'Pebble Time' Debuts on Kickstarter With Slimmer Design and Color Display

[CFreymarc]

Pretty sure the screens alone cost more than that. The original black and White Sharp screen did.

When you start talking orders of 100K, the price drops significantly. If you hit a million units, even more. My breakdown of the components is this

Mechanical (strap, case, buttons): $1
Printed circuit board: $2
Electronic components: $4
Screen: $8
Connector: $1

 

[SlCKB0Y]

When you start talking orders of 100K, the price drops significantly. If you hit a million units, even more.

Pretty sure they never did production runs or purchasing in anywhere near this amount. Even at the end of fulfilling kickstarter units they were still only doing 10K runs with maybe enough parts for 80k units in their total order.

My breakdown of the components is this

Mechanical (strap, case, buttons): $1
Printed circuit board: $2
Electronic components: $4
Screen: $8
Connector: $1

Battery? Cable? Assembly? Packaging?

May I ask what your experience is? Those are pretty specific figures and when these guys started, they were doing their supply chain management by the seat of their pants.

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How hard is it for you to work on the Apple watch throughout the day? Oh right, you don't own one and cannot make a fair judgment on it's usefulness yet.

I know a bit about UI design, but you're right, its just an opinion.

Just like it is my opinion that it is ugly because it is disproportionately thick. From the side it looks like a suppository.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Any guesses how much they'll pull in with this campaign?
The first day was crazy, but it has slowed down. Will they hit $15 million?

 

[CFreymarc]

Pretty sure they never did production runs or purchasing in anywhere near this amount. Even at the end of fulfilling kickstarter units they were still only doing 10K runs with maybe enough parts for 80k units in their total order.

Battery? Cable? Assembly? Packaging?

May I ask what your experience is? Those are pretty specific figures and when these guys started, they were doing their supply chain management by the seat of their pants.

As far as experience goes, I have plenty of background supervising hardware designs and getting a BOM and ASMI to CMs. If you know those abbreviations without looking them up, you may be in my league. Eric did a good job getting this together. I just hope he does not get too drunk in his success and avoids the wrong women around him now.

As far as the build goes the parts cost I posted is off the cuff. At most the battery and assembly is another two dollars in volume. A good client manager knows when to call the bluff of a CM when they say a little ******** part placement is an extra added cost.

When Pebble cashed in on their Kickstarter, many experienced contract manufactures showed up at their door bidding for this build. IMO, Eric and his crew learned some hard lessons while avoiding going broke or being taken too hard.

They survived everything from accounting blunders, ******** CM bids, patent troll threats, some of the most bizarre foreign distribution offers up there with the Nigerian scam and the drama that comes with learning to hire those with talent over your friends.

Honestly, I'm surprised Eric and company hasn't taken the big check and moved on. I guess they want to feel these oats a bit longer. Enjoy guys and don't spend too much time at the British Bankers Club in Menlo Park!

 

[keatth]

Wtf were they thinking? I mean really, this is the biggest piece of **** they could have possibly released. It's like they went backwards. They should have just released Pebble 2 or Pebble Steel 2. It looks so stupid who would ever wear this?

 

[apolloa]

Meh, I cancelled my pre-order. I need to save for a new phone really and other things, plus I want to see how good Apple's health sensors are in the Apple watch.

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Any guesses how much they'll pull in with this campaign?
The first day was crazy, but it has slowed down. Will they hit $15 million?

I'll say well over 20 million. It's nearly at 10 million now and still has another 29 day's to go!

 

[RemE]

I've been a pebble user since the day they began shipping, they did a pretty good job overall. I picked up a Steel, and it is a very solid device with silky functioning buttons. I use it everyday, love the run time, and there are tons of really useful apps, from GPS/compass to weather, media control, timers etc. I did throw down for the Time, color will be a nice addition. I'm sure a steel version will follow.

I'm interested in the Apple watch as well, but think V1 with a cheesy aluminum case won't be all that great and God knows what they will charge for Steel. Pebble was years ahead and I've enjoyed the ride and am glad to see a small team bring a dream to reality in the face of these talented but egotistical Apple folks.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Honestly, I'm surprised Eric and company hasn't taken the big check and moved on.

