Fitbit Reportedly Close to Acquiring Pebble

[Spanky Deluxe]

As a Kickstarter backer for the original Pebble, I don't really care. By the time I finally got my Pebble, it was already available in retail stores and was almost a year later than the promised delivery date and better smart watches were already out and a month after my Pebble finally arrived, Apple announced the Apple Watch. I could handle some manufacturing and shipping delays but having the watch already be available in retail outlets a couple of months before I finally got my Kickstarter reward felt like a huge insult. It's still sitting in it's box somewhere, pristine.

 

[NT1440]

As a Kickstarter backer for the original Pebble, I don't really care. By the time I finally got my Pebble, it was already available in retail stores and was almost a year later than the promised delivery date and better smart watches were already out and a month after my Pebble finally arrived, Apple announced the Apple Watch. I could handle some manufacturing and shipping delays but having the watch already be available in retail outlets a couple of months before I finally got my Kickstarter reward felt like a huge insult. It's still sitting in it's box somewhere, pristine.

The Apple watch was out a month after you received the Pebble as a kickstarter purchase? I was wearing my Pebble for over 6 months before the Apple Watch came out, perhaps they served domestically first?

 

[satchmo]

I've never owned a Pebble watch so I can't comment on the functionality. However, I will say the watch 'looks' like a cheap plastic toy.

It's lack of design/fashion sense, likely didn't suit many professionals or women. It was a hit with geeks and nerds, but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing one with a business attire.

 

[rp2011]

I've never owned a Pebble watch so I can't comment on the functionality. However, I will say the watch 'looks' like a cheap plastic toy.

It's lack of design/fashion sense, likely didn't suit many professionals or women. It was a hit with geeks and nerds, but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing one with a business attire.

Yes all true.
It was kitschy and playful and young and it was what it was.
The good thing about it is it never tried to pretend it was something it wasn't. It was a cheaply made plastic device that pointed towards what it "could be"

As far as professionals, I tend to see the doctors I see wear the Apple Watch. Possibly because of the ease of, and amount of notifications they receive right on their wrists. Like a modern version of the pagers they all wore in the 80's and early 90's.

 

[jaster2]

I've had the original Pebble since launch. Their OS updates have made it better and better. Every time I've picked up an Apple Watch I've set it down thinking there's just no way I need something like that. The Pebble is a great price point for something that gives me the time, shows texts, and does a few other things that I use occassionally. I figured I would upgrade soon, but not if development is halted. I've owned other iOS device accessories that quickly became obsolete when development halted (hello, Nike!). Hoping against hope that this doesn't mean the end of Pebble.

 

[macduke]

I almost backed the original Pebble, but I thought it looked kind of crappy and decided to hold out for the Apple Watch. If I would have known that the Apple Watch was still so far out, I might have backed it, but in the long run I think I made the right choice. I knew they weren't long for this world once Apple, Samsung and everyone else got up and running. It's a shame that it's so difficult for a tech startup to get going nowadays. They get locked out of certain features on phones unless they own the whole entire hardware, software, and integrated product portfolio and ecosystem services stack (additionally but semi-unrelated, the downfall of net neutrality will prevent startups from getting their foot in the door if they do anything with a lot of mobile data). Their best options were to be bought out or to develop a fully Android version and compete in that space. I think on Android they could have done quite well since many Android users are less concerned with aesthetics and performance and more concerned with lower price points.

 

[jimbobb24]

just like smart phones - "smart" watches will hit a saturation point.

it's unfortunately not a product that is necessary perhaps more of a distraction.

That said if you're serious about fitness you go to garmin.

if you're a casual walker/runner then there is everything else.

For ILuvEggplants definition of "serious". Other peoples needs will vary.

 

[groove-agent]

Canceling my order from Amazon now... ******. I was looking forward to getting lne this Christmas.

 

[cliffster82]

First smartwatch for me, and probably a ton of people, was a Pebble. I feel like it was a stair step to something better. Enter Apple Watch. I guess Pebble served its purpose and introduced smart watches to the masses. I hope Fitbit releases some sort of fusion watch/tracker with some style as I do like the look of Pebble's latest offerings. Fitbit Blaze doesn't cut it IMO.

 

[hybrid_x]

I had often been tempted to step into the wearable space with a Pebble, but haven't worn a watch since 1993, and didn't really want to start that again. My phone is always in my pocket. I can see there being a tiny advantage to having notifications a little more accessible, but not enough to pony up a couple hundred bucks.

But like most gadgets, a smart watch is not a "must have" item for most people. There's a limited audience, and once that audience is saturated, companies have to reinvent, reimagine, reintroduce HARD, or they lose customers fast. As soon as Apple entered the wearable space, Pebble's days were numbered.

But even Apple has seen sales decline with iPads and Watches, for the same reason mentioned before… once everybody who wants one has one, who do you sell to?

I've got an iPad 4, and it's getting a little long in the tooth. When I first got it, it actually replaced my laptop at home for most of what I did… reading forums, blogs, watching Netflix, checking email and social media, etc. But I'm in a laptop upgrade cycle now, and that takes priority over getting another iPad that would be less slow than my 16 GB iPad 4. Tablets are wonderful media-consumption devices, but when I need to get real work done, I NEED to use a laptop or another computer that isn't walled-off the way an iPad is.

But I digress…

It's a shame to see Pebble staring down its own demise. They had a great idea (we need more devices with e-ink displays) but ultimately are in the "luxury" devices market, and they tapped out their potential customer base long ago. That's a tough slog.

 

[Bob Zimmerman]

... (we need more devices with e-ink displays) ...

