Yesterday, Pebble Technology started shipping the first round of watches to its Kickstarter backers (a companion iOS app went live this morning). We also spotted a number of promising smartwatches at CES, like the iOS-friendly Cookoo, Casio's G-Shock and lots more. Even Apple is rumored to be collaborating with Intel on an iWatch and now Google is apparently considering making one as well...
Good news this morning for anyone who ordered a Pebble smartwatch, the companion iOS app is now available for download. The news comes just a day after the company announced that it had started shipping its first round of watches.
The app is needed to unlock much of the Pebble's functionality, and as of yesterday, it wasn't in the App Store. And there was some concern that customers would get their watches, after months of waiting, and not really be able use them...
As promised, the Pebble E-Paper smartwatch (actually, it has a memory LCD screen) is now shipping to Kickstarter backers around the world, albeit initial volume is limited over some paperwork complications. As you know, the smartwatch device works in conjunction with a free iOS or Android app.
Pebble Technology today updated its Kickstarter page with a note acknowledging that Apple unfortunately has not yet approved the software even though Pebble submitted it two weeks ago. A version for Android devices is scheduled to go live on Google's Play Store tomorrow, January 24...
The Pebble project has gone a long way since its early Kickstarter days. In fact, last April it became Kickstarter's most highly funded project to date. Nine months later, the customizable electronic-paper watch gets its release date as the company just confirmed in a media conference that the E-Paper Watch will be shipping to its backers on January 23...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYgDAQVZLQo
Among the many exhibitors vying for your attention at the CES show room floor are makers of connected smart watches. Pebble, the most highly funded Kickstarter project to date, already teased “big news” at CES as it readies to finally launch its Android and iOS connected E-Paper Watch.
You can now put Cookoo on your list of CES smart watch announcements. Another Kickstarter project, the Cookoo watch just launched worldwide as an iOS and Android connected accessory supporting low-power Bluetooth Smart (Bluetooth 4.0) networking.
In the case of Apple's platform, the scratch and water-resistant Cookoo watch supports the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad mini, iPad 3/4 and fifth-gen iPod touch and uses a button-cell battery so it doesn't need to be recharged like typical smart watches do...
Pebble, the company behind the upcoming smart watch of the same name, is telling its Kickstarter backers that "it's time" for some "big news" as the company promises to livestream its CES news event January 9 at at 12pm ET. For those unaware, their Pebble E-Paper Watch has been long in the making and last April became the most highly funded Kickstarter project to date, which tells you there's certainly some demand for such a product.
Should the company finally releases its iOS and Android smart watch, it could breathe new life into the product category that cries for a sprinkle of Apple magic. Or perhaps Pebble Technology figured it better release its gizmo ahead of a rumored iWatch Apple's reportedly been collaborating on with Intel? Either way, looks like 2013 will be the year of smart watches...
There's been a lot of talk lately about a rising accessory category called "smart watches." They're essentially wristwatches with the ability to connect and share data with smartphones — think the Pebble, or the Strata.
Today, Casio has officially announced that it's throwing its hat into the smart watch ring with a new line of iPhone-friendly G-Shock wristwatches. They actually look like regular watches, until you see what they can do...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W_mn5rkwyCs
The radical iSiri gadget idea by designer Federico Ciccarese may be the ultimate iWatch concept conceived to date. Falling somewhere in between this eerie-looking Matrix-ified gadget and another conceptual time piece with a FaceTime camera on it, iSiri seems so obvious and inevitable. If only Apple didn't replace the rectangular iPod nano with a tall one...
As the Pebble showed us, consumers are very interested in iPhone-connected smartwatches. The KickStarter project smashed all previous funding records, garnering over $10 million in pledges.
As you might have guessed, the success has drawn others into the smartwatch space. And today, we're going to take a look at the latest entry, the Strata...