With the flood of Apple iWatch and Samsung Galaxy Gear rumors, it would be easy to see a future where everything we need is in a mobile device on our wrist, or in frames around our eyes. Still, that literal version of a constantly connected society isn't here yet — Google Glass notwithstanding. Until then, there's Pebble smartwatch.
The waterproof watch is not the most fashionable thing that can go on a wrist, but does look much better than other smartwatches, which tend to have massive faces to accommodate touchscreens, something Pebble does not have.
Instead, three physical buttons on the right and one of the left are used to navigate through Pebble's simple menu interface.
It is a simple approach, and it's one that I didn't fully appreciate until I had worn it for a couple weeks. We're all flooded with unwanted emails, but you still have to take your phone out and have a look.
Pebble receives emails and texts, showing the sender, subject and the first few lines. It also can show who is calling your phone and control your phone's music, through a phone app.
One of Pebble's most promising features is app integration. The watch automatically pairs with the popular fitness app Runkeeper, for example, and support for a golf range-finding app has been promised. For Android phones, apps now send breaking news alerts and Twitter notifications to the Pebble.
You can get custom watch faces — Star Trek-inspired, "Beer O'Clock" (hint: it's always beer o'clock) and Etch A Sketch among them.
Pebble has released software updates every couple weeks to improve performance and make improvements, so many of early gripes have been addressed.
Pebble, the California-based company that sells the watch — it's their only product — made news last year when their Kickstarter campaign shattered the record for a crowd-funding effort, topping $10 million in contributions and selling more than 85,000 watches. This happened before any watches had been produced, based entirely on the concept.
The fact that an essentially unknown company pulled that off speaks to the desire for wearable devices, but the backlash against Google Glass also speaks to the lack of acceptance for an always-on, always-connected, piece of hardware that is an intrinsic part of our lives. Pebble is not a five-to-10-year jump ahead like Glass, but it is a step toward what seems to be the next generation of devices.
Available for pre-orders in red, white, orange, gray and black from getpebble.com and in stores now in red and black at Best Buy, Pebble will set you back $150.
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