To get an AGENT smartwatch, backers have to pledge $149 or more, which includes free shipping in the United States; those not located in the US will have to fork over $15 to have it shipped overseas. Those who are willing to spring for a little more at $179 will also get a wireless charger, which works with the AGENT via its Qi wireless charging support.

As such, if you already own a wireless Qi charger, you can use it with the device. Such chargers are made by a variety of companies, including Energizer, LG, Nokia, Panasonic, and more. This will let those who get the smartwatch go wire-free. That aside, other features include a variety of notifications, including alerts for incoming calls and messages. The watch is compatible with mobile handsets running Android 2.3 or higher, as well as the iPhone 4S and up, and Windows Phone 8.

Like others before it, the AGENT connects to the mobile device using Bluetooth 4.0, something that is typically of detriment to battery life. To help mitigate this issue, the smartwatch features two processors – the main one and a secondary one. When the watch isn’t being used, the main processor is put into sleep mode and the smaller secondary processor is used instead, reducing battery drain. Reportedly, users will get up to seven days of battery life with Bluetooth on, and 30 days with it off.

Other specs include motion and light sensors, as well as the ability to monitor motion data via the accompanying app, meaning you’ll likely find fitness-related purposes for the watch, such as having it function as a pedometer. The light sensors will be used to adjust the display as appropriate based on ambient lighting conditions. The expected price for the watch is $249 san-charger, jumping to $299 with it.

SOURCE: Android Community

Pebble has issued an update to their PebbleKit SDK that will allow app developers to create and update their apps to support two-way communication with the Pebble watch over Bluetooth. Of course, this is huge for Pebble, as well as the app developers and the users who own a Pebble watch. Now they’ll be able to perform actions through the watch and have them sent to your smartphone.

Also being released today is the Pebble Sports API, which will allow third-party fitness apps to connect to Pebble smartwatches to offer certain data on the watch face, including time, pace, and miles. RunKeeper announced support last week, but Pebble is making the new API available for everyone, so we should be seeing a lot more fitness apps with Pebble support pop up in the near future.

In related Pebble news, the company is now beginning to ship their orange-colored watches to Kickstarter backers who have requested them. The company also completed development for grey and white models, but they have yet to make it into full production still, so it seems some Pebble backers will be waiting just a little while longer.

Also, after raising over $10 million in the Kickstarter campaign alone, Pebble is getting another round of funding, this time for a cool $15 million from Charles River Ventures. This means that we’ll see the Pebble team expand, and this really only marks the beginning for the company, which we expect to hear from in the next few years about new products and updates.

VIA: Engadget

SOURCE: Pebble

Both the iOS app and Android app also have some new features coming their way. The Android app now includes easier methods to enter in non-GPS activities manually, such as running on a treadmill or cycling on the stationary bike. The Android version also received a new widget that you can add to your home screen, letting you start and stop activities.

As for the iPhone app of RunKeeper, more users in more countries now have access to the fitness app, thanks to additions of several new languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Japanese. The app’s developers note that they’re continuously adding new languages, so we can expect more to come in the future.

Other than that, the updated app comes with the usual big fixes and performance enhancements. As for the Pebble watch, we reviewed the wrist device back in February, and it’s been going out to Kickstarter backers these last few months. While the watch is somewhat cheaply made in a way, third-party support is growing, making it even more tempting to take advantage of the new device.

While that 19% seems a bit grim for Apple’s iWatch, a survey done in January 2010 suggested that only 18% of consumers would purchase Apple’s iPad, which ended up selling 300,000 units on its first day, 1 million units within a month, and 3 million units within 80 days. It is currently the most popular tablet in the market, with over 5 variations available and with over 100 million units sold so far.

An analyst from Citigroup believes that the iWatch can generate $6 billion in revenue for Apple. He says that the watch market is worth $60 billion at the moment, and Apple should be able to grab at least 10% of the market with its smartwatch. It is speculated that Apple is planning on launching the iWatch by the end of this year, and it is likely the game-changing gadget Tim Cook was hinting at that will revitalize Apple’s stock value.

Many competitors are already considering launching an iWatch competitor. Samsung has confirmed that it is working on a smartwatch of its own, and LG is rumored to be doing the same. Even Microsoft plans on joining the game, however, it should consider holding off considering its Windows Phone 8 platform, and Surface tablets have yet to gain enough popularity in the market to call for a smartwatch. We’re about to witness a smartwatch war coming up soon, but Apple and Samsung, like in the smartphone wars, may be the only real competitors.

