After teasing us with a week-long countdown, Pebble introduced its new Pebble Time smartwatch on Tuesday. The revamped hardware includes a color e-paper display and focuses on the past, present and future for its interface.
Unlike the original Pebble, the interface is very different. The watch still has the same three buttons on the right side but they represent slices of time. Press the top one and see relevant items from the past few days such as your step count or game scores. The middle is your current day while the bottom button represents your future.
It’s a novel approach compared to current smartwatches; take a look:
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The new hardware is 9.5 millimeters thick, which is 20 percent thinner than the original Pebble watch. It still connects to a phone via Bluetooth, runs for up to 7 days on a charge and will be available in several colors. And it’s still compatible with the more than 6,500 apps built for Pebble.
Also included in this version is a microphone so you can dictate message replies and notes yourself; this feature is more limited when using Pebble Time with an [company]Apple[/company] iPhone than it is on [company]Google[/company] Android handsets.
Those who backed and bought the initial Pebble aren’t left out of the new timeline interface: Pebble is working to bring it to the older smartwatches as well. I’ll be interested to see how this new interface pans out on both the new and old Pebble devices as it sounds nice in theory.
Like the original Pebble, the new Pebble Time is a Kickstarter project with backing to start at $159 with delivery expected in May.
