Allerta intros Pebble smartwatch, inPulse's attractive younger sibling
Remember the inPulse Smartwatch? Say hello to its attractive younger sibling, the Pebble e-paper watch. Allerta's latest creation -- which is launching today on Kickstarter for $99 in three colors -- is "the first smartwatch to offer full iPhone and iOS compatibility". It features a 1.26-inch 144x168-pixel black and white e-paper display with backlight, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, four buttons, a vibrating motor and a three-axis accelerometer. The battery is expected to last more than seven days on a charge.
Pebble receives call, email and message notifications from iOS and Android devices over Bluetooth. It supports downloadable watchfaces and activity-specific watchapps for controlling music, cycling, running and golfing. Allerta's even teamed up with Freecaddie to create a rangefinder app for over 25,000 golf courses worldwide. The timepiece can run several watchapps simultaneously -- these can be installed over Bluetooth using the Pebble App for iOS and Android (2.3 or higher) and developed using the Pebble SDK.
Color choices include white, black, red and a fourth hue to be voted on by early backers of the project -- hurray to crowdsourcing. Pricing is $99 on Kickstarter today and $149 at retail later this year. Want more info? Check out the gallery below, then hit the break for the PR details and the Kickstarter link.
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Pebble e-paper watch launches on Kickstarter
New smartwatch features daylight-readable e-paper display, iPhone and
Android compatibility, sports and fitness apps and 7+ day battery life
Palo Alto - April 11, 2012 - Allerta, the company behind the inPulse smartwatch for Blackberry, today introduced the next generation Pebble smartwatch. It is the first smartwatch to offer full iPhone and iOS compatibility. Pebble features a 1.26" electronic-paper display that delivers a crisp, high resolution text and images while enabling the watch to last for over 7 days on battery.
Pebble is the first watch built for the 21st century. It's infinitely customizable, with beautiful
downloadable watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps. Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth 2.1, alerting you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. While designing Pebble, we strove to create a minimalist yet fashionable product that seamlessly blends into everyday life.
Many apps are being built to run on Pebble. Cyclists can use Pebble as a bike computer, accessing the GPS on a smartphone to display speed, distance and pace data. Runners get a similar set of data displayed on their wrist. The music control app allows users to play, pause or skip tracks on their smartphone with the touch of a button. Golfer can feel free to bring Pebble onto the course. Pebble has partnered with Freecaddie to create a great golf rangefinder app for Pebble that works on over 25,000 courses world-wide. Instead of looking at a smartphone app, golfers can view current distance to the green right on their wrist.
Multiple watchapps can run on the watch simultaneously. New watchapps can be downloaded and installed on Pebble using the Pebble App available for iOS 5+ and Android 2.3+ devices. Using the free and open Pebble SDK, developers can create their own watchapps that take advantage of the built-in 3-axis accelerometer, e-paper display, vibrating motor, 4 buttons and Bluetooth chip. Developers can also take advantage of the push notification system that Pebble uses to receive and transmit data to the internet.
Pebble is launching on Kickstarter on April 11, 2012. Prices start at $99. Pebble is available
in 4 colors: Arctic White, Jet Black, Cherry Red, and a 4th color option that will be voted on by backers of the project. Pebble will retail for $149 when it goes on sale later this year.