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Fitbit Will End Support For Pebble Smartwatches In June (arstechnica.com)
Today, Fitbit announced that it will extend its support of the Pebble smartwatch ecosystem, including devices, software, and forums, until June 30, 2018. "During this time, we invite the Pebble community to explore how familiar highlights from the Pebble ecosystem are evolving on the Fitbit platform, from apps and clock faces to features and experiences," the company's blog post states. Ars Technica reports: Fitbit's invitation is a hopeful one for the company itself. After the buyout, members of the Pebble team helped Fitbit develop its own smartwatch OS that debuted on the $300 Fitbit Ionic last year. Fitbit is likely hoping that diehard members of the Pebble community, many of which developed apps and programs for the smartwatch platform, will try making similar programs for Fitbit's new wearable operating system. The Fitbit SDK is already quite accessible, allowing developers to sign up and start building programs using all-online tools. But in addition to the accessibility of the SDK, Fitbit wants to entice Pebble users with a discount: users with a valid Pebble device serial number can get $50 off a Fitbit Ionic smartwatch. It's currently the only device that runs Fitbit OS, and it's useful to have if you want to test out any apps made with the SDK. But for those who want nothing to do with Fitbit OS development and only care about how long their Pebbles will last, this news is bittersweet. According to Fitbit's announcement, Pebble devices will continue to work after June 30, but these features will stop working: the Pebble app store, the Pebble forum, voice recognition features, SMS and email replies, timeline pins from third-party apps (although calendar pins will still function), and the CloudPebble development tool.
Now why the hell should I buy anything from you if it's just going to be discontinued?
As far as I can tell the Pebble remains the only smart watch with an ePaper display and therefore is always on. The Ionic appears to have a not always on LCD, a fact they don't mention on the product page, so could not match the operation of a Pebble. Ironic might be a better name for it? Smartwatches are not very smart in my option if you have to interact with them to tell the time! A $5 dumb watch is more use for telling the time than any smartwatch if you have to touch the screen, shake your wrist or push a button.
Until someone can make a slim smartwatch that is on all the time and runs several days on a charge I'm sticking with my Pebble regardless of the software support.
My pebble time steel is probably my favorite smart watch. I've had Android wear devices, but touch screens and gestures on a watch and just fidley and just don't work. The battery life on an android wear just isn't there.
The mistake that android wear has made is that is fails to work as a watch first.
Pebble time steel works as a watch, I can look at it at a glance and see the time. Android wear devices I've used need a press of the button or a flick to operate. I get a good 7 day battery life, sometimes more.
I can control my music, I can view messages I get at work without looking at my phone. Even reply to them. The application ecosystem and customizable watchfaces was just brilliance.
Its a sad move the way fitbit has killed the brand. There isn't really anything in the smartwatch space to compete with what pebble created.
Why hasn't someone come up with an e-paper watch to pick up where they left off?