Pebble Watch and Pebble Steel: The Complete Guide

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The Pebble Watch and the Pebble Steel are out in front of the current smartwatch and wearable technology revolution. Pebble’s overwhelming Kickstarter success and early market lead have resulted in relative early-adopter saturation and a strong base of app developers. This is why, in spite of its lackluster technical specs, Pebble finds itself in the #1 spot on our list of best smart watches.


Pebble was not the first smartwatch to market, but it was the first to achieve true commercial success … and it did so before it even shipped its first watch. Pebble sought venture capital via online crowdfunding portal Kickstarter, hoping for $100,000 in presale commitments to get the ball rolling. That goal was blown through in a matter of hours, ultimately realizing more than 68,000 watches presold for over $10,000,000 in funding … AMAZING!

The Pebble Watch and Pebble Steel possess the same internal components, with the Steel sporting a more sophisticated case and band. Pebble smart watches are designed to function independently, but also act as an extension of the user’s smartphone providing message alerts and app interaction. It is in this smartwatch/smartphone interoperability that a synergy is created and the Pebble really shines. Leading version 1.0 of the wearable tech market, Pebble Watch and Pebble Steel are currently the crowd favorites.

Pebble Watch Price

The Pebble Watch has a MSRP of $149 and the more sophisticated looking Pebble Steel is priced at $249. Quite reasonable prices for cutting edge wearable technology.

• Compare prices on Amazon

Pebble Watch Tech Specs

Display – 1.26″ 144×168 Monochrome E-Paper; Processor – 120MHz ARM Cortex-M3; Memory – 64kB RAM; Storage – 32Mb Serial Flash; Wireless – Bluetooth 4.0 LE; External Connectors – Proprietary USB Data/Power; Sensors – 3-Axis Accelerometer, Digital Magnetometer; Power – 3.7V Lithium Ion @ 130mAh (5-7 Days Per Charge); Haptic Feedback – Vibrating Motor; Waterproof – 5 ATM

Pebble Watch Compatibility

The Pebble Watch And Pebble Steel run the proprietary Pebble OS. However, Pebble smart watches are compatible with both iOS and Android based smartphones. The Pebble App Store can be downloaded for FREE from the Apple App Store and from Google Play.

Pebble Watch Firmware

The Pebble Watch And Pebble Steel are currently running firmware version 2.0.1 which was released on February 11, 2014.

Pebble Watch Software

Software is downloaded to the Pebble Watch and Pebble Steel using the Pebble App Store app which is available for both iOS and Android.

Pebble Watch Apps

Pebble Watch Pedometer App – April 1, 2014
Pebble Watch Pedometer is a new fitness tracking app coded by Jathusan Thiruchelvanathan that provides Pebble Watch wearers with an onboard, independent pedometer. A very simple app to use, Pedometer tracks only one category of data, the number of steps taken, and then calculates the corresponding calories burned. And, surprisingly, the exercise tracking data provided by Pebble Pedometer turns out to be quite useful and fairly accurate.

Pebble Watch Reviews

Pebble Watch Review – February 19, 2013
The Pebble E-Paper Watch has finally materialized, for better or worse. The Pebble is not a novel idea, but is novel in its implementation when compared to other currently available smartwatches. Unfortunately, while the ability to check notifications from your wrist without digging into your pockets every time your pants vibrate is extremely convenient, the Pebble smartwatch reminds me of using a first generation iPod … and using it now, not when it was first released in 2001.

Pebble Watch How To

No Pebble Watch And Pebble Steel How To articles have yet been written.

Pebble Watch News

Pebble Steel Smartwatch Unboxing – March 1, 2014
Our Pebble Steel unboxing ceremony has been completed and here are the pics to show you what is included. The simple and elegant packaging is adequate, yet not quite remarkable. The Pebble Steel Smartwatch itself is, likewise, not great but not bad … definitely an upgrade over the original Pebble Watch, but not really a leap forward. Still, as the market stands today, the Pebble Steel is the best smartwatch for your money.

CES 2014: Pebble Steel Smartwatch Announced – January 6, 2014
The Pebble Steel Smartwatch was just announced at CES 2014. Sporting the some old e-paper display, a small ROM bump from 4MB to 8MB, and a dated looking steel case and band, there doesn’t seem to be much justifying the price bump to $249. On a positive note for app developers, since the internals remain unchanged in the Pebble Steel, everything you coded for the original Pebble smartwatch will work on the new model.

Pebble Smartwatch Drops To $119 – December 16, 2013
The Pebble Smartwatch just received another significant price drop and is now available for only $119 on Amazon. Having taken Kickstarter early adopters by storm at a MSRP of $149, the Pebble Smartwatch was selling for $199 on Amazon just two months ago, dropped back down to the original MSRP of $149 in the beginning of December, and has now undercut just about all smartwatches currently available.

Pebble Smartwatch Black Friday Deal – November 28, 2013
Pebble Smartwatch has just announced a Black Friday deal. If you purchase a Pebble Smartwatch today or tomorrow (November 28th-29th) you will receive a 15% discount, or a total price of $130 versus the regular $150. Although not a huge savings, this is the first discount we have seen on what is presently the most popular smartwatch available.

Pebble Smartwatch Hits Best Buy – July 2, 2013
The Pebble Smartwatch has departed the public venture capital site Kickstarter and arrived at mainstream sales portal Best Buy. Having crushed sales records on the popular niche crowdfunding site, Pebble is now setting its sights on the average consumer and hoping to continue its dominance of the emerging smartwatch market.

Pebble Smartwatch Home Automation Hack – April 30, 2013
Crowdfunding star, Pebble, just got an exciting new feature added to its popular smartwatch: home automation. Enrico, of new programming blog Makr.co, has managed to put the freshly released Pebble smartwatch SDK through its paces and has squeezed out an alpha version of one of the first truly useful open source apps for the smartwatch. The app is tentatively called SmartHomeWatch.

Pebble Smartwatch Update, Mediocre Faces SDK – March 18, 2013
Pebble Technology, makers of the Pebble Smartwatch, just announced the impending release of a new developer SDK. Unfortunately, in addition to the sad state of firmware and software already available, it appears that the upcoming SDK is also only an alpha release. Still, as Pebble is undoubtedly the most popular smartwatch currently available, this release should energize the bustling early-adopter crowd.

2013 – Year Of The Smartwatch – March 6, 2013
Rarely is a new technology released to the public that defies categorization. As computers, laptops, touchscreen tablets, and smartphones have slowly melded into a single industry of personalized tech gadgets, now comes a new curious item to add to this growing list: the smartwatch. For decades, a number of interesting technologies have been thrust upon the common wristwatch, but relatively few have been received with any amount of overwhelming success. As we push into 2013, dozens of companies are scrambling to place an advanced new product into the emerging smartwatch market … a market that is sure to explode in the coming months.


More Smartwatches

Would you like to see what else is available and what is currently in development? Make the jump and see our ever-expanding list of smartwatches.

Source

Pebble Watch and Pebble Steel: [Company Website]

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Jon is the Editor-In-Chief at Wear Guide and writes about wearable technology On Your Arm.  Jon has a M.S. in Computer Science, won several intercollegiate events as a member of the UCLA Cycling Team, and is currently active on the USA Triathlon circuit which provides him the opportunity to field-test wearables under grueling conditions. Jon also writes for our sister publication Electric.guide. Send tips and story ideas to Jon at: [email protected]