The display isn't e-ink. It's "e-paper", which is a much more loosely-defined term. e-ink involves electrostatic relocation of pigments. The displays retain a shown image even with no power applied. This is the kind of display Amazon's Kindle uses.

"e-paper" as used by Pebble is just a low-power LCD. Typically, they are reflective rather than transmissive. Some work in both ways and are called "transflective". They only show an image when power is applied, but they typically consume very little (on the order of 50 milliwatts). The Apple Newton used a transflective display.

 

[APlotdevice]

The display isn't e-ink. It's "e-paper", which is a much more loosely-defined term. e-ink involves electrostatic relocation of pigments. The displays retain a shown image even with no power applied. This is the kind of display Amazon's Kindle uses.

"e-paper" as used by Pebble is just a low-power LCD. Typically, they are reflective rather than transmissive. Some work in both ways and are called "transflective". They only show an image when power is applied, but they typically consume very little (on the order of 50 milliwatts). The Apple Newton used a transflective display.

Specifically a Sharp memory LCD, which has much higher contrast than conventional reflective LCDs, though it does still suffer from fading when viewed from some angles. Also the "memory" part refers to the fact that the pixels can remember their state without constant input from the display controller. This further reduces the power consumption.

 

[carrrrrlos]

I kinda liked Pebble, hope they got a good deal.

 

[hybrid_x]

"e-paper" as used by Pebble is just a low-power LCD. Typically, they are reflective rather than transmissive. Some work in both ways and are called "transflective". They only show an image when power is applied, but they typically consume very little (on the order of 50 milliwatts). The Apple Newton used a transflective display.

Thank you for the clarification!

 

[christian_koehler]

I don't think thats a plus of the Apple watch, it is simply an oversight by Garmin.
They should give us an option to exclude certain runs from the vo2max / race time estimation.

In frequently do hill (5 to 10% incline) running on a treadmill. This totally screws up the vo2max estimation. For the watch it is simply a slow run with a very high heart rate (bad vo2 max). It completely ignores the incline in the calculation.

In general I don't have much faith in "measurements" beyond time, distance, pace and hr. For example: My vo2max according to a Polar watch is 69. On a Garmin it's only 47. The calories are also vastly different.

Christian

Garmin are good for track workouts etc, but sometimes when Im on a recovery day they drop my vO2 max estimate cause im tired, this is where the apple watch comes in great.

 

[AronDraws]

I loved my pebble until it started split-screening about 2-3 months in. Constant complete resets took so long and it just didn't solve the problem like they promised. Ended up pulling the trigger and getting the apple watch when Best Buy had a $100 off sale.

I do miss the Pixel look of the pebble.

 

[BlargKing]

This ****ing sucks. I still use my 1st gen Pebble Steel and I love it. Its precisely what a Smartwatch should be. A watch first with some useful and practical 3rd party apps and notification capability. Its not over burdened with cameras and color displays and 1000 features. Its just a watch with some extra functionality borrowed from smartphone tech.

I can't think of any other smartwatch thats as affordable and easy to use, not to mention I get easily a week between battery charges.

I use to own a fitbit, the app was a mess, and the device was a pain to use. I've heard of more people with Pebble watches than I have of people with Fitbit watches.

I really hope this doesn't go through. Pebble is far better at wearable tech than Fitbit.

 

[neoelectronaut]

What a shame, I just started my third year of ownership of a Pebble Steel and it's a solid little watch.

 

[cmaier]

My pebble bricked during a software update and after going round and round with their tech support for awhile I gave up. Was a Kickstarter backer.

 

[44267547]

What a shame, I just started my third year of ownership of a Pebble Steel and it's a solid little watch.

That's a decent life span with Pebble that you acquired. But I think Pebble lacked the necessary funds to continue to innovate. Sure, what they had was adequate years ago. But Pebble failed to innovate and heavily relied on Kickstarter. I'm not saying what they had on the market, but when Apple and Fitbit stepped in, it took away any chance they had. Also, I mentioned this previously, but Pebble never advertised. Never. And how is a manufacturer to shine their product without anyone knowing about it? Word of mouth isn't good enough.

They had their chance and I appreciate the battery life and simplicity offered in their devices. But it's not good enough to prevent from being stagnant, which is exactly what happened. Although, they were finally crossing the path of health related features, aside from being a notification Watch.

 

[stanhope]

I'm sure a lot of people will be very disappointed by this. Pebble has/had a very loyal user group.

I had a pebble....operative word HAD. What consumer base they have has to be miniscule since they were laying off chunks of it's workforce.

 

[2IS]

I have a fit bit, I find it almost useless. Bulky, ugly, and completely inaccurate heart monitoring once you start to sweat.

 

[groove-agent]

I liked the Pebble for actually looking like a watch and at a price you could justify. It's the only thing I asked for for Christmas but after this news I told my wife not to get me one. It would last until the next iOS version then not work with my phone anymore.

I'm going to have another look at the Apple watch but I don't like the look of them (my wife has one). The pebble was on the all the time which was cool and didn't resemble one of those fat ugly calculator watches from the 80s.

 

[cmaier]

I liked the Pebble for actually looking like a watch and at a price you could justify. It's the only thing I asked for for Christmas but after this news I told my wife not to get me one. It would last until the next iOS version then not work with my phone anymore.

I'm going to have another look at the Apple watch but I don't like the look of them (my wife has one). The pebble was on the all the time which was cool and didn't resemble one of those fat ugly calculator watches from the 80s.

Never found that it worked all that well with iOS. Hit and miss with notifications. Of course, mine bricked quite awhile ago, so maybe they finally got it working.

 

[Born Again]

For ILuvEggplants definition of "serious". Other peoples needs will vary.

are you a serious runner? cyclist? swimmer?