year with one of the most compelling devices in its … Continue reading
Jan 21
Road warriors of this day and age have a routine that they tend to keep to – and to miss it in a single day could prove disastrous for the next. I am referring to plugging in your plethora of gadgets at night before you retire, so that by the time you wake up refreshed and ready to greet the new day with a slew of challenges lined up, at least your gizmos would also be prepared and ready to tackle the same issues head on. Well, there are times when forgetfulness strikes, or out of plain tiredness, you fail to juice up your smartphone or tablet. Fret not, there is always a solution to every problem, and in this case for portable pocket power, the £29.99 Pebble Smartstick + Portable Charger would be equal to the task.
Sporting a 2,800mAh power supply, it will not only be able to juice up your smartphone to the maximum, it should also have some more juice to spare. The Pebble Smartstick + Portable Charger would arrive with a handy carabiner as well as a protective screw cap, allowing you to hook it to a bag or belt loop, while making sure that the connector remains safe and sound from any external damage. After all, the entire device arrives in a sturdy metal casing, where there will also be red and blue LED charging indicators to let you know of its status. 5 charging tips have been thrown into the mix, including micro-USB, mini-USB, Sony Ericsson, Nokia pin tip and Apple 30 pin.
[ Pebble Smartstick + Portable Charger solves your energy woes on the road copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Jan 13
The Pebble smartwatch is a great gadget in many respects, but the one thing that has always struck me as less than convenient is the fact that it uses a proprietary magnetic cable to charge. I lose said cable with fair frequency, and in fact I have no idea where it is right at this very moment. New Kickstarter project Sidekick will at least make it harder to lose, with a Pebble dock that holds your charger cable and provides power to your Pebble.
The Sidekick is a small rounded triangle, hewn either from black or white plastic or from wood, with a special channel cut out to perfectly fit the cable. It also supports your Pebble in an upright position, providing a clear view of the screen if you’re sitting at your desk working on your computer for instance.
Sidekick creator and design company Documont founder Rodney Timbol says that he has become a devoted fan of the Pebble itself, but also found that it wasn’t quite as convenient as it could be for off-wrist use.
“My wife and I purchased the Pebble and both had the experience of the Pebble and charger dropping on the floor from our nightstand so needed a really simple way of avoiding damaging our newly purchased watches,” he explained. “I started thinking I needed a stand but I got so consumed by the functions of the Pebble and that began my quest to design a different docking experience.”
It’s definitely true that as a watch-wearer myself, I always take mine off while typing in order to allow for free and easy typing. Usually, I keep my iPhone in a dock below my monitor to also keep up with info coming in on that device, but the Sidekick might better serve that purpose for those looking to maintain the kind of information prioritization that smartwatch notifications can provide.
With no moving parts and an attractive design, the Sidekick is a deceptively simple Pebble accessory that actually seems like something you’d expect Pebble might eventually ship in the box itself. It’s extremely affordable, too: $15 gets you one in the natural maple finish, and currently you can get a black or white version for just a $19 pledge. It can dock a Pebble either with charging or without (which means you won’t unnecessarily be putting stress on your battery), and it supports after-market bands as well as those that ship on the Pebble.
Timbol says that he plans to build a Pebble Steel version as well once he receives his device in early February, so anyone who has pre-ordered this device can expect something similar to emerge to suit the new Pebble magnetic connector, which differs from the original design. The Sidekick has an anticipated ship date of April 2014.
Jan 06
The Pebble smartwatch just got a fancy new body. If you’re not a fan of rubber and plastic (you aren’t), Pebbles now come in a "Steel" flavor that’s made of metal and far better (read: less painful) to look at. The catch? it’s $100 more, and virtually identical on the inside.
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Jan 06
New year, new Pebble, and the smartwatch company that took Kickstarter by storm has cooked up a second model, the Pebble Steel, to continue its assault on the wearables space. … Continue reading
Jan 06
[CES 2014] Pebble is mostly known as one of the top Kickstarter campaigns that raised over $10.2 million from over 68,000 backers in 37 days back in April 2012. According to the company, over 300,000 Pebble Smart Watches have been shipped to date. (more…)
Pebble Steel SmartWatch with New Apps original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Jan 06
After launching in earnest at last year’s CES, Kickstarter success story Pebble is ready to show the world it’s not just the first, but also the best smartwatch out there.