[via Apple Insider]

Both watches work with TomTom’s own Graphical Training Partner. This system allos you to see at-a-glance statistics based around your physical activity – these three bits make up the full nelson for the future of wrist-based sports excellence!

• Race: Race against a personal best or most recent run. Quickly track performance with real-time graphics, to continue to improve run-after-run.

• Goal: Set a distance, time or calorie goal and see progress toward that goal with simple, full-screen graphics and alerts.

• Zone: Set a target for pace or heart-rate (with optional heart-rate monitor) and track progress in a simple full-screen graph throughout a workout.

Both of these watches will be bringing on the heat with a hardware build that’s not to be missed! Both watches come in at 11.5mm thin and are both waterproof and weatherproof – waterproof up to 50 meters/5ATM, that is! You’ll be using a “super-touch display” as well with both scratch and impact-resistant reinforced glass to keep your precious watch safe and fully readable.

You’ll be able to connect with the TomTom MySports website, MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPaks, and of course: MyFitnessPal. You’ll be connecting with Bluetooth to keep your Smart Heart Rate Monitor’s data in-tune with your watches’ understanding of your body, the watch works with QuickGPSFix with both GPS and GLONASS satellite technology for a precise location every time, and you’ve got indoor tracking capabilities as well!

These two watches are extremely similar to one another, but the main bits are there for both – the one-button simple design, the lovely large display, and the release: Summer of 2013! Keep your eye on the TomTom tag portal here on SlashGear to hear more about these watches as they come closer to release time!

BONUS: You’ll also see a Dedicated Bike Mount, Cadence Sensor, Built-in Altimeter, and Swimming Motion Sensor coming out for these watches in the future too! Stay tuned!

A source familiar with the development of Microsoft’s Xbox has spoken with The Verge this week, noting that development of a smartwatch is indeed in the works right now. Sources note that a wrist-worn device has been in development by Microsoft for just over a year, and that this machine wont just be a companion for the gaming console.

Stacking up the tips and suggestions made throughout this month thus far, you’ll find this smartwatch to be working with a 1.5-inch touchscreen display, the possibility of gesture/motion control, and a re-use of the same connectors used for the Microsoft Surface tablets. With these connectors you’ll be able to pick your watch face up, place it down in a special tray, and let it charge all night long.

This connectivity might not make it past the prototype stage and, based on what we understand thus far, the entire watch might stay a prototype into the future as well. Have a peek at the timeline below to see additional clues, bits, and pieces leading to the final product sooner than later!

Other hardware specifications are unknown, though Microsoft is said to have sourced multiple parts from several component manufacturers in the course of its R&D efforts. A 1.5-inch display would make Microsoft’s prototype bigger – at least in screen real-estate – than Pebble, which has a 1.26-inch panel, and the older Sony SmartWatch, which uses a 1.3-inch panel.

Neither device – phone or watch – will necessarily reach the market, however, with Microsoft potentially shelving one or both of the projects. Nonetheless, the company does have a recent track-record in developing its own-brand hardware, with the Surface tablets probably the best known Windows 8 slates on sale.

A smartwatch, then, could slot relatively neatly into that hardware range, offering at-a-glance updates from either Windows Phone or Windows 8. So far, smartwatches released commercially have generally topped out at call and message notifications, calendar reminders, and basic integration with apps, though Apple’s rumored project may also bring Siri voice-control functionality to the wrist, some sources have claimed.

It’s not the first time Windows Phone has been linked with wearable devices, at least in theory. Back at Mobile World Congress, Nokia described its “head up” concept, where function-specific devices – such as smartwatches – would help pry users’ attention away from their smartphone display. The company would not specifically confirm any in-development projects, but did suggest that it had done R&D on different wearable possibilities.

Meanwhile, Microsoft itself has some old history with timepieces. The company pushed out a range of early smartwatches under the SPOT brand back in 2004, though the models were retired by 2008. The so-called “Smart Personal Object Technology” devices accessed data distributed over FM radio frequencies in certain North American cities, but Microsoft shut down its MSN Direct broadcasts in 2012.

One of the biggest new features is support for third-party watchfaces created with the watchface SDK, opening users up to a wide range of creations. Then there are some improvements, including a battery indicator that has better responsiveness and accuracy, as well as tweaks to system apps to reduce their drain on the battery and to speed up their response rate.

