Pebble announced a new smart watch, the Pebble Time Steel, which adds a dose of luxury and sturdiness to the earlier unveiled Pebble Time.
Although it’s just 1mm thicker than the regular, plastic Pebble Time, the Steel promises a “ground-breaking” battery life of up to 10 days. Aside from all the parts that are made out of stainless steel, rest of the specs are the same. The new timeline interface comes included as well, providing users with quick access to latest notifications, calendar events, and updates from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The Pebble Time Steel will start shipping in July and includes two straps (leather and stainless steel) for $250.Perhaps more important, Pebble’s CEO went into details about the smartstraps technology/platform both Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel support.
“In order to add a heart rate monitor or GPS directly into a smartwatch, you have to make serious compromises on design and battery life. And it’s likely that if you buy a watch with a certain sensor today, it will be out of date within 12 months,” said Eric Migicovsky, Pebble CEO. “We are creating an open platform that will enable anyone to build smartstraps for Pebble watches. For example, imagine a smartstrap with a GPS chip or a heart rate monitor, that transforms Pebble Time into a high-performance fitness watch; or a strap with a pollution sensor inside, that keeps track of the environment around you; or a strap with an extra battery that extends the battery life of Pebble Time past 7 days. We can’t wait to see what people develop; the opportunities are endless.”
The company is already working with accessory makers and first smartstraps are set to be released later in the year, presumingly when Pebble Time units start hitting early Kickstarter backers.
The Pebble Time Steel will start shipping in July and includes two straps (leather and stainless steel) for $250, which is exclusive to Kickstarter. The regular retail price will be $299. Those who already ordered the Pebble Time can upgrade to the new Pebble Time Steel, while maintaining their spot in line.
