[Kickstarter] Pebble - Smart Watch for Android/iPhone

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It looks way too big imo. Hopefully there's a future model that's much smaller in profile. The concept and execution is pretty great though.
 
Divvy said:
It looks way too big imo. Hopefully there's a future model that's much smaller in profile. The concept and execution is pretty great though.
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my problem too, a lil bit big for me to actually wear. kinda seems awkward.

i like this use for kickstarter. would suck if the rewards for this never came through.
 
I was really confused at how they got to that funding with "only" 10,000 backers until I saw that the cheapest option was basically $100. I really hope they can fulfill the (really, really crazy) amount of orders they're going to end up having.
 
freshair said:
Good concept and prototype. Hope they can fulfill all their backers.

There's been a couple projects like this that have been overfunded and they haven't been able to fill all their products in a timely manner.

http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012...rst-project-i-ever-funded-on-kickstarter.html

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cwandt/pen-type-a-a-minimal-pen/posts
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Yep and this isn't going to be delivered within the next six months. I have faith in this group (they've already brought a working product to market before) but they're still talking about SDKs and what not. I'd rather wait until the final version has been put into production, reviewed by a couple tech blogs and it's confirmed that Apple is has signed off on the accessory integration. In the meantime, there are a couple other smart watches arriving this year that I can waste my money on :/
 
Greyface said:
Yep and this isn't going to be delivered within the next six months. I have faith in this group (they've already brought a working product to market before) but they're still talking about SDKs and what not. I'd rather wait until the final version has been put into production, reviewed by a couple tech blogs and it's confirmed that Apple is has signed off on the accessory integration. In the meantime, there are a couple other smart watches arriving this year that I can waste my money on :/
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Link?
 
Serious question, what's to stop the Pebble 'dream team' experiencing "delays" for as long as it takes for everybody who gave money to forget that they did? What recourse is there for people who feel they are being conned by a company using Kickstarter?
 
Good Job Bob said:
Link?
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Sony Smartwatch just launched in the US
MotoActv has been out for a few months.
The WIMM One is still in the SDK for developers stage (NB that inPulse is made by the same people now working on this Pebble).
i'm Watch I fear is a scam but they promise to ship in a few months.
Metawatch has gone real quiet in recent months (got new investors supposedly) yet I always thought was the most promising—well until this Pebble project anyway.

It's a very hard device to get right. Yet I think the kickstarter success of Pebble shows how quickly it can capture the imagination. The smartphone industry is such a quick moving target though. By the time Pebble is finally delivered to backers it could well be obsolete.

blahblah...blah said:
Serious question, what's to stop the Pebble 'dream team' experiencing "delays" for as long as it takes for everybody who gave money to forget that they did? What recourse is there for people who feel they are being conned by a company using Kickstarter?
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Nothing really. Kickstarter says that the 'pledges' are given with no strings attached and I don't think there has been a disappointed customer who has taken a failed venture to court yet. I've seen a couple of threats in the comments section but no real action yet.
 
I both want and don't want this thing... I mean I want it pretty bad but I know myself and I'd just end up too lazy to bring it along to work on most days. Not a watch person, though I would probably end up buying this when it comes out in the hopes that I'll turn into one.

Korey said:
Wow...this made me want to not fund a kickstarter, ever
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Uh...yeah. That project needs to just be shut down and banned from Kickstarter. Lying to backers, trying to squeeze more money out for no reason and generally being absolute asshats. Trying to claim that deleting an ugly ass logo cost "money and research time" is the biggest bullshit I've heard in a while. This whole situation just has to be abuse of some kind of terms of service or something on Kickstarter... If not, then yeah, not using Kickstarter again until they do get a ToS like that.

I get that funding projects this way is always a risk but going "Yeah, we're not sending you shit until you give us more money" when you might've pledged $300 is some fucking bullshit. That should be rule #1 on a site like this.
 
Greyface said:
Sony Smartwatch just launched in the US
MotoActv has been out for a few months.
The WIMM One is still in the SDK for developers stage (NB that inPulse is made by the same people now working on this Pebble).
i'm Watch I fear is a scam but they promise to ship in a few months.
Metawatch has gone real quiet in recent months (got new investors supposedly) yet I always thought was the most promising—well until this Pebble project anyway.

It's a very hard device to get right. Yet I think the kickstarter success of Pebble shows how quickly it can capture the imagination. The smartphone industry is such a quick moving target though. By the time Pebble is finally delivered to backers it could well be obsolete.



Nothing really. Kickstarter says that the 'pledges' are given with no strings attached and I don't think there has been a disappointed customer who has taken a failed venture to court yet. I've seen a couple of threats in the comments section but no real action yet.
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I just read through each on of those. None look very compelling. The i'm is thousands of dollars. As long as the pebble is small and does not look awkward, I think I am sold.
 
Technosteve said:
Not supporting Bluetooth 4.0 is going to hurt them
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? How many phones support Bluetooth 4.0 beside the iPhone 4S? There is still not one bluetooth 4.0 headset on the market, not to speak of any of the other touted accessories that would take advantage of the technology.

paskowitz said:
I just read through each on of those. None look very compelling. The i'm is thousands of dollars. As long as the pebble is small and does not look awkward, I think I am sold.
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I agree; none of them are exactly what I'm looking for. The Motoactv is the most polished but it's not really a smartwatch on reflection. I might still get the WIMM though...

