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- 30-day battery life
- open source OS
🫨
Does it use just standard watch bands? It looks like it, but I didn’t see it mentioned.
One of the things I find ridiculous about other smart watches is that they use proprietary bands. When I found out that people are paying $60+ for a silicon band for an Apple watch, it blew my mind. Also that people put screen protectors or cases on their Apple watches because their $500+ watch doesn’t even have a crystal lens, and is prone to scratching.
Yes, the announcement blog post states they use standard 22mm watch bands, as the original Pebbles did.
Is that typical? I guess Apple sells watch bands at that price, but I’ve never bought a $60 Apple branded watch band. With the ubiquity of Apple Watches it’s not hard to find inexpensive Apple Watch bands even if they are proprietary. I don’t think that’s the case for other smartwatches, though.
The Bangle.js is around too.
Open Source “OS” ? Did they intentionally forget a statement or two around someone else’s IP ?
Anyone of the github contributors care to explain what their repo’s content will exactly be? https://github.com/pebble-dev/pebble-nonfree
Likely binary blobs from vendors like Debian non-free-firmware.
We will see, unless there is an “official” announcement of some sort for the exacts contents of that github repo prior to preorder closing.
The current README contents do not do justice.
You do you, but the OS is here.
I’m pretty excited about this; my Pebble Time was the best watch I’ve even owned - smart or otherwise.
That said, I don’t think I’m going to be preordering this given how badly the last Pebble Kickstarter went. For those who weren’t around at the time, Pebble (whose CEO is behind this venture) built his whole business around Kickstarter. The first 2 generations were wildly successful, but for the third generation they massively overextended themselves trying to get hardware into mainstream retailers, prioritised building stock for retail channels (because contracts) and ran out of cash before shipping for the majority of backers who had bankrolled this whole thing. Eventually everyone who hadn’t had their orders fulfilled got a refund, but that was only because FitBit decided to buy them. Eric seems like a nice guy and great at the technology - and I’m not saying that I could run a business any better - but I think I’ll wait until there is stock on hand for me to buy outright before I hand over my cash
He also screwed a lot of the employees on the way out from Pebble, and he also bailed on Beeper the minute it got complicated. Sold it to Matt Mullenweg a year or two after getting pimp-slapped by Apple because he had no real plan for what to do if Apple started banning the devices he was using as Matrix bridges. He gave up after like three days, it was honestly genuinely pathetic. This was a paid service and he fucked it all up for anyone using iMessage on it.
I have personal experiences with Beeper that make me less than trust Eric Migicovsky, and I really don’t think he seems like a “nice guy.” He actively sucks, doesn’t have plans for sustainability and then sells it all off to someone else at a personal profit while the people doing the actual work get fucked out of a job.
Beeper is an instant messenger software that enables using a variety of chat services and protocols all from the same application. It was created in 2020 by Eric Migicovsky, Brad Murray and Tulir Asokan
On December 5, 2023, the company released Beeper Mini, an Android app that can send messages through Apple’s iMessage instant messaging service.
Beeper Mini was downloaded more than 100,000 times within two days of launch. After the release, Apple repeatedly blocked Beeper Mini from sending messages through iMessage, and Beeper updated the app multiple times to circumvent Apple’s blocks.[18] On December 21, 2023, Beeper issued its last update to Beeper Mini, which requires users to access an iOS or macOS device to enable the app to send messages through iMessage.[20]
That timeline is crazy. It’s a chat app for years. It breaks into iMessage and gets crazy downloads. Then 16 days later they’ve given up. Four months later he sells the whole thing.
Yeah, he seems to have a bad habit of bailing on his pet projects once they become “difficult” partially because he never seems to have an actual plan to get them to financial stability. It’s why I’m so hesitant to have any hopes for this reboot of Pebble after he bailed on it the first time around.
