Pebble Unfazed by Apple Watch, Plans New Hardware and Software in 2015

MacRumors · Feb 2, 2015

While much of the wearables focus remains on the upcoming Apple Watch launch, Pebble continues to push forward with its own smartwatch platform that began as a record-setting Kickstarter project and has blossomed into a successful company. Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky recently discussed the company's extensive plans for new hardware in the upcoming year, along with a few details of Pebble's prosperous 2014, in an interview with The Verge.

Reaching a milestone for the company, Pebble shipped its one millionth Pebble smartwatch on December 31, 2014, undoubtedly thanks to a few major price drops to its flagship products and the introduction of noteworthy apps onto the device last year. As The Verge points out, Pebble's biggest competitor in 2014 was Google's Android Wear device range, but both will be facing significant competition come this April when the Apple Watch launches to the public.

Migicovsky is unfazed by the imminent release of the Apple Watch, however, outlining how Pebble's line of devices planned for release this year will deal less with the app-obsessed world most devices focus on, instead offering something dramatically different than any smartwatch on the market.

"We've found a new framework to use as an interaction model on the watch," boasts Migicovsky, before adding that while apps will continue to exist on Pebble, they won't be the main focus of the platform. "It doesn't look like what we have today, and it doesn't look like what's on your smartphone."

Migicovsky sticks mostly to pointing out Pebble's successful year - such as the company more than doubling by year's end its 400,000 units sold as of March - than providing meaningful details on new products coming out of the company. He tells The Verge fans will have to wait until "later this year" for more details on the company's upcoming devices.

Pebble's unflinching attitude towards its upcoming war with the Apple Watch falls in line with previous actions the company has taken when it comes to Apple's new wearable. When Apple announced the Apple Watch last September, Pebble updated its website with a few related zingers - targeting battery life, price, and over-enthusiastic responses - aimed at its competitors, namely Apple.

Article Link: Pebble Unfazed by Apple Watch, Plans New Hardware and Software in 2015

GizmoDVD · Feb 2, 2015

Yeah, good luck Pebble. With Apple around the corner and much better Android alternatives your days are numbered.

You all doubled sales because you drastically lowered the price right when the Apple Watch was announced.

jacobh101 · Feb 2, 2015

yeah when pebble was dumping watches at xmas for $99 I figured they had a new product coming out soon...Been patiently waiting for the next gen of smart watches.

thekeyring · Feb 2, 2015

They must have real confidence in their products and strategy. They don't want to have the same fate as Blackberry.

Aniseedvan · Feb 2, 2015

I'd read somewhere they were looking at a potential modular approach for their new offering.

Pebble will always have a place in the market, I'm just not sure how popular in a couple of years time it will be with Apple users if the same level of interaction isn't possible (presumably because of Apple's limitations) once the apple watch matures.

The feature set for JB iPhones and Androids with the android wear functionality is pretty good. I hope they're here to stay.

saintforlife · Feb 2, 2015

Oh yeah, Migicovsky is nervous.

troop231 · Feb 2, 2015

Cracker jack watches

blake.merrell · Feb 2, 2015

Good Riddance

I have owned 4 pebble watches. 2 of the first gen plastic model and 2 pebbles of the 'steel' variety. I hate them. But I love a smart watch. I work at construction sites. To loud to hear a ringer and often to much movement and/activity to feel a phone vibration. Try running a dozer and feeling a phone vibration. A smart watch is clutch as the wrist vibration can't be missed. All of my Pebble watches have sucked. Software issues, first gen hardware issues, battery life fading. It is a matter of weeks before the thing fails to work enough it warrants a return. Their problem is they need to be replaced yearly. They are disposable. Cheap. Lacking consistent functionality without a glitch or restart needed.

Can't wait for Apple's superior materials and software to solve my problems.

Quu · Feb 2, 2015

The Apple Watch will sell more on its first day than the Pebble will sell in the entire lifetime of the company past present and future.

Simple as that.

lars666 · Feb 2, 2015

I'd maybe still consider a Pebble over an Apple Watch as an only 1/3 expensive alternative as a limited, but great for its purpose notifications and music control wearable - but they definitely have to work on their design in this case. The Pebble looks TERRIBLY nerdy, plastic, ugly - always did, I bought one nevertheless because there was no real alternative (and always make sure it is hidden under my clothes in public), but the Apple Watch is definitely re-defining this aspect now - even their generation 1 already looks one hundred times more presentable and will look REALLY nice in the 2nd or 3rd generation. I don't expect high quality built material for a $100 pebble, but it definitely needs to look better (at least in my eyes) for manifesting itself as a budget alternative for people which would buy a smartwatch mainly for notification/music control purpose.