A couple disable options have been added for turning off the vibrating motor that activates for notifications, as well as turning off backlight activiation via the accelerometer. Factory reset has been tweaked so that it wipes watchfaces and apps that aren’t part of the system. In addition, there are a couple changes with how it interacts with iOS – specifically, less “Allow Peble to communicate…” pop-ups and a fix for the battery life problem.

Finally, rounding out the update are a variety of bug fixes, including solutions to the crash that happens when sending a subjectless email on iOS over MAP, the crash that hits the music app when Bluetooth is shut off and tracks are changed too fast, poorly rendered non-fullscreen apps, multiple vibrations modes being kicked off at once, and a fix to the edge-case that impaired proper iOS connection.

[via Pebble]

This prototype smartwatch utilizes a flexible e-paper color display that wraps around the wrist and uses e-ink in combination with a color filter to produce the colors. The concept watch is incredibly thin at only 900μm, although that thickness could go up if a touch panel was imbedded in the watch, which would be likely if it ends up in mass production.

As with other smartwatches, the Plastic Logic watch demonstrates a variety of different features the watch could end up offering, such as a heart-rate monitoring ability, information displays from a connected smartphone, such as message notifications and call alerts, and more. One big potential feature that makes it stand out from some other smartwatches is its durable nature.

Jim Watts, an engineer with Plastic Logic, called the display in the smartwatch “effectively unbreakable,” with the device said to be durable enough to handle the pounding daily use would give it. Of course, while the prototype is appealing, the practical application of the display in a smartwatch would result in a larger device once a battery and backlight, among other hardware elements, were implemented.

[via Pocket Lint]

If you see what the Financial Times notes, they’ve got a “person briefed on the project” who says that though larger projects like Glass are being created in the Google X laboratories, this supposed Google smartwatch is being developed for by the Google Android unit. What we must assume here is that, if the watch were real, it’d be created by one of Google’s hardware partners – perhaps Motorola? Meanwhile the Google developers on-staff creating Android would be taming a version of Android tailored specifically for an ultra-tiny display.

“While Glass is being created in its X Lab, home to experimental “moonshot” projects such as the self-driving car, Google’s smart watch is being developed by its Android unit, according to a person briefed on the project, to act as an extension to the smartphones using that operating system. The project is separate from Samsung’s efforts, the source said, although there is no indication of when it might launch.” – FT

It’s not as if it doesn’t make sense for everyone and their grandmother to be creating a smartwatch at the same time with essentially no warning and no pre-cursor or need, but what if? What if Apple and Google decided, separately, that they’d both create a wearable computer that wrapped around your wrist at once?

That once-utilized watch-loving arm will once again be home to a timepiece, only this time, you’ll be able to do a whole lot more than you were able in the past. Then it’s time again to get rid of the cellphone and the smartphone, right? Seems only logical!

Of course, then again, there’s always that Google Smartwatch patent.

According to The Korea Times, not only is LG currently working on a smartwatch, but they’re also developing another wearable piece of technology, which is said to be something similar to Google Glass. This rumored smartwatch from LG would be able to sync to your smartphone and provide notifications and the like to the smartwatch.

As for the software side of things, it’s said that this supposed smartwatch will either run Android or Mozilla’s Firefox mobile operating system, both of which are tipped to be viable options for the company, although they’ve already been working with Android for a while now, so that seems like the more obvious choice at this point.

Both Apple and Samsung have been rumored to be creating their own smartwatch variants. However, Samsung has confirmed that they’re actually working on one, according to the mobile vice president of the company. The word is still out for Apple, but Google recently joined in on the rumor vine, with LG being the latest one to join the team.

[via The Korea Times]

The six new watch faces offer a variety of additional styles that will appeal to those with many different styles and personal tastes, including retro and contemporary designs. Every new watch interface features its own functionality. The watch faces can be activated using different triggers, such as moving the watch towards the wearer’s face or tapping the display.

After updating, users will receive “snippets” notification for tweets, Facebook posts, emails, and more. This makes it easier to keep track of what is going on without pulling out one’s cell phone constantly. This feature blends into the improved battery indication, which provides more accurate monitoring of the device’s power level and knowing when to charge it.

Another one of the better features is the improved search functionality, which makes it easier to sort through the available apps and to locate the specific one you want. This is achieved via categories, and was a necessary step in light of the 200 apps available for the SmartWatch. Finally, there’s also the addition of QR Code for easier pairing with a non-Sony handset.