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Jan 06
Pebble Reveals The Pebble Steel For $249 Shipping Jan. 28; App Store Coming Soon
Posted in: Today's Chili
Smartwatch pioneer Pebble is introducing something everyone has been waiting for at CES this year: new hardware. But the hardware isn’t so new that it throws the baby out with the bath water – any software developed for the current Pebble will work with the new one, and vice versa. And there’s something new for everyone, since Pebble is also announcing the launch window for its application store and new parter software.
We chatted with Pebble founder and CEO Eric Migicovsky, who was excited about the new smartwatch hardware, particularly because it represents a way for the company to move forward with design while keeping things simple for developers and not punishing early adopters (or even Kickstarter backers) who already have the first version of the Pebble.
“Those are the people that supported us from the get-go, those are the ones that deserve all the updates and new software,” he explained, talking about how firmware and apps will be compatible with both Pebble and Pebble Steel automatically. “Same price for Pebble, too, at $149. We think there’s a lot of demand in the smartwatch space, and these will satisfy different needs.”
The new Pebble Steel features a stainless steel body, with Corning Gorilla Glass covering the screen instead of plastic. The construction definitely feels premium, and it adds a bit of weight as a result, but it still feels surprisingly light. There’s a natural brushed stainless finish option, and also one featuring a black matte PVD treatment, which is a popular route for watchmakers to take because it’s highly scratch resistant and long lasting. The Pebble Steel also has an LED indicator for showing battery charge, and is both waterproof and features a battery that lasts up to a week, just like in the original.
Each new Pebble Steel retails for $249, or $100 more than the standard Pebble, which will continue to be sold. It’ll be distributed exclusively through Pebble’s own online storefront at first, and ships January 28, with pre-orders kicking off today. In the box is the watch and two bands, one leather and one steel link version with a push button clasp. These unfortunately feature proprietary connectors for attaching to the watch, so you can’t just use off-the-shelf standard watchbands. I’d expect to see Pebble release a variety of options later for those who want to change the bands out, which is a page borrowed out of Swatch’s playbook for making revenue on high-margin accessories.
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Alongside the new hardware, Pebble is finally making their app store available to users, which debuts later in January, likely alongside the Pebble Steel though the company hasn’t put a firm date on it yet. Migicovsky says they’re pushing for a good launch library with devs, and to make it in time for launch, anyone with an app should submit it by January 9.
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Finally, there are new partner apps for the Pebble, too, including a car stats monitoring app for Mercedes, a playback control app for Pandora, and sports stats and box scores through ESPN, Migicovsky revealed. And with each of these partners, Pebble is essentially blazing a path for all wearable software to come.
“The people that I mentioned, they were all super keen to do a watch app, but didn’t know exactly what that would look like,” he said. “So we actually worked alongside them to figure out the app. Pebble’s not designed to replace a smartphone, it’s designed to complement it. In the same way, the apps aren’t designed to replace a mobile app – you’re not going to type an email on your Pebble. But you can do a small bit of what happens on the smartphone on your wrist.”
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Being an early mover in wearable tech means Pebble has new hardware before many even have their first entrant. But it also means they in many ways get to define what it means to build software for this new category of devices, and that could end up being much more valuable down the road than anything else.
Jan 02
Interested in a smartwatch? There are a few companies out there at the moment offering such products, such as Motorola, Sony, Samsung, and Pebble, who might not have the same amount of clout as the other companies, but certainly made waves with its Kickstarter project from back in 2012. Given that 2014 appears to be the year of smartwatches, with expected entrances from the likes of Apple, Pebble would definitely need to step up their game and come CES 2014, perhaps the company might have something new to show us. According to Pebble’s blog, the company has something to show us, something “special” to be exact. Given that the company’s focus appears to be smartwatches at the moment, chances are we could be looking at an improved/upgraded version of the original Pebble watch.
Of course it could be something else entirely so we guess we will just have to wait and see. Pebble is expected to make their announcement at 11AM PST on the 6th of January, so do check back with us then for all the details! So what do you guys think? What does Pebble have in store for us, and if it is a smartwatch, do you think Pebble has what it takes to take on the likes of Samsung, Apple, and even Google, all of whom have vast amounts of resources available to them?
Pebble To Announce Something Special For CES 2014 original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Dec 30
There appears to be some great weight coming with the proliferation of the Pebble watch in the wearables market today, at least so far as other competing companies go. As … Continue reading
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