Michael Goff · Feb 2, 2015

Quu said:
The Apple Watch will sell more on its first day than the Pebble will sell in the entire lifetime of the company past present and future.

Simple as that.

And that means...

Tankmaze · Feb 2, 2015

Good for them to stay positive and optimistic. But Apple watch hasn't launched yet. it could increase pebble sales for people looking apple watch alternative or they could be gone next year as apple watch become the giant in the category.

Time will tell.

samcraig · Feb 2, 2015

GizmoDVD said:
Yeah, good luck Pebble. With Apple around the corner and much better Android alternatives your days are numbered.

You all doubled sales because you drastically lowered the price right when the Apple Watch was announced.

Quu said:
The Apple Watch will sell more on its first day than the Pebble will sell in the entire lifetime of the company past present and future.

Simple as that.

Tankmaze said:
Good for them to stay positive and optimistic. But Apple watch hasn't launched yet. it could increase pebble sales for people looking apple watch alternative or they could be gone next year as apple watch become the giant in the category.

Time will tell.

Nice pun Tankmaze

Are Pebble's days numbers? Maybe. Maybe not. What Pebble has created is somewhat unique right now. Pretty good battery life. Low barrier of entry (price point). Plenty of features. And oh yes - it's cross-platform.

While other watches might be nicer, they also come at the expense of price, battery life, and perhaps a lot of extras that some/many might not even want.

I wouldn't rule the Pebble out yet.

cdm283813 · Feb 2, 2015

Keep the price low and they will come.

MrXiro · Feb 2, 2015

GizmoDVD said:
Yeah, good luck Pebble. With Apple around the corner and much better Android alternatives your days are numbered.

You all doubled sales because you drastically lowered the price right when the Apple Watch was announced.

Disagree... Apple Watch is priced too high for the average consumer for a satellite product like a smart watch... Pebble's $99 price point is spot on for a 2 year old product. The price drop is no different than Apple's price drop of their aging iPod Touch last year.

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troop231 said:
Cracker jack watches

Image

You do realize this is as petty as Android and Windows fans calling Apple Products "toys" right? I used to think Apple fans were a little more mature than this... guess not when it comes to a watch that hasn't been released yet.

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samcraig said:
Nice pun Tankmaze

Are Pebble's days numbers? Maybe. Maybe not. What Pebble has created is somewhat unique right now. Pretty good battery life. Low barrier of entry (price point). Plenty of features. And oh yes - it's cross-platform.

While other watches might be nicer, they also come at the expense of price, battery life, and perhaps a lot of extras that some/many might not even want.

I wouldn't rule the Pebble out yet.

Smartest post on this thread!

JackANSI · Feb 2, 2015

I've had my plastic Pebble for over a year now. I was unimpressed by the initial build quality for the price and I still hold that the Pebble in plastic is no more than a $50 watch.

I didn't think it would survive a year, but it did. While I do charge it every night, its nice not having to ever worry about the thing going dead the way I use it. It is just used for notifications (and time checks), no apps. I think I forgot to charge it one night and still ended those 40 or so hours with more than 50% battery left.

I don't know if I'll use any apps on the Apple watch either, but the fact they had to offload all the heavy work onto the iPhone does have me concerned it won't last a whole day even at my sparse usage levels. A dead watch is as good as no watch.

Don't get me wrong, I most likely will get an Apple watch, but I'm definitely going to wait till the initial rush is over and everyone comes here to start complaining about any battery/quality issues. I might just buy one early to resell at a profit though (had good luck with that on each new form factor iPhone).

I don't see Pebble being around much more than 2-3 years from now. The FitBit line is pretty broad, even though expensive. Tacking the Apple watch on above that and whatever offerings for Android underneath leaves very little room for Pebble IMHO. Unless Pebble's new products are pretty darn stunning, they are on borrowed time in my book.

macduke · Feb 2, 2015

I would have bought a Pebble except that it's so ugly. I was really close to backing it. I also didn't think that Apple would allow some of the notification features but was wrong about that. Then they brought out the "pretty" bands and I realized they just don't get it. Battery life and price is the only reason to get this watch. Luckily for Pebble, those are still some good reasons.