I completely agree with this. They must had had some significant buyout offers and by refusing he has backed himself and his company... which must take some pretty big balls given their buyout price must be 100+ million by now.

 

[samcraig]

When you start talking orders of 100K, the price drops significantly. If you hit a million units, even more. My breakdown of the components is this

Mechanical (strap, case, buttons): $1
Printed circuit board: $2
Electronic components: $4
Screen: $8
Connector: $1

I have no idea why this is even a topic really. Who cares how much something cost to make as long as the value of the purchase price is on par with the value you want/expect from the product.

Does everyone here line list every product they own based on parts and cost and judge the product by it?

It's one thing to say that x screen is a better screen than y, or one manu makes better ram, etc. But if you're looking at simple raw cost (not factoring all of the other real expenses) - just about every product is going to look grossly overpriced.

 

[dontwalkhand]

I had a Pebble for one day, I returned it because it kept disconnecting from the phone. The screen would randomly garble on some notifications.

I know I said MS band but all in all I'm going Apple, with a Martian Notifier holding me over til then. Reason going to Apple? I know it'll work great with an Apple phone. Notifications are everything to me in a smartwatch. If those don't work, the whole watch is garbage.

 

[DDustiNN]

I love my Pebble Steel, but this new Pebble Time is soooooooo ugly. Wow.

I'd like the Pebble Time display/interface in the Pebble Steel casing.

Guess I'll just have to wait for the Pebble Time Steel.

I also dislike the look of the Apple Watch, but at least it looks better than the Pebble Time!

 

[APlotdevice]

I had a Pebble for one day, I returned it because it kept disconnecting from the phone. The screen would randomly garble on some notifications.

I know I said MS band but all in all I'm going Apple, with a Martian Notifier holding me over til then. Reason going to Apple? I know it'll work great with an Apple phone. Notifications are everything to me in a smartwatch. If those don't work, the whole watch is garbage.

While I had some connection issues when I first bought my Pebble almost a year ago, subsequent firmware updates made it quite stable. The only connection issue I deal with nowadays is the wireless one to iTunes (and that's from a Macbook Air, through an Airport router!).

 

[0098386]

They will still need to deliver.

And why won't they? They've hit their targets with their last 2 watches. It seems like its ready to go into mass production.

What qualms do you have? Have they let you down before? They delivered just fine on 100% of their kickstarters so far

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Pretty much my words exactly and I love Apple.

Same for me. I love Apple, I've only bought their computers since 2004, MP3 players since 2002. They're great at what they do but I just can't see what they want me to see with the Apple Watch. I was really hoping their rumoured watch would be excellent, but instead I'm doubling down and getting a new Pebble to go with my old one

 

[Anonymous Freak]

I love my Pebble Steel, but this new Pebble Time is soooooooo ugly. Wow.

I'd like the Pebble Time display/interface in the Pebble Steel casing.

Guess I'll just have to wait for the Pebble Time Steel.

I also dislike the look of the Apple Watch, but at least it looks better than the Pebble Time!

Pebble has already said that the new interface is coming to the older watches, too. Including the ability to have more than 8 apps in the watch at once.

While I like the look of the Steel more than the Time, the Time looks good to me. Especially with a leather or metal band added. (I replaced the stock band on my original Pebble with a leather band and it looks better. Not as good as the Steel, of course, but better.)

 

[lkwan]

Pebble is only awesome bc...

Everything else on the market is so terrible!!!

Back in the PDA hey day, windows CE products were terrible. SHarp wizards weren't good at all... but had a nice keyboard.

Compaq Ipad were leaps and bounds better than previous windows PDA.

At the same time Palm Pilots came out! they were awesome and affordable!

Newton was fantastic but at $1200... it was too overprice to go mainstream! I'd didn't even buy one!

FF to 2015. There are tons of tech companies that have a smartwatches... and they all suck!

It is apple's turn again to be the game changer! I can't wait to have one on my wrist!

 

[Knowimagination]

And why won't they? They've hit their targets with their last 2 watches. It seems like its ready to go into mass production.

