Smartwatch Update: Pebble's Newest Watch

So far on this blog, we've talked about Apple Watch and Android Wear. Today, I present a third option: the Pebble Time Watch.

Pebble's Time Watch was originally released a few years ago after a successful $10 million Kickstarter campaign. It returned to Kickstarter to raise money for its new design, and raised all the money needed in 20 minutes. 

It is a color screen with the e-paper design, in order to, as Mashable says, "offer a screen that can keep up with a refresh rate of 30 frames per second (fps) while still being visible in sunlight and easy on battery life." 

Other specs:

• battery has a life of a week, which is quite long nowadays
• a thinner profile (consequently, a lighter watch)
• uses standard 22mm watch bands but now, those bands can be removed with a quick-release button
• slightly curved casing, to fit with the wrist
• button control, not touchscreen
• waterproof
• plays music
• voice support
• works with iOS and Android

The biggest thing: the actual time software. The company feels that "software is where [they] can really differentiate [themselves]." Therefore, the software for the Time Watch is most impressive. Notifications and alerts on the watch will be visible in a timeline. You can move forward or backward in time and see contextual, accessible and useful aspects of an app based around the time and the activity. There are apps and watch faces that can be downloaded to work with Pebble Time. 

In my opinion, this is the better deal. Apple Watch has had several rumors of being buggy and being not as impressive as hoped for (remember the original iPhone or iPad? not the best versions). Pebble has a loyal following on Kickstarter, and if you help fund it, you get forty dollars off the selling price. It has a long battery life and will work in the sun. This might be the best bit for your dollar. 

Cost: $199 (cheaper than the Apple Watch!) and available later this year.