Pebble began its Kickstarter campaign on 11 April. The target investment was just $100,000.
Within 28 hours, more than $1 million had been raised. By April 15, the tally had just clocked over $2.7 million.
Why the hype?
It’s infinitely customisable, with downloadable watchfaces and internet-connected apps. Developers could join the Kickstarter driver to get an ‘early bird’ release, to begin coding their apps. This option sold out almost immediately.
Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth. It alerts you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. It is minimalist, but probably not quite as schmick as if Apple had designed it. However, if it did look any more like an Apple product, Pebble would probably get sued.
What I like best, is that the information will be streamed directly to your wrist. The scrawled to do list on my wrist has dismayed many people. Don’t I use Evernote? Don’t I use Don’t Forget The Milk? I’ve tried them all. But, when the alerts go off on my phone, iPad or laptop, I just close them and move on. If it’s written on my wrist, these tasks seem to get done.
Being able to stream my to do list to my wrist is going to be priceless. App developers, get working on that now! Plus, Pebble will look significantly better than my handwriting. It won’t be mistaken for a bad tattoo, like my handwritten notes have been.
As caller ID alerts will be streamed, you will know whether to bother dragging your phone out of your jeans pocket to answer it. You can control iTunes, Spotify and other music apps directly from Pebble. So, when you run or cycle, you can easily control your music. Plus, Pebble will calculate the distance, energy and heart rate of runners and cyclists.
Is there anything the Pebble can’t do? If you’ve joined in the Kickstarter fund raising party, you’ll have to wait until September to find out.