[via Sony]

Mediocre specifications – even by the state of the 2009 marketplace – didn’t help. By trying to fit an entire phone into an 11.89mm thick watch, Samsung could only really accomodate the most basic of features: Bluetooth 2.1, 40MB of internal storage – enough for maybe ten MP3s for its onboard music player – and dualband GPRS data. You could scan your through email on the 176 x 220 display, thanks to Outlook sync, but the S9110 was really more of a terminal for calls and texts.

Of course, the S9110 looked like a powerhouse in comparison to Samsung’s first watch phone attempt, a full decade earlier with the SPH-WP10. That stood a towering two centimeters off your wrist, and offered such magic as voice dialing and a battery good for 90 minutes of talktime.

So what’s changed between 2009 and today? For a start, there’s been a backlash of sorts against convergence: the idea that a single device must satisfy our every need. Instead, the mobile industry has rediscovered specificity, with gadgets that do one or two things especially well, rather than making a hash at everything. We’ve seen that with Samsung’s own S Band, announced alongside the GALAXY S 4, following the fitness-tracking wearables trend to monitor your movements and squirt that data via Bluetooth to your phone or tablet.

That data sharing is the other big advance, or more accurately the efficiency of the wireless links we can now spread across our distributed tech. Bluetooth low energy, a feature of Bluetooth 4.0, slims its power requirements by a factor of a hundred compared to the greedy Bluetooth of the S9110, while still maintaining a 1Mbps transfer speed and a 50m range. Where the watch phone’s 630 mAh battery couldn’t really hope to keep the short-range wireless link active for more than a little hands-free kit use before the battery was extinguished, today’s devices can afford to maintain a persistent web of networking while still sipping power.

There’s a more obvious reason for the failure of watch phones to take off, despite their classic sci-fi appeal. Mobile displays have been getting progressively larger as the years have gone on; a year after the S9110 was announced, Samsung launched the original Galaxy S. At the time, its 4-inch screen seemed vast; now, the GALAXY S 4 is up to 5-inches, and those who want more screen space can slake their thirst with the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II. In contrast, a phone on your wrist needs to be small enough to be unobtrusive, something at odds with the pleasures of an expansive panel for your browsing, multimedia, messaging, and everything else your phone today can do.

We’re yet to see a fully convincing smartwatch. Pebble has perhaps come closest, but it’s still flawed – more around software than hardware, admittedly – and the Kickstarter-funded business model means general availability is still waiting on backer rewards being fulfilled. It’s not just a question of making the hardware sleek enough (though, when your natural watch-wearing audience is fond of their Rolex, Omega, IWC, or other brand-name timepiece, you really need to make sure your smartwatch can compete. People may stomach carrying two phones, but they probably won’t wear two watches) but delivering the right mixture of usability.

Too ambitious, and you lose the immediacy and at-a-glance convenience having a screen on your wrist delivers; you also start to encounter input and control issues. Too humble, and users may decide there’s not quite enough to warrant actually strapping your gadget on in the first place.

Samsung won’t talk specifics for functionality, though a previous leak describing a so-called GALAXY Altius hinted at a mixture of maps, music, messaging, and more. In short, we’re a long way from seeing whether it can crack the smartwatch conundrum, and a patchy track record in tech for your wrist suggests there’s plenty of work to be done before the Galaxy brand spreads to our arms.

“We are working very hard to get ready for it” Lee repeated, describing the timepiece as a part of Samsung’s attempt to think beyond the current tablet/phone mobile paradigm. “We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.”

Samsung won’t lack competition in what’s a fast-growing sub-segment of the market. Smaller firms, such as Kickstarter success Pebble, have already got smartwatches on sale, working generally as companion devices or “second screen” systems for the user’s existing Android or iOS phone. However, more heavyweight alternatives are believed to be waiting in the wings.

Apple’s so-called “iWatch” plans have surfaced frequently from the rumor-mill over the past months, with the Cupertino firm believed to have around 100 people working on the project and targeting a launch sometime in 2013. Exactly how the iWatch might work is unclear, though it’s expected to bring some of the features of an iPad or iPhone to the wrist, potentially including swifter Siri access.

The pressures of the race aren’t lost on Samsung. “The issue here is who will first commercialize it so consumers can use it meaningfully” Lee concedes.

Samsung has already taken a step into wearables with the accessory range for the GALAXY S 4, announced last week. The new flagship can be paired via Bluetooth with the S Band, a pedometer and activity tracker worn on the wrist, as well as a heart-rate monitor worn around the chest. These send data to the new S Health app, Samsung’s attempt to tap into what’s expected to be a huge growth market over the next 4-5 years.