What qualms do you have? Have they let you down before? They delivered just fine on 100% of their kickstarters so far

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Same for me. I love Apple, I've only bought their computers since 2004, MP3 players since 2002. They're great at what they do but I just can't see what they want me to see with the Apple Watch. I was really hoping their rumoured watch would be excellent, but instead I'm doubling down and getting a new Pebble to go with my old one

Just out of curiosity what it is it about the apple watch that is letting you down? I just really am not seeing how the pebble could be considered better outside of the price.

 

[Meowmeow123]

They have always used the term water resistant (which is what most companies do). The pebble can easily be used in the shower/pool up to a certain depth. That makes it water resistant like sickboy said, not waterproof.

It is much different than the apple watch version of water resistant. Same terminology, but way different meanings.

Thanks for the clarification! Not sure how I got it mixed up with actually being waterproof. Now looking at the Kickstarter again I do see that they mention it is safe for showering and swimming.

 

[tgwaste]

I have both the original kickstarter version and the pebble steel. The watches were fun and good Hobbyist devices but the bluetooth was absolutely awful on both watches with 3 different iPhones. It constantly disconnected and was a nightmare to re-pair (the finger dance from hell) and therefore I stopped wearing both of them due to their uselessness.

Im hoping Apple Watch will not present that problem.

 

[InuNacho]

It's great to know that there is an army of people out there who are more than willing to pay for any and all marketing I could ever want for a product.
I'll just invent a box called "Produckt" and hype it on Kickstarter.

 

[dec.]

They probably destroy Apple with their margins, but then, who cares about that except for stockholders and aliens?

 

[0098386]

Just out of curiosity what it is it about the apple watch that is letting you down? I just really am not seeing how the pebble could be considered better outside of the price.

Water resistance means I can use it for swimming without worrying about it, the battery lasts for around a week with normal use. The Apple Watch also looks much bulkier, the Pebble is much more slimmer according to the numbers. And I'm also slightly worried about viewing an LCD display in the midday sun, I already have to avoid using my iPhone in direct sunlight. I'd like at least one timepiece on me to be viewable in all lighting conditions, heh.

I can't even consider a watch that doesn't get a full days battery. I've already got to make sure my iPhone is charging overnight otherwise I won't be able to use it the next day, I don't want more devices with that same problem.

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It's great to know that there is an army of people out there who are more than willing to pay for any and all marketing I could ever want for a product.
I'll just invent a box called "Produckt" and hype it on Kickstarter.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Pebble have already delivered, this is their successor. We know what to expect. Much like how people preorder Apple products, games, films, albums. Is this a new concept to you?

 

[APlotdevice]

Water resistance means I can use it for swimming without worrying about it, the battery lasts for around a week with normal use. The Apple Watch also looks much bulkier, the Pebble is much more slimmer according to the numbers. And I'm also slightly worried about viewing an LCD display in the midday sun, I already have to avoid using my iPhone in direct sunlight. I'd like at least one timepiece on me to be viewable in all lighting conditions, heh.

I can't even consider a watch that doesn't get a full days battery. I've already got to make sure my iPhone is charging overnight otherwise I won't be able to use it the next day, I don't want more devices with that same problem.

Plus NOT having to charge it overnight means that you can use the watch as a silent alarm. A feature that Ive even said he'd be interested in.

 

[bobob]

Plus NOT having to charge it overnight means that you can use the watch as a silent alarm. A feature that Ive even said he'd be interested in.

Luckily, Ive is able to use his Apple Watch since he can recharge in half an hour while he's eating his dinner.

 

[APlotdevice]

Luckily, Ive is able to use his Apple Watch since he can recharge in half an hour while he's eating his dinner.

I seriously doubt you'll be able to get a full charge in only a half hour. And plus that's a half hour that you won't be getting your notifications on your wrist.

 

[0098386]

I seriously doubt you'll be able to get a full charge in only a half hour. And plus that's a half hour that you won't be getting your notifications on your wrist.

Sounds like Apple's old mantra of "fills 80% in 1 hour, fills 100% in 4 hours" battery charging speak. Aren't you supposed to not do those mini-charges on batteries? I think if something has a non replaceable battery you really want to avoid charging half an hour over dinner.