It seems to be like a Pebble, it really works like a Pebble, however don’t name it a Pebble. Eric Migicovsky, the unique creator of the Pebble smartwatch, simply unveiled two new smartwatches — referred to as the Core 2 Duo and the Core Time 2.
These non secular successors to the Pebble smartwatches are out there for pre-order, costing $149 and $225 respectively.
For those who aren’t conversant in Pebble, the Palo Alto-based startup was one of many first breakthrough successes of the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform — all the way in which again in 2012. The corporate created smartwatches earlier than the Apple Watch and Android-based smartwatches existed.
Whereas Pebble managed to promote over two million units, the corporate abruptly closed in 2016. After an insolvency course of, what was left was acquired by rival Fitbit (now a division of Google, after all).
Quick ahead to 2024, Migicovsky had a daring thought: what if we might return to these less complicated instances and less complicated tech units? What if we might carry again the spirit of the Pebble?
Google has been surprisingly useful on this course of because the tech large is open-sourcing PebbleOS, the working system that powered the unique Pebble smartwatches.
Whereas Google acquired Fitbit a couple of years after Fitbit acquired Pebble’s belongings, it seems that Pebble’s IP wasn’t value a lot to Google, so the corporate determined to provide it again to the group of Pebble fans.
Now, Core Units, Migicovsky’s new firm, has unveiled two new smartwatches that can run PebbleOS.
The Core 2 Duo is basically a brand new Pebble 2 operating the unique Pebble software program.
It has an always-on E Ink show with a couple of buttons on the aspect of the system. In comparison with different 2025 smartwatches, it’s fairly primary. That E Ink display screen is a non-touch, black-and-white show. However the smartwatch helps alarms and timers — groundbreaking, I do know.
The wearable pairs together with your cellphone utilizing Bluetooth in order that it might probably show notifications and hook up with the web. You can too management the music in your cellphone due to the Bluetooth connection.
However the two issues that made the Pebble stand out from its successors are nonetheless true at the moment. First, the battery life is great. The corporate guarantees as much as 30 days of battery life. Second, it’s a enjoyable, hackable system. There are hundreds of watchfaces and it’s straightforward to create small apps for the system.
“This project is a labour of love rather than a startup trying to sell millions of watches,” Migicovsky wrote in a weblog submit saying the units. “There may be some rough edges (literally). Things will get delayed. Some features will not be ready at launch. Things could break. Things could not last as long as you’d like.”
“The only thing we can guarantee is that it will be awesome and a lot of fun! Every time you look down at your watch, you will smile 🙂,” he added.
The opposite smartwatch Migicovsky’s firm introduced at the moment, the Core Time 2, primarily shares the identical specs because the Core 2 Duo, however it has an even bigger, 64-color show in a steel casing. It’s additionally a contact show, however Pebble apps don’t help contact interactions for now.
Migicovsky says shipments for the Core 2 Duo ought to begin in July.
The Core Time 2 will take a bit longer to provide and ship; it’s slated to be out there in December.
