Pebble killed off

[Replicant]

Bad news Rasman.

Well the news is a couple of weeks old now but it appears Fitbit bought the software division of Pebble and has effectively killed them off.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/fitbi ... h-industry

[EviL Ras]

Yup, we've all been complaining on the apps. They refunded me, but to a card i no longer have. So waiting for them to post that to me!

Still, going to wait for androidwear 2.0 before making a decision on the next smartwatch!

[Johnmcl7]

I'm really disappointed by this as I much preferred Pebble's approach to the smartwatch market to have a small, lightweight and very power efficient device. I've no interest in the bulky Android solutions with appalling batterylife, my Garmin can almost crack three weeks in normal use (no GPS) and it keeps the display on all the time. While it doesn't do anything impressive apps wise I find all I'm really wanting from it is to show the notifications from the phone, anything else and I'd rather use the phone.

John

[csteff]

my gear S2 only keeps 3 days charge but still better than android wear but much nicer watch than your garmin (I see there are few garmin models now, which one do you have?)

[Johnmcl7]

I have the original Vivoactive, it's been replaced by the Vivoactive HR now. I damaged the watch last year when I crashed on it but the HR is too big to fit my wrist. While the Garmin isn't a particularly pretty watch, the difference to Android and other similar devices is too large at the moment as the Garmin is smaller and lighter plus it's just vastly more practical. I did consider the Pebble Round when I first damaged the VA but its batterylife is too short, it's a lot less practical and it's not cheap either.

John

[EviL Ras]

I'm not sure anything in the pipeline will rival the pebble. E ink, 10 day battery, voice replies, remote control of music, notifications, waterproof to 50m. It was just the perfect 2nd screen. I'm hoping android wear 2.0 brings some battery sipping. But I'm not in a rush to update this pebble time steel.

Just got my £150 refund too in the post.

[Johnmcl7]

The VivoActive does all of that aside from the voice replies but with a better screen, onboard HR monitor and a better battery. I am disappointed at the lack of options though, the Pebble was the only alternative I'd have considered to the Garmin as both take similar approaches whereas most others go for larger, heavier and extremely power inefficient devices although I guess no surprise most people choose form over function.

John

[robbo]

Source of the post...with a better screen, onboard HR monitor and a better screen

So er, a better screen then?

[csteff]

Source of the post

Source of the post...with a better screen, onboard HR monitor and a better screen

So er, a better screen then?

[Johnmcl7]

Source of the post

Source of the post...with a better screen, a better screen and a better screen

So er, a better screen then?

What gives you that idea?

[Johnmcl7]

Fitbit have also snapped up Vector:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/wearables/ ... or-buyout/

I thought Vector looked good in some of the previews as their designs were quite watch-like but also focused on power efficiency similar to Garmin and Pebble although I never actually heard anything more on them, I never saw them for sale or discussed anywhere.

John

[Tappy]

Yeah, I liked the looks of Vector. Felt more like a watch that did smart stuff.

[Johnmcl7]

Being optimistic they've got the potential to make a pretty awesome smart watch although realistically it's probably not going to happen particularly as they only seen interested in Pebble and Vector for their software.

John