From their FAQ, emphasis mine:
You shouldn’t get one if…
You need a perfectly polished smartwatch. This project is a labour of love rather than a startup trying to sell millions of watches. There may be some rough edges (literally). Things will get delayed. Some features will not be ready at launch. Things could break. Things could not last as long as you’d like. The only thing we can guarantee is that it will be awesome and a lot of fun! Every time you look down at your watch, you will smile
So yeah, I’d say your take is pretty accurate. At least they’re honest lol
My concern isn’t that things will get delayed, it’s that I’ll give them my money and get nothing in return
That’s. Uh… the entire idea of a kickstarter.
It may crash and burn. Don’t want that, don’t back anything on kickstarter.
Understandable, which is why I’m choosing to not preorder. However, they also have a full refund policy that’s good until your unit is being prepared to ship, and several notifications leading up to that point. One of the best ways to handle preorders I’ve encountered.
Yep im also going to wait til its out to make a judgement call.
Ditto, even though I’m in the market to replace my smartwatch since the buttons fell off.
I always feel nervous preordering anything. I got a new Fitbit so I think I have some time before it fails so I can see how this rePebble works out. If it is as good as it looks I might just get it. 30 day estimated battery life is amazing
If it’s open source, could someone potentially develop an app for it to control devices in home assistant? Would love to be able to control my room lights from my watch, and don’t think it’s possible on my Xiaomi watch fit 3 connected to gadgetbridge.
I recognize that there would also need to be work done in the app to support this as the watch only supports BLE
There are a couple already, e.g. https://github.com/Willow-Systems/pebble-home-assistant
What’s even cooler is that the nRF52840 chip that they will use has ZigBee support, which theoretically means it can talk to your network directly if software supports it
It’s open source.
too bad its a US based company
Why would they choose to name the watch “Core 2 Duo” when that’s the name of an Intel processor? And why are both watches a “2” variant? They need a new marketing person.
And why are both watches a “2” variant?
Because this is the next generation of the original Pebble watches.
Core 2 Duo
I’ll actually be surprised if this makes it to launch without Intel perhaps making a few legal calls and prompting a device name change.
The most recent Intel Core 2 Duo was discontinued in 2008. I doubt Intel would be able to convince anyone that this is a competing product or would cause any customer confusion. No one is going to be looking for a low end processor from over a decade ago and accidentally buy a watch.
Corporations are extremely protective about their branding, even if it’s for discontinued products. If this product gets any negative press, it can still affect their branding if people associate it with Intel.
The point is not that it is being used, the point is that corporations must protect their trademarks or else they may lose the exclusive rights to them. Intel also still uses the “Core” branding on their modern CPU’s so it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to try and continue legally protecting “Core 2 Duo” under the guise of retaining the “Core” part of their trademarks.
when that’s the name of an Intel processor?
It’s totally a reference to that, it has to pretty much… Why? Idk, nostalgia?
That was my first thought as well. “Intel gonna sue somebody.”
Wait, the basic version has a compas and barometer without a heart rate monitor, but the more expensive one has a heart rate monitor and no barometer or compass? Why?
Because that’s the feature people actually want. The biggest use of these watches is having an active heart rate monitor, as evident by even most of the cheaper watches having them.
Pebble is now playing a gambit, whereby they think they will sell more of the premium model to people who will be using it for exercise and health reasons.
Either that, or the hardware chosen specifically separates the heart rate monitor so that vendors strike a better deal with the factories to get specially designed chips.
Either way, someone is getting taken for a ride.
Pebble is now playing a gambit, whereby they think they will sell more of the premium model to people who will be using it for exercise and health reasons.
There’s an explicit line in their site that says these are not made to be fitness trackers, and that garmin are good for that (or some other brand, can’t remember). It would be very odd to say that if it was their target.
Dammit, I wanted to use this as a fitness tracker like garmin
Edit: found this
Software features
Each watch runs open source PebbleOS. This enables all the baseline Pebble features like receiving notifications, timeline, watchfaces, alarms, timers, calendar, music control, basic fitness tracking, etc.
https://ericmigi.com/blog/introducing-two-new-pebbleos-watches/
For fitness its probably decent but Garmin seems to have placebo sleep tracking. In order to get anything remotely accurate the sleep tracking algorithm has to be compared to a lot of polysomnograph data. But because companies don’t want to spend any more than they need to sleep tracking is usually just tacked on. Garmin hasn’t shown a good track record in this regard.