The smartwatch, however, would almost certainly be more comprehensive than a band packed full of sensors. Recent leaks indicated Samsung was working on the GALAXY Altius, a wearable with a compact display that could show music, call, messaging, and other data.

[Image credit: Johan Loekito]

Pebble says that the watchface SDK is still a work-in-progress, and that it’s mostly just a “proof of concept”. It wants developers to note that the watchface SDK will not allow them access “to the accelerometer (or magnetometer), or communication between watchfaces and smartphones (among other deficiencies).” There’s a good possibility that 99% of the APIs in the SDK will change “as we move towards a full blown SDK”.

Pebble also plans on releasing a firmware update next week as well. The firmware version, 1.9, helps improve user experience. Your watchfaces are now at the bottom of the stack, meaning if you keep pressing the back button, you will find your way back to your watchface. Also, by pressing the up and down buttons on the right side of your Pebble watch, you can alternate between the watchfaces you have installed. There are also “under-the-hood” changes that allows developers to more easily and quickly display text on the watches.

The new watchface SDK will open a new chapter for Pebble E-Watches. Pebble provided a few examples of watchfaces developed through the SDK, including a watchface that tells time in Dutch, a watchface with a dragon that blinks every minute, and a watchface that shows Mario (from Super Mario) grabbing a coin every minute.

Over 40,000 Pebbles E-Paper watches have been made so far, and over 85% of Kickstarter backers who ordered the long strap version of the watch will receive their watches next week. Pebble is making good progress in getting its watches out to all of its 70,000-ish backers. If you haven’t ordered the watch yet, you can pre-order it now through Pebble’s website for $150.

[via Pebble]

The MacUser folks stated that the concept was inspired by the Smart Cover accessory for iPads. They stated that creating an iWatch could be as easy as combining an iPad Nano device onto a leather band. The leather would give the device a classic and conventional feel. MacUser stated, “We came to the conclusion that Apple’s most likely play would be to keep its watch as conventional as possible, with the feel of something classic rather than excitably innovative.

Analysts believe that Apple could take 10% of the global watch market with the iWatch. That would mean that it could make $6 billion off the device. The watch is rumored to be able to survive 5-6 days on a single charge, and there are currently 100 engineers working on the project. Many have said that if Apple could pull of the iWatch (if any company could do it, it’d be Apple), it can kill all of those rumors that say the company is not innovative without Steve Jobs.

Many sources are saying that Apple is prepping to launch the new mobile accessory this year around early Q4. The company may be accelerating the launch of the device because its investors are feeling uneasy about its deteriorating stock price. Tim Cook has been saying over and over that Apple has some “great products” that will help bring the company’s stock price back up. Do you think the iWatch will be the device to do that?

[via Tapscape]

The confusion seems to be warranted, though, as Pebble notes that while the chip used in the Pebble smartwatch doesn’t normally support Bluetooth 4.0, the company had the firmware of a different chip flashed on the ones used in the watch in order to support Bluetooth 4.0. The situation is definitely a little confusing, but Pebble says that this was done to speed up orders.

Pebble posted on Reddit the details of the situation, and note that the Pebble features a PAN1316 chip from Panasonic that uses Texas Instruments components. The chips that TI sent to Panasonic were labeled CC2560, which doesn’t support Bluetooth 4.0. However, Pebble had Panasonic simply flash the firmware of a CC2564 in order to get the latest Bluetooth support.

However, while the smartwatch does, in fact, come with Bluetooth 4.0 support, Pebble hasn’t yet switched it on in the watch’s operating system, but it seems they’ll be doing that sometime in the future, most likely with an update. It’s unclear why they’re holding back 4.0 support, but it could be a number of reasons at this point.

Since the watch doesn’t have any visible screws anywhere, you have to pry the outer shell apart, and there’s certainly no lack of adhesive holding the device together. iFixit even notes that you won’t be able to take it apart without compromising the glass display. Once it’s pried off, however, you get an all-access pass to the components inside.

By removing the lone ribbon cable that makes its way through the device, you can get better access to the internals that are deep down below the e-ink display. The ribbon cable alone houses all four buttons, three LEDs, and the Bluetooth antenna, which makes it nearly impossible to replace an individual component, according to iFixit.

