Hope you didn’t empty the piggy bank for a nifty color Pebble Time last week, because Pebble’s just gone the same “crowdfunding” route for its more sophisticated and more expensive Pebble Time Steel.
(We put “crowdfunding” in quotes this time because the company’s really using Kickstarter as a distribution channel, not the actual “put-it-out-there-and-see-what-happens” crowdsourcing concept. What — people weren’t going to buy this? They’re already in production.)
The Pebble Time Steel is to the original Pebble Steel what the Pebble Time is the original Pebble: color e-paper screen, and with a new timestream-based interface. Pebble has also added the idea of a “smartband” — a connected watchband where third-parties can design heretofore under-imagined hardware add-ons. Think more memory, or an NFC chip, or GPS.
Backers of the Pebble Time can move their money to get a Pebble Time Steel if they pony up the extra money. The Pebble Time’s cheapest tier for the earliest buyers was $149; they’re still available for $179; it’s down for a May deliver. The Time Steel starts at $250 and is slated for July delivery.