He wasn’t going to add compass because most people don’t use it, but then he added it to the Core 2 Duo as a favor to a friend who helped on that version and wanted a compass in it.
I am wearing my OG Kickstarter Pebble right now, 12 years and still getting 8 days battery out of it.
I think I will be getting a new Core Time 2
I had to stop wearing my pebble 2 hr when the software became too flaky to tolerate. Notifications would just randomly Go through or not, media controls would sometimes not work, and so on. But can’t wait to go back, as my alternatives are all fundamentally flawed.
Wow, mine died years ago.
It has the screen tearing issue, which can’t be fixed because it is one of the original ones which are glued together.
I have to have it on the analogue watch face so the screen refreshes every second. But it has outlasted the 4 other watches I tried.
Price seems kinda steep for a device that doesn’t have sleep/SpO2/Stress and HRV tracking capabilities
As someone very excited for this watch, the battery life with an always on display is more important to me than a sp02 sensor (Btw it will do sleep tracking). That and the button navigation are the killer features. The watch shows me what I need to know when I need to know it, always has the time on, and I can navigate it and control media playback without having to look at it (since buttons are consistent). I want a smart watch to be a good watch first then being smart is the second priority, and the pebble is the only watch I’ve ever had that gets those priorities right for me. Every other smart watch I’ve used sacrifices something I value to fit more features that I dont value as much. The pebbles have just gotten it right for me.
That said, the watch also isn’t for everyone, and a lot of people are OK charging their watch every day if it means they also get every feature they want.
Regarding charging - I charge my huawei watch fit 3 (that I got for like $150) every 2 weeks or so
I probably will end up getting the pebble as it appears I can interact with it on home assistant. Rough that I may have to wait till December though, it looks like
Are they going to support it with an app?
Ope!
We will publish a companion mobile app for Android and iOS. My friend and past Pebble colleague, Steve, recently joined us to lead this effort. He’s joining crc32, long-time Cobble developer, who has been working with me since last summer. We’ll also be working on an updated SDK for creating new PebbleOS watchfaces or apps.
Only thing missing is NFC. If it had it I would get it in a heart beat
For anyone looking for a similar device in the interim (long battery, open source) the PineTime is a great device.
This is neat but the selling point for me with the Pebble is the e-ink display. If repebble fails though, my next watch will be a Pine. Hopefully my Versa 2 holds on for a bit longer 🤞
it’s an “e-paper” display, which annoyingly is nothing like an e-ink display. it’s an LCD with a memory chip in it. the bangle.js also has one, which can do eight colors. so better than the black and white one, but worse than the 64-color one. also it’s half the price of the cheaper pebble…
How does this compare to pine64? I want a privacy focused watch if at all possible
I’m with you on this. If it could come with a privacy-respecting smartphone app hosted on F-Droid, that would be so great.
Gadgetbridge supports pebble
I have a PineTime running through Gadgetbridge, and a Pebble Time Steel with Rebble services. You can pair the Pebble with Gadgetbridge and run it that way, and I imagine these new Core watches would operate similarly… But we will find out as time goes on.
I wish them the absolute best of luck and hope they stay firmly in their niche.
I’ll be sticking with my mechanical and dumbquartz watches personally, got more than enough gadgets by now…
IDon’tNeedAPebbleIDon’tNeedAPebbleIDon’tNeedAPebbleIDon’tNeedAPebbleIDon’tNeedAPebbleIDon’tNeedAPebble
Aaand preordered. The Pebble Steel was one of the best smartwatches I’ve ever had. I loved that thing and I’m still pissed that I sold the steel a few years ago.
Ꝏꝏ love the white one . That watch faceeeeee 🤍🤍
