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[Jasoneyu]

wow capping, and I was still on the fence too about pledging . Anyway I am glad they are limiting the amount of orders. Given the amount of press they got so far and the crazy numbers kickstarter usually pull near the tail end of a run, at least they know their limitations on how many they can produce.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

and my kickstarter couldnt even reach 3,000

 

[Marty Chinn]

They sent out an update a few days ago that they were capping production at 85K. They want to make sure they can deliver.

Sorry you missed out, that sucks.

Ya I must have missed that. My browser window at work was still open from earlier in the week and it didn't have any indication of a cap on any of the price points or in the update. Must have happened after I last looked. Doh, oh well I guess this forces me to wait and see what the reviews are like. Heh I wonder if anyone will still donate money. Seems silly at this point.

 

[shrimpjive]

and my kickstarter couldnt even reach 3,000

What was your Kickstarter?

 

[noah111]

Verge had a pretty good phone-interview with the creator of Pebble, i'm liking this guy and the company in the responsible direction it's going. Feel good story all around (so far).. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8hjvQtq0p8

 

[KimiNewt]

Sounds really cool, shame I wasn't there to back it because I'd definitely want one.
This could be great for running and everyday use.
If Bluetooth is strong enough it could be perfect for me, as phones are not allowed in my workplace and need to be left outside the hallway, so if it's strong enough I'll be able to see call and messages even though I'm at work! Perfect.

 

[esai]

wish i would have pledged my money =[

 

[Blackhead]

MetaWatch adds Bluetooth 4.0 support, iPhone compatibility in latest developer kit for $199

Bolstered by the success of Pebble's Kickstarter campaign, it's starting to look like 2012 could finally be the year of the mainstream smartwatch — and the advent of Bluetooth 4.0 will likely be key to that success. Fossil spinoff MetaWatch debuted its Bluetooth 2.1-compatible digital and analog smartwatch developer kits last year, but the company is back today with a refreshed Bluetooth 4.0 version (in a digital model only this time) for the same $199 as the original.

Bluetooth 4.0 is critical because it incorporates Bluetooth Low Energy, a standard that consumes considerably less power to maintain a connection than other flavors of the protocol — and for a wristwatch, low power consumption and long battery life are particularly important. MetaWatch's latest model is also touting iPhone 4S support via BLE; previously, the platform only connected to Android devices in its Bluetooth 2.1 days.

The new model is available in traditional black and a new white version for $199, but beware — as before, the watch is being geared specifically at developers and tinkerers, and it could be a while yet before it's got the stability and feature set to appeal to a wider market.

Real artists ship. Eagerly awaiting when all the final products are on the market and available for better comparisons.

Ahem. Shots fired:

@smithers We're members of the MFI (Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad) program, the auth chip has been designed in from day one. However... there are many barriers to having this in a dev system that I can't go into. Today, that ability is there for any metawatch OEM customers that are also MFI members and get approval.

The iPhone 4s and iPad 3 changes all that. The MFI approval is only needed for SPP (which needs an auth chip). The whole community can hack using BLE without any special permission!

The new models have the auth chip designed in too, but again, they can only be populated by approved MFI members.

Why did Pebble announce iPhone ability first? Because they announced months before they had a completed design, a product or a supply chain. That's OK, what counts is we are actually shipping hardware this month.

 

[Tobor]

Ugh, Pebble definitely has the design edge. That meta watch is fugly.

 

[Blackhead]

Ugh, Pebble definitely has the design edge. That meta watch is fugly.

It's smaller though. But the Pebble has a better typeface and those snazzy animations. However, compared to those two, the WIMM trumps both with the pop-in design and the touch interface. So many trade-offs.

 

[mrpug]

This will be the start of a big wave of watches and my feeling is pebble owners will be dissatisfied with their product. 10 million in funding? christ...

150 dollars for a relatively low-functionality watch will pass fast. I'll wait til the second or third generation of these things.

 

[tino]

This will be the start of a big wave of watches and my feeling is pebble owners will be dissatisfied with their product. 10 million in funding? christ...

150 dollars for a relatively low-functionality watch will pass fast. I'll wait til the second or third generation of these things.

Until it's confirmed it can reliably control music player, and has a decent market app, I am not parting my money. I have heard horror stories with Sony "Smart" Watch.

 

[sangreal]

These days have really made me appreciate Bill Gates more. Microsoft was way ahead of everyone with tablets, smart phones, smart watches, etc. and have nothing to show for it now.

 

[Tobor]

This will be the start of a big wave of watches and my feeling is pebble owners will be dissatisfied with their product. 10 million in funding? christ...

150 dollars for a relatively low-functionality watch will pass fast. I'll wait til the second or third generation of these things.

They were the first (to announce) iPhone support.

Anyway, I only paid $115, that's a relatively cheap watch. I'm sure I'll get my money's worth out of it assuming its functional as advertised.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Pebble looks great to me. The ability for anyone to make apps makes it more awesome. I'm willing to give it a shot for the $125 I paid.

 

[Blackhead]

They were the first (to announce) iPhone support.

