Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
You would think that now Pebble Technology Corporation (Pebble) has been in this business for so long, it doesn’t need Kickstarter any more and would’ve just sell its wearables directly. But Pebble is doing its part to give back to the Kickstarter community by offering its brand-new Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 smartwatches, plus the all-new Pebble Core smart wearable with built-in 3G and GPS, first on Kickstarter, months before it will be sold at retail stores. Kickstarter helped Pebble put smartwatches on the map back in 2012, raising over US$10 million on the crowdfunding platform, just like how Kickstarter helped Oculus put virtual reality (VR) on the map with the Rift. Pebble outdone itself later in 2015 as the Pebble Time (and Pebble Time Steel) overtook its first project, with over US$20 million funded. The current project by Pebble is at fourth place in terms of most-funded on Kickstarter, but it still has over a month left and it should be able to easily overtake at least the first Pebble (currently at third place) or even that COOLEST cooler (at second spot).
Update (June 1st, 2016): As of now, folks have already pledged over US$9 million of its US$1 million goal, with 28 days left. Also surprising, at the time of this update, all of the reward tiers but two early bird ones, are still available and in stock.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Pebble 2
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Pebble 2 currently starts from US$99 or ~RM407.21 on Kickstarter, and will retail from US$129 or ~RM530.51. It is the direct successor to the original Pebble, and retains the classic, all-plastic, rectangular design. Most watch snobs may still dismiss it as being a toy-like wearable, but the Pebble 2 is anything but.
Though not an Android Wear or a watchOS, Pebble is able to hold its own as a full-fledged smartwatch platform that does third-party app notifications, and has steps-counting and sleep-tracking capabilities. And now with the Pebble 2, it steps it up a notch to offer an optical heart rate sensor too. Think about this; previously for around RM400+, you can only get a honor Band SS that doesn’t even do third-party apps or heart rate tracking.
Pebble 2 only reads the heart rate every 10 minutes when idle, unlike other trackers that are more frequent, but it is dynamic and will ramp up the frequency during workouts.
All these while retaining its 7-day battery life and 30-meter water-resistance, which by the way, no other smartwatches out there even dare to claim. The Pebble 2 also has a built-in microphone for voice notes and SMS dictations, but it doesn’t have a speaker. Both it and the Pebble Time 2 works not only with Android, but also iOS, for watch customizations and app notifications.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Pebble Time 2
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Pebble Time 2 on Kickstarter, is priced at US$169 or ~RM694.97, and will later retail for US$199 or ~RM818.38. Just like the Pebble 2, Pebble Time 2 is the successor to the previous Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel. If rumors are true, there won’t be a Pebble Time Steel 2, and Pebble Time 2 is the only choice you’ll get for a new, premium-looking smartwatch from the company, until it refreshes the Pebble Time Round.
The major upgrade over the older Time is Pebble Time 2’s larger, color e-paper display. It now measures 1.5 inches with a resolution of 200 x 228, which it around 53 percent larger than Pebble Time’s 1.25-inch, 144 x 168 color e-paper screen. Because of that (and the heart rate sensor), Pebble Time 2 is about a millimeter thicker and around 20 grams heavier, though the width and length are still identical to the predecessor.
The innards have been upgraded too, naturally. It is now running on an ARM Cortex M7 processor as opposed to the Pebble Time’s Cortex M4. Just like the Pebble 2, Pebble Time 2 also has a built-in optical heart rate sensor that measures every 10 minutes when idle, but is dynamic and will ramp up the frequency during workouts. But the most impressive thing about it is that even though it has a color display, Pebble Time 2 is able to achieve a 10-day battery life; that three days longer than the Pebble 2.
Also like the Pebble 2, this Pebble Time 2 is water-resistant up to 30 meters, and is also a full-fledged smartwatch with support for third-party apps, notifications, and app controls. View your schedule right from the watch. Press a button to call an Uber. Fitness progress can be viewed from the watch as well as from the smartphone app. Speaking of which, the phone app can be used to handpick which app notifications to show, to change the watch face, and to also offer adaptive goals and scheduling for your fitness goals. Needless to say, the app also does automatic activity classification, to differentiate between sleeping, walking, and running, which it’ll then log them in the tracker accordingly.
Pebble Core
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Now, you must be thinking, all these are great, but Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 don’t have a GPS antenna unlike those dedicated fitness watches out there like the Fitbit Surge or the Garmin Forerunner 235 or the Lenovo Moto 360 Sport. This is where the Pebble Core comes in. Pebble has to keep its stellar battery life reputation found on all of its watches, and GPS tracking tend to suck the battery life down, so a dedicated GPS module adds a larger battery and allows you to keep it charged at home when you’re not working out outdoors. Pebble Core will set you back from US$79 or ~RM324.71 and will later retail for US$99 or ~RM406.91.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
It is basically just a square tracker, but in it, you’ll find GPS, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, two programmable buttons, a hardware expansion port, and even a 4 GB flash storage for music. There is a micro-SIM slot for you to pop in your secondary SIM card when you’re out for a run without a phone. Because it does Bluetooth, you could use one of your wireless headphones, but there is also a 3.5 mm audio socket for your wired buds. Even with GPS on and music playing, the Pebble Core could last up to nine hours on a single charge. Pebble didn’t specify whether it’s offline or streaming music, but for nine hours, it’s probably offline music. It comes with a USB charging cable, but an optional wireless charging pad is also available for US$20 (~RM82.43).
What would be fantastic is this — imagine if you could pair the Pebble watch directly with the Pebble Core, and since the latter is connected to the internet, you could use the watch to make calls, book an Uber, et cetera, all without requiring a smartphone around. But that asking too much, I guess?
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Speaking of which, Pebble Core can also stream from Spotify, and syncs fitness data with a whole bunch of services, including Google Fit, MapMyRun, Runkeeper, Strava, and Under Armour Record. Part of this is thanks Android 5.0 operating system that’s running inside the Pebble Core. During workouts, it tracks your time, pace, distance, and of course, location with GPS. Real-time statistics and audio cues of your workout will be read to you through the headphones, and if you get a stroke of inspiration during your run, you can even record a voice note at the push of the button. One of the buttons can be programmed to send out an emergency distress ping if needed.
Besides fitness, the Pebble Core can also be a hacker’s delight because of its connected nature (and the two buttons). Besides controlling music playback or send emergency SOS with location or record voice notes, the buttons can also be used to call an Uber, unlock your car, turn on or off lights, and open the garage door (if you’re lucky enough in Malaysia to even have a garage). Also, remember that this Pebble Core is a light device with a 3G and GPS connection, so the possibilities are endless. You could hook it up to a quadcopter and pilot it from the comfort of a web browser (as long the copter is in a cellular coverage area), or also attach it to your cat and see where that little critter went throughout its day (for nine hours, because the GPS will drain the battery). Developers can already get early access to the SDK (software development kit).
To learn more or to fund the project, visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-2-time-2-and-core-an-entirely-new-3g-ultra.
The post The Pebble 2, Pebble Time 2, and all-new Pebble Core are now on Kickstarter appeared first on TechAttack.my.