In the end, iFixit noticed a few key points when tearing apart the little device. First off, it’s pretty much impossible to open up the Pebble smartwatch without busting the glass display, since the watch is held to together with strong adhesive to make it waterproof. Also, the low power consumption of the device decreases the frequency that you’ll have to charge it, which increases the life of the battery in the long run, with a possible life of 10 years, according to iFixit’s estimates.

The analyst is Oliver Chen from Citigroup and after looking at the numbers, he believes the iWatch could be a $6 billion business for Apple. The analyst also noted that there is “plenty of opportunity for upside” assuming Apple is able to create something totally new as it did with the iPod. Chen bases his numbers off the fact that the global watch market is worth $60 billion a year.

Apple will have to capture 10% of that global watch market to hit that $6 billion number Chen thinks is doable. I would think Apple certainly has the ability to do that with an iWatch. The product would likely capture a number of people that wouldn’t have been in the watch market otherwise helping to grow the market overall.

Chen also notes that watch margins are humongous along the lines of 60% making the potential margins on the iWatch very appealing. Using these figures Chen came up with the potential gross profit of $3.6 billion for Apple if it enters the watch market with an appealing product. At the same time, if Apple entered the TV market and captured 10% it would expect a gross profit of about $1.79 billion making the watch market much more appealing.

[via ZDNet]

According to Bloomberg, one of the team members currently working on the iWatch at Apple says that the watch will be introduced later this year, most likely in the early fall when Apple usually announces new products. This goes along with a very early rumor that we heard back in December. Bloomberg says that a smartwatch has been a long-time project that Apple’s Jony Ive has been wanting to work on, and it’s said that Ive handed out Nike sports watches a few years ago for his team to study.

It’s said that around 100 engineers are working on the iWatch project, so there’s certainly no shortage of manpower behind the task, so it would make sense if we would see the iWatch come to fruition as early as later this year. The iWatch could come with the same features as the recently-launched Pebble watch, but may come with even more capabilities.

As for battery life, The Verge reports that Apple is aiming for four to five days on a single charge, according to their sources. However, current prototypes that are being tested are only lasting around a couple of days, so that’s definitely an issue that the Cupertino-based company is having problems with, so we’re not sure if the watch will actually last a full work week, but let’s hope so.

[via Bloomberg]

The watch is currently on sale for $349 and is available for purchase now. The normal retail price is $449. The watch features Bluetooth connectivity and allows users to see calls, text messages, e-mails, and other notifications directly on the watch face. Users can answer or decline calls right from the face of the watch and the watch has a built-in speaker allowing you to use it as a speakerphone.

The watch is designed to run multiple apps directly on the watch face ranging from playlists to a digital compass to various games. The watch comes with various band styles the user can choose from the color collection, tech collection, or jewel collection. The jewel collection is available in silver or gold. The watch measures 15 mm thick by 37 mm tall by 37 mm wide.

It has an integrated rechargeable battery promises 48 to 72 hours of standby time and actual talk time depends on usage. The watch has integrated GSM connectivity allowing it to operate on a mobile network without a smartphone. It also has built-in GPS and a lot more. The price of $349 is for the color collection. The tech collection is available in titanium or black titanium and starts at $1049. The Jewel collection is available with a silver case, yellow gold case, white gold case, pink gold case, and white gold with diamonds. Pricing starts at $1999 and goes up to slightly under $20,000 for the diamond encrusted version.

[via imsmart]

Hardware

Functional. That’s probably the best way to describe the Pebble, especially if you ordered the black version. The standard strap is a chunky black rubber affair, with enough holes for even the plumpest of geek wrists, though you can switch it out with any standard 22mm band. It’s comfortable enough, though not especially stylish. It raises a quandary for those who still wear watches; Pebble feels akin to a basic Swatch, and if your wrist is normally home to something more expensive, you’ll have to decide whether the smartphone connectivity is worth the loss in good-looks and cachet.

As for the main unit itself, it’s solid but hardly inspiring in its design. The fascia is a shallow arc of high-gloss shatter- and scratch-resistant plastic that picks up fingerprints with alacrity, while there are four large, easy to press buttons spread around the sides. On the left, a single button calls up the main menu, while the top and bottom buttons on the right scroll up and down; the center right button works as a select key.

Pebble opted for a sealed, non-user-replaceable 140 mAh battery, since that allowed the watch to be made water-resistance. In fact, it can handle 5 ATM, meaning you can go swimming while wearing it or keep it on in the shower; it’s also happy with either fresh or salt water. To charge it, there’s a proprietary magnetic dock connector on the left edge, to which an included USB cable clings. There’s no AC adapter in the box, though you can use a USB port on your computer or any standard USB charger (such as that came with a cellphone).