I disagree with this article saying the Apple Watch will be a competitor of the Google Gear. I don't really see them competing directly. If you have iOS you get Apple Watch, if you have Android then you get Google Gear. It's about the platform you already have. Sure, over time having a better Watch might make your platform stronger, but you don't walk into a store and try to decide between the two unless you're replacing all of your tech at once. These ecosystems are becoming extremely entrenched.

Quu · Feb 2, 2015

samcraig said:
Nice pun Tankmaze

Are Pebble's days numbers? Maybe. Maybe not. What Pebble has created is somewhat unique right now. Pretty good battery life. Low barrier of entry (price point). Plenty of features. And oh yes - it's cross-platform.

While other watches might be nicer, they also come at the expense of price, battery life, and perhaps a lot of extras that some/many might not even want.

I wouldn't rule the Pebble out yet.

I think the price point on the Pebble is quite high for the features it has. 129 Euros to 229 Euros. That's $146 - $259 USD.

I'm personally not interested in wearing any watch of any kind. Doesn't appeal to me. But I think the Apple Watch will eat Pebbles lunch and this time next year we'll see Pebble shutting down their operations or downscaling significantly to stay running.

I just can't see how they can make it in this market. Their watches look gaudy so they aren't fashionable, they don't have colour screens, they won't have as many functions nor will they have direct support from Apple or Google for first party features.

Their best bet at this point is to partner with Blackberry and Microsoft to become the defacto smart watches of those devices since the Android and Apple Watches won't work with those devices.

sulpfiction · Feb 2, 2015

Pebble is lost. It's only a matter of time before they start on the slippery downslope. And they better be very worried about the Apple watch. Pebble is such a cheap, ugly toy. So much so that it won't even suffice as a budget alternative to the Apple Watch. Bye bye Pebble.

osofast240sx · Feb 2, 2015

It took them that long to ship one million, apple will sell one million in ten minutes.

samcraig · Feb 2, 2015

Quu said:
they won't have as many functions nor will they have direct support from Apple or Google for first party features.

Their best bet at this point is to partner with Blackberry and Microsoft to become the defacto smart watches of those devices since the Android and Apple Watches won't work with those devices.

sulpfiction said:
Pebble is lost. It's only a matter of time before they start on the slippery downslope. And they better be very worried about the Apple watch. Pebble is such a cheap, ugly toy. So much so that it won't even suffice as a budget alternative to the Apple Watch. Bye bye Pebble.

I completely disagree. I'm confused why some posters here believe that anyone who wants a smart watch is going to fork over over $300 for one.

I agree that FitBit is a major competitor. But Android Wear and Apple Watch? Birds of a different feather.

Not everyone wants all the bells and whistles that Google and Apple are delivering. It's just that simple.

sfrancis928 · Feb 2, 2015

samcraig said:
Are Pebble's days numbers?

No I think they're NSDates.

campingsk8er · Feb 2, 2015

blake.merrell said:
I have owned 4 pebble watches. 2 of the first gen plastic model and 2 pebbles of the 'steel' variety. I hate them.

All of my Pebble watches have sucked. Software issues, first gen hardware issues, battery life fading. It is a matter of weeks before the thing fails to work enough it warrants a return.

Their problem is they need to be replaced yearly.
They are disposable. Cheap. Lacking consistent functionality without a glitch or restart needed.

I have no idea what you are talking about.... I've had one since Christmas 2013 and only one time have I had to restart it and that was because my phone shut off when it was downloading new software onto the watch. I still to this day get between 4-7 days battery life.

MrXiro · Feb 2, 2015

samcraig said:
I completely disagree. I'm confused why some posters here believe that anyone who wants a smart watch is going to fork over over $300 for one.

I agree that FitBit is a major competitor. But Android Wear and Apple Watch? Birds of a different feather.

Not everyone wants all the bells and whistles that Google and Apple are delivering. It's just that simple.

I agree with this... I'm actually a good example. I jumped from Pebble to Fitbit Surge. Which essentially a Pebble on steroids.. It's a very similar screen if not the same. But with HRM, GPS tracking it has all the features I want in a smart watch besides "all" notifications. Currently it only has text and calls and they are very simple in comparison. But overall I love my FitBit.

PinkyMacGodess · Feb 2, 2015

It's too early for them to be worried.

But they need to improve their game. To fall back at this point isn't going to end well for them. Especially since the Apple Watch seems to be coming out rather high priced for the market.

Pebble Unfazed by Apple Watch, Plans New Hardware and Software in 2015

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