Anyway, I only paid $115, that's a relatively cheap watch. I'm sure I'll get my money's worth out of it assuming its functional as advertised.

Well WIMM mentioned to the Verge that iPhone support was coming (see 1:23 of the video) and the Metwatch has always been designing with the iPhone in mind. They just didn't make it a sales pitch whereas Pebble hasn't even reached the developer preview stage yet before promising iPhone support. *shrug* Not knocking Pebble but it's an interesting path they're taking to market.

 

[Tobor]

Well WIMM mentioned to the Verge that iPhone support was coming (see 1:23 of the video) and the Metwatch has always been designing with the iPhone in mind. They just didn't make it a sales pitch whereas Pebble hasn't even reached the developer preview stage yet before promising iPhone support. *shrug* Not knocking Pebble but it's an interesting path they're taking to market.

That was clearly a mistake by WIMM and Metawatch. There is obviously pent up demand for an iPhone compatibile smart watch.

As for how far along they are, I don't see the issue. They were upfront about the status of the project and aren't shipping until September. That's not unusual for a Kickstarter project like this.

That said, if we're still having this discussion in March of next year, I'll change my tune.

 

[sangreal]

There is a presentation from the founder talking about launching a hardware startup. It's pretty interesting. Talks a bit about the fake leaks (and messed up media coverage) that got inpulse a lot of coverage, but the funny thing is he mentions that as a rule you should never accept money for a pre-order unless its a kickstarter campaign (because he considers pledges to be donations :|. Hopefully he has come around on that stance).

edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afH8KGv0W24

 

[Blackhead]

That was clearly a mistake by WIMM and Metawatch. There is obviously pent up demand for an iPhone compatibile smart watch.

As for how far along they are, I don't see the issue. They were upfront about the status of the project and aren't shipping to September. That's not unusual for a Kickstarter project like this.

That said, if we're still having this discussion in March of next year, I'll change my tune.

It's best for them to not promise iPhone support before it's actually possible for a device they are selling to developers right now. It would only be a mistake by WIMM and Metawatch if they had taken their pitch to Kickstarter. That's where iDevice support is a boon for getting funds.

 

[Blackhead]

If you missed out on Pebble:

cookoo™ - the watch for the connected generation

What do you expect from a watch?

There are the three things I expect from every watch I own - namely that a watch should:

1) be readable at a glance
2) not require recharging
3) be durable and wearable anywhere, anytime

For the cookoo™ watch, this meant not compromising water resistance (3 ATM minimum), durability (crystal vs. plastic watch face), and battery life (up to 1 year for the connected display and 3 years for the analog movement).

Pledge $80 or more

One black first edition cookoo™ watch in your choice of black on black or brushed stainless on black. The watch comes with a free Android or iOS app and free shipping in the USA (add $10 for shipping to Canada and $15 for international shipping). The retail price for this watch will be $99.95 when it hits store shelves this fall.

Estimated Delivery: Nov 2012

 

[gcubed]

thing looks sooo big on the wrist

 

[Korey]

Such a fad. Wearing a watch that tells you what's on your phone, really?

 

[Divvy]

thing looks sooo big on the wrist

No kidding. These watches are all waaaay too big.

 

[Zapages]

they should add small solar panels on the top and side for recharging the battery... That will be a better approach than having to recharge every week.

 

[Blackhead]

Pebble smartwatch to miss original September shipping estimate

The folks behind the Pebble smartwatch have been providing detailed, regular updates on their progress on Kickstarter every few weeks. The latest reveals that the color option which will be available to backers who joined at the $125 level will be a glossy orange finish. That positive (for some, anyway) detail was leavened with a slightly disappointing one: the company won't make its original September shipping estimate.

While we won't be able to start shipping Pebbles in September, our current schedule has us on track to go from manufacturing zero to 15,000 Pebbles per week as soon as possible.

The reasoning seems fairly reasonable: the first shipping estimate was based on the original plan to create only 1,000 Pebble smartwatches. The project's success led to a decision to go much bigger, to 85,000, and the larger run of watches means it will take a bit longer to get them into full production. We spoke briefly with Pebble Technology and it seems that it's still a little too early for the company to provide a more specific estimate for when shipping will begin, though in his post on Kickstarter, CEO Eric Migicovsky characterized the watch's progress as "sticking pretty closely to an aggressive timetable we put together at the end of May." Hopefully developers will use the extra time to delve into the Android SDK preview.

Currently, the Pebble is in the "Engineering Verification" phase, which means that individual components are getting tested as you read this. You can see images of the various pieces that will make up the final watches on Pebble's Kickstarter page.

Not that surprising...

Only 25% of Kickstarter Tech, Design Projects Deliver on Time

 

[shinobi602]

Whoa, haven't seen that Sony smartwatch...

I have the Pebble preordered, but should I go with the Sony one instead?

 

[5amshift]

Damn, guess I'm spending $150 on one when it's released :/

 

[Tobor]

I assumed this got bumped due to the backers update they sent out the other day.

As to the delay, that's to be expected. They got orders for 85K watches. I can wait.