On the back there’s an embossed Pebble logo – no other branding is outwardly visible – along with the serial number and “Kickstarter Edition” printed. It weighs in at 38.5g including the strap, while the watch section itself measures 50.33 x 32 x 8.44 mm; that makes it slightly thicker and longer than Sony’s SmartWatch, though narrower, and the curved fascia of the Pebble makes it seem slimmer than the blunt-edged Sony.

Inside, there’s an ARM Cortex-M3 processor, a 3-axis accelerometer, a digital compass, and an ambient light sensor, as well as a Bluetooth radio. That, in hardware terms at least, supports Bluetooth 4.0, though currently the Pebble software locks it to Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. A vibration motor is easily felt, though it’s also audible; we would’ve been happy with a more discrete sensation (since it’s right on our wrist) for something that couldn’t be heard by people sitting nearby.

Display

The 1.26-inch monochrome display Pebble opted for is described as e-paper, though it’s not the same E Ink technology we’re familiar with from ereaders like the Kindle. Instead, the 144 x 168 pixel panel is a very low-power screen that relies on ambient light for illumination for much of the time, reflecting that back out to make the display more visible. It also means you don’t get the “black flash” every time you change the on-screen image, as you do on an ereader. Outdoor visibility is great, and there’s a backlight which comes on sparingly when the ambient light isn’t sufficient.

The power-sipping nature of the screen means Pebble has been able to keep the panel active constantly: like a regular digital watch, you can always see the time. Without the backlight on, whites are more accurately greys, though we generally didn’t have issues glancing down and seeing what the time was.

Software

On its own, Pebble is pretty dumb. It comes with three watch faces preloaded – Text Watch, which prints “twelve one” or “five forty” rather than showing numbers; Fuzzy Time, which sacrifices accuracy in favor of more vague indicators like “noon”; and Classic Analog, with a traditional watch face along with day and date – and the music control app, as well as the ability to set alarms. If you want any more, you’ll have to jump into the respective app store for your smartphone.

Pebble supports iOS and Android at present; Windows Phone and BlackBerry users are out of luck. Your iPhone or iPad will need to be running iOS 5 or above, while your Android phone or tablet will need Android 2.3 or above. Interestingly, the two apps are very different, a division that’s forced by virtue of the ways iOS and Android work with external devices.

Pebble Video Review:

On the iPhone, the Pebble app is used to pair up the smartwatch, and to choose between the seven optional watch faces (which range from basic analog layouts to Toykoflash-style confusion). Eventually, Pebble promises, there’ll be an app store of its own, through which developers will be able to offer their own software to enhance the smartwatch experience. Right now, though, Pebble is keeping things locked down as it works on satisfying all of the promises it made through its Kickstarter campaign.

To actually control the notifications iOS sends through, you have to turn to the iPhone’s Notifications page. There’s no specific mention of Pebble there, but if you switch the individual notifications you want routed to the watch off, and then on again, they start to pop up on the watch’s display. It’s hardly an intuitive system, but it’s one you soon get used to doing: as it stands, every time you disconnect the Bluetooth connection and then reconnect it – say, if you walk out of range of your phone as it charges on your desk – you’ll need to go through the same off/on toggling process to get the alerts pushed through again.

It’s not the only frustration we found with iOS. Our iPhone seemed okay with the fact that, despite the Pebble connecting over Bluetooth, it wasn’t a headset (although it showed up as an audio option during calls); however, when we tried to use Siri, it would automatically attempt to use Pebble as the microphone. That could actually have been quite useful, except Pebble doesn’t have a microphone or speaker, so Siri wouldn’t work until we disconnected the watch.

We also couldn’t get Caller ID to work – Pebble would show just the number, even if the caller was saved as a contact – though music playback control worked as it should, supporting the native iOS Music app along with third-party apps like Spotify. You get artist, album, and track name on-screen, as well as skip back/forward and pause controls. Unfortunately, Pebble didn’t recognize the Sonos app, and so couldn’t control that.

