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A New Face for Pebble

blog.getpebble.com

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Re: A New Face for Pebble

#121

Post by jzwinck »

amelius wrote: post #117
aetherson wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That all sounds right, except... I don't think that the Apple Watch or at least some Android Wear watches are aimed at a "geeky" audience. And I don't think that anyone has found anything more compelling than "receive notifications" to use Apple or Android watches for.

> And I don't think that anyone has found anything more compelling than "receive notifications" to use Apple or Android watches for. I'd like to use a smartwatch for 2-factor authentication.

If that's all you need, an old school RSA token's guts could be put into a regular dumb watch. No need even for extra buttons.

Re: A New Face for Pebble

#122

Post by microman »

I really wanted to pick up a Pebble Time when they publicly launched. I was so disappointed to see that they were charging €250 (~$280) in Europe while only $199 in The States. Now, the Steel and the Round are €300. It's just too much money. Even considering VAT, the difference in price between EU & US seems excessive

Re: A New Face for Pebble

#123

Post by micampe »

anthonybsd wrote: post #113
Someone1234 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's interesting to me, is that people are starting to forget how thick mechanical watches were. Here's a Rolex[0] (Sea-Dweller 4000). Here's a Moto 360[1]. And now instead of holding eWatches to the same standard as mechanicals, it has turned into another thickness race. [0] https://imgur.com/TVroPQp [1] https://imgur.com/Vbve1pq

You picked a horrible example. Rolex Sea Dweller is amongst the thickest of dive watches because it's designed to be taken to extreme depths (depths no human will ever descend to in a diving suit). Here's Piaget Altiplano for example: http://blog.luxurybazaar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Piag... or Blancpain Billeret https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/62/39/fa/6239fae47...

Well, that’s true, but you went to the other extreme of the spectrum: Piaget’s specialty are ultra thin watches, I don’t think it’s a much better example.

Mechanical watches under 7mm are already considered thin; more usually they are 9-11mm. Quartz are easily thinner.

I think smartwatches currently around look thicker because of case and lugs design. For example, the Sea-Dweller is 18mm, but the side of the case is not flat all the way like the 360, the case back is actually inset, so it’s less noticeable.

Re: A New Face for Pebble

#125

Post by girvo »

lemevi wrote: post #99
charlie_vill wrote: post #11

I've always been a huge fan of "the underdog" Sure this isn't an Apple Watch or a Moto 360, but Pebble has truly created a beautiful product and I respect that. Great work to the guys at Pebble.

If the screen is anything like the Pebble Time it wont be beautiful. I love my PT but depending on the watchface the screen isn't easily readable in anything other than outdoor or very bright indoor lighting. There's a light up button, that helps. The colors are also very muted. The value of a Pebble watch in my opinion is all in its practical utility, where it really shines. I have been careful to manage what sends…

My Pebble Steel lets me flick my wrist to enable the backlight. Does the Time not do that?

Re: A New Face for Pebble

#126

Post by takeda »

jammur wrote: post #109
TeMPOraL wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5-7 day battery life and always-on, e-paper-like color screen. This enables you to use Pebble as an actual watch, or in general as an information radiator - you don't have to interact with it in any way to see the data you need; you just have to look at it. They had these features (sans color) before Apple Watch / Android Wear even existed! What personally made me buy Pebble over Android Wear / Apple Watch was not po…

> 5-7 day battery life and always-on, e-paper-like color screen. This enables you to use Pebble as an actual watch I'm not sure why the "always-on" aspect is an advantage. The Apple Watch display turns on when I raise my wrist to look at it. Always-on seems more like a vanity feature than actually useful. If you aren't looking at it, it serves no purpose to be on. The battery life has never been a problem for me. I p…

> The battery life has never been a problem for me. I put the watch on it's charger when I get in bed, and take it off when I wake up. I don't think I've ever hit Compare that with my use case, where I wear my watch all the time and use it for sleep tracking, yet still I only need to charge it once every five days.

As for always-on, it makes the watch low profile. Depending on watch face it can actually fool people that it is a normal watch. I had a co-worker noticing after a month despite wearing it every day (when I received a message) that it is a smart watch.

P.S. Apologies but your comment about the pulse reminded me this: https://youtu.be/00V7NW2_nSg

Re: A New Face for Pebble

#127

Post by Auguste »

girvo wrote: post #125
lemevi wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the screen is anything like the Pebble Time it wont be beautiful. I love my PT but depending on the watchface the screen isn't easily readable in anything other than outdoor or very bright indoor lighting. There's a light up button, that helps. The colors are also very muted. The value of a Pebble watch in my opinion is all in its practical utility, where it really shines. I have been careful to manage what sends…

My Pebble Steel lets me flick my wrist to enable the backlight. Does the Time not do that?

The Pebble Time Steel definitely does. I assume the regular Time is the same.

Re: A New Face for Pebble

#128

Post by girvo »

jammur wrote: post #109
TeMPOraL wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5-7 day battery life and always-on, e-paper-like color screen. This enables you to use Pebble as an actual watch, or in general as an information radiator - you don't have to interact with it in any way to see the data you need; you just have to look at it. They had these features (sans color) before Apple Watch / Android Wear even existed! What personally made me buy Pebble over Android Wear / Apple Watch was not po…

> 5-7 day battery life and always-on, e-paper-like color screen. This enables you to use Pebble as an actual watch I'm not sure why the "always-on" aspect is an advantage. The Apple Watch display turns on when I raise my wrist to look at it. Always-on seems more like a vanity feature than actually useful. If you aren't looking at it, it serves no purpose to be on. The battery life has never been a problem for me. I p…

> The Apple Watch display turns on when I raise my wrist to look at it

This is one of those features that has to be 100% perfect for it to work in this form factor, and based on my colleagues Apple Watch (base model), that is not the case. In addition, I don't always turn my wrist to see my Pebble -- I don't need to. This is a small feature but saying its not actually useful is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion.

Re: A New Face for Pebble

#129

Post by blackguardx »

oniony wrote: post #49
blackguardx wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't use e-ink. It uses a Sharp Memory LCD ( http://www.sharpmemorylcd.com ). I think Pebble calls it e-paper because they promised e-ink in their first kickstarter but were unable to deliver on that. No one else calls it that. I assume a custom e-ink display was too expensive. The first Pebble used the same display as one of the early Nike watches, which made it a lot cheaper.

The original Pebble uses a Sharp LCD. The Pebble Time uses JDI display. I have no idea what display the Time Round uses: do you know for sure it's a Sharp unit?

I'm not positive they still use the Sharp brand, but I'm pretty sure the display technology is the same: LCD backed by SRAM in the display. You don't need to continuously update the display. Once you write a frame or part of a frame, the processor can go to sleep.

Re: A New Face for Pebble

#130

Post by rtpg »

Auguste wrote: post #127
girvo wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Pebble Steel lets me flick my wrist to enable the backlight. Does the Time not do that?

The Pebble Time Steel definitely does. I assume the regular Time is the same.

yes it does. Alternatively hitting the backbutton also hits the backlight.

I've had some readability issues, but with the backlight I've never had any issues. The price to pay for a long battery life I guess.

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