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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.
Just wanted to point out SMS and Email will still work on android, only IOS will stop working. Voice recognition will die for all platforms.
Kinda stupid in that fitbit could have made a simple subscription model and generate a steady revenue without much effort , instead they are killing pebble.
I had the original Pebble watch from Kickstarter, and Pebble Time Steel from Kickstarter. My favorite watches. I had the Pebble Time Steel 2 on Pre-order on Kickstarter when it was canceled. I will absolutely NEVER buy a Fitbit product again due to the way they ripped apart Pebble.
Understandably, Pebble was in trouble and was going bankrupt. Legally Fitbit had every right to do what they did, and maximize profits. However the way they bought only Pebble's IP, and hired on it's Developers, not taking on the company itself, was just a dick move. People who bought a BRAND NEW Pebble 2, Pebble Round, or any other pebble the DAY before the announcement LOST their warranty and ALL SUPPORT, despite Fitbit making it seem like they took over the company. I for one had my vibration motor for notifications die just a few days after the announcement, despite being under 1 year old, I was stuck. Likewise Pebble had all the leg work done for the Pebble Time Steel 2 watch, that IS the Fitbit Ionic in 95% of the features, including Tooling, design, software.. they could have just released it. Pebble was also HUGE and had inlays into retail and big online stores. Fitbit could have EASILY utilized the branding and name.. but chose the cheap way out. I feel like another company could have easily come in and actually done right and kept the brand going. Instead they let themselves be cannibalized by Fitbit.
They're cancelling the Pebble to try and get people to buy the Ionic. The Pebble cost $150, the Ionic costs $300. The Pebble had a 7-day battery life, the Ionic has a 4-day battery... So what does the Ionic actually do better? Well, it looks like it has a color screen. Also, it has a pedometer and it's spying on you.
I can see how it's worth the extra money.
Now why the hell should I buy anything from you if it's just going to be discontinued?
Ah, Fitbit. The company that couldn't even get face rotation for the appropriate wrist done correctly.
No thank you. I'd rather not deal with outright incompetents.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
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.
...but my Pebble will continue to do what I need. Showing golf yardages, showing speed and distance while I'm biking, showing caller ID and MP3 names. Basically it is just a remote display for my phone. It does not need any online services to do this.
I'm sad to see Fitbit kill Pebble, but the simplicity of the original is what made it what it was. Trying to make it "smarter" did not necessarily make it better. Just another in a huge field.
Casio and Timex will be ending support for timekeeping for all watches made before 2016. Currently owners will get a discount on the new 2018 models with subscription-based timekeeping.
Some previous discussion: Without their needed displays Pebble was doomed — December 2016
The thesis in this thread was that Pebble fell victim to a single-sourced display technology, which was contested a few posts later. But supply issues can be complex, and available replacements unsuited in form factor, process, or price.
If it really was death by supply chain, that explains a lot about Fitbit consuming the carcass rather than resuming the company.
Pebble Teardown — March 2013
At this point, the display is a Sharp Microelectronics memory LCD.
Did some critical vendor actually go tits up?
In any case, my old Pebble is still on my wrist, functioning as a vibrating pill timer and I'm not presently in the market for something less open, but with more bling.
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?
If anything, we should be in a scenario where the inferior Fitbit products were dumped in favor of Pebble's.
I want the equivalent of a Mac Plus on my wrist. It's enough.
There are no less than 3 fully-capable compute devices at arm's length at all times. I need a timepiece and simple means to interact with those devices. That is all.