I think the reason the Pebble project caught fire is that it promised support for the iPhone. iPod/iPhone/iPad accessories get a lot of backers on kickstarter. The problem I see is that the bluetooth functionality required for this product requires going through Apple's accessories program (licensing fees, approval etc) and I wouldn't bet a $100 on that.
 
I jumped on this when they first launched, managed to get into their first 200 batch, I think that sold out in less than an hour. Here's hoping the project works out and they're able to ship out a great product and build a strong community around it. I think their approach to this kickstarter was the right way to do it. Having a couple real working prototypes, not just CG concept designs, having designed and sold a similar model in the past, certainly helps. Most importantly, their willingness to make the SDK free. Metawatch's development toolchain I heard costs over $2600. That alone I'm sure turned away many potential developers.

Greyface said:
? How many phones support Bluetooth 4.0 beside the iPhone 4S? There is still not one bluetooth 4.0 headset on the market, not to speak of any of the other touted accessories that would take advantage of the technology.
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The main advantage of Bluetooth 4.0 is the low power mode, which would help extend the battery life of both the iPhone and the pebble watch. Not sure by how much though. To be honest their advertised running time of around 7 days per charge seemed quite reasonable to me.

Apart from that, The only other thing I would have liked to see on the pebble would be a microphone which could allow for siri commands.
 
Greyface said:
Kickstarter says that the 'pledges' are given with no strings attached
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I'm not sure why this keeps being repeated on gaf, but Kickstarter definitely does not say this (although it's a good way of looking at it).

Project Creators agree to make a good faith attempt to fulfill each reward by its Estimated Delivery Date.

Project Creators are required to fulfill all rewards of their successful fundraising campaigns or refund any Backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill.
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If I am unable to complete my project as listed, what should I do?

If you are unable to fulfill the promises made to backers, cannot complete the project as advertised, or decide to abandon the project for any reason, you are expected to cancel funding. A failure to do so could result in damage to your reputation or even legal action on behalf of your backers.
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It would, however, be up to the backer to take the project to court as kickstarter lacks an enforcement mechanism and you agree not to hold them liable.
 
Think I'll start my own.
I've created some software targeted at very small businesses and have made a fair few sales.
Thing is I can't keep up now with those and a full time job... so if I can fund me for a year I can do it.......lol.
Wonder if it'd work
 
sangreal said:
I'm not sure why this keeps being repeated on gaf, but Kickstarter definitely does not say this (although it's a good way of looking at it).

It would, however, be up to the backer to take the project to court as kickstarter lacks an enforcement mechanism and you agree not to hold them liable.
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Thanks for the info. Is this new? I don't recall reading that the first time I funded a project...
 
At first I thought it would be dumb, but that video sold me. Well, not $115 sold but I would be interested in one
 
Just found out about this because Tim Schafer tweeted about it. It's over 2 million now lol. Intriguing use of Epaper, I might bite...
 
I jumped in. The fact that they have some experience making these things gave me enough confidence to pledge.

I think they’re handling the smart watch stuff properly but having it be connected to the phone and not attempting to replicate all the functions and complexity of the bigger device. Pretty much all the other smart watches I’ve seen look to be too complex or too big.

But the main reason I want one is for the e-ink screen. for something a little more expensive than a current phosphor watch, I get a slimmer design and on screen text and images that aren’t based on 1980 LED design. that text in the prototype looks sharp in the video. I got a bit of hope for the final product.
 
As someone who has to wear a watch for work every day I'm very interested, but I think I'll wait an iteration or two.
 
LCfiner said:
I jumped in. The fact that they have some experience making these things gave me enough confidence to pledge.
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*thumbs up*

LCfiner said:
I think they’re handling the smart watch stuff properly but having it be connected to the phone and not attempting to replicate all the functions and complexity of the bigger device. Pretty much all the other smart watches I’ve seen look to be too complex or too big.
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"too big" eh? The haven't listed the dimensions of the Pebble yet. From eyeballing videos I think the metawatch looks smaller. These are all prototypes anyway and will differ from the final product delivered to customers.

As for too complex, well *shrug* that's debatable.

LCfiner said:
But the main reason I want one is for the e-ink screen. for something a little more expensive than a current phosphor watch, I get a slimmer design and on screen text and images that aren’t based on 1980 LED design. that text in the prototype looks sharp in the video. I got a bit of hope for the final product.
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It's not e-ink. It's "e-paper".

I don't mean to be a debbie downer but I've seen a lot of people not keeping their expectations for this project in check...
 
I have an iPhone, and I think that the cool things the watch is shown to be able to do won't be possible with an iPhone. I know they specifically mention SMS messages won't be visible on the watch, but what about all of their API stuff? Will any of it work with the iPhone? I think it is a neat idea, and would probably work great for Android users, but as an iOS user, I think the experience will be subpar.
 
They're going to have to send out something like 25,000 watches just for people who backed the project. Jesus.
 
These guys are probably going to be rich when they get bought out. Wow.

Stuff on KS makes me want to get into entrepreneurship.
 
First Kickstarter I've put money on and I put down $115 hopefully to get a watch at less than retail.

My reasons:

I've always wanted something like this since Apple showed off the iPod Nano. This is precursor to some of my dream technologies.

ePaper for prolonged battery and sunlight is nice, LCD wouldn't be great.

Binary watchface, I love that sort of thing.

Open software support with web-based APIs.

Looks pretty boss.

They actually have working prototypes and a short timetable to release.

I don't expect this to be perfect but the early execution sounds great.
 
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