The Android app takes a different approach. There, everything – watch faces, notification settings, eventually app installations – happens within the one piece of software. Every compatible phone app is listed, with a checkbox to select whether Pebble will alert you to a new update: you can have phone and SMS notifications, calendar reminders, new mail broken down by each account active on the phone, Google Talk and Google Voice, and Facebook. However, the permissions you need to assign to the app are pretty broad if you want all that to happen – Pebble needs your Gmail passwords and access to all of your notifications, for instance, if you want to see them on your watch – and there are still omissions, so for instance Twitter direct messages don’t pop up yet.

As you might have noticed, the flexibility of Pebble when paired with an Android phone is considerably greater than when with an iPhone. There’s no calendar alert support for iPhone yet, and in fact you’re predominantly limited to email, content in Messages, and calls. Similarly, there’s no way to have notifications show just on the watch, not on the phone: if you want Pebble to show an iOS alert, it has to be included on the lockscreen. On the flipside, Pebble’s music controls only work with Android apps that support the Bluetooth AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile); any that don’t simply won’t respond, with a notable offender there being the Spotify app.

No matter which platform you use, exactly what Pebble will let you access is limited. Though the watch will buzz for every new notification that comes through, you can only scroll through the most recent one. Anything older requires you to pull out your phone to check; in fact, there’s not even a count to say how many messages, calls, notifications, and the like you’ve got waiting. Calls can be answered or rejected, though you can’t stop the watch from buzzing but let the call ring out (as you can by hitting one of the volume buttons on your phone).

Battery Life

There are two batteries to think about with Pebble: the watch’s own power, and the battery in your phone. Keeping a Bluetooth connection permanently active will take a toll on your handset; Pebble suggests it’ll be in the region of 5- to 10-percent per day.

In practice, we found that whereas an iPhone in our typical use would last from morning through to night on a single charge, when we started using Pebble it would invariably expire mid-evening. That’s with no other changes to use beyond hooking up the smartwatch. The impact on a Samsung Galaxy S III, meanwhile, was roughly the same, with the phone expiring an hour or two earlier than we were used to.

As for the Pebble watch itself, the company claims up to a week’s runtime from a single charge, and that could well be improved once Bluetooth 4.0 support is enabled (not that we have a timescale for that happening). It’s not easy to keep track of, however: the only time a battery icon shows up is when you reach certain levels: full, low (i.e. with 12-20 hours of runtime left), or empty; or when you’re charging either from a low battery or approximately halfway done. A full charge takes 2-3 hours. With regular use, we saw 4-6 days between charges.

Wrap-up

It’s fair to say we’re torn over Pebble. After the furore of the Kickstarter campaign, the practicality is a generic-looking watch with basic notification functionality; yes, there’s the promise of so much more, but we’re nowhere near the point where Pebble does more than just flag up your latest message or allow you to avoid a call without pulling out your phone. Third-party app support is the key, and there certainly seems to be plenty of developer interest, but we still don’t know how long it will take to actually arrive.

That means that what you can actually do with Pebble today is limited. We still ended up with our phone out a lot of the time, since Pebble will only allow you to see there’s new content, not do anything with it. We’d love to see at least the option to forward emails to someone else (maybe by scrolling through a list of a few preset recipients), or fire back a stock answer like “I’ll reply when I’m back at my desk.”

Still, the fact that we find ourselves glancing down at other watches for notifications when we’re not wearing Pebble suggests that the smartwatch did find its way into our workflow. If anything, it’s more useful out of work hours; those times when your phone buzzes and you’re watching TV, and you want to quickly triage out anything that can be ignored versus something that warrants grabbing your attention. There’s a whole lot of potential there, and so far Pebble is just scratching at the surface. Whether it’s worth $150 today depends on how much of an early-adopter you are; everyone else considering dressing their wrist with some smart technology might want to wait and see how third-party apps change the Pebble experience.

Of course, the watch would be able to communicate with your iOS device and could things such as view recent calls, view and reply to text messages, manage music playlists, and look up addresses on Apple Maps possibly. The patent also describes a number of ways of powering the smartwatch, including using a solar panel or possibly even kinetic power sources.

Of course, this is only a patent application, which most of the time means that these things usually ever come to fruition in real life. Apple is all about setting trends, but we don’t think that means bringing old trends back from the early 90s with a new slap bracelet that you can also hit your classmates with (remember that?).

An Apple smartwatch certainly isn’t farfetched — users are already using iPod Nanos as watches, but we have a hard time believing that Apple would use a slap bracelet design for their official iWatch. Of course, we’re not really sure what they might do as far as design, but it’s safe to assume that it could be something fairly mindblowing.

[via Patently Apple]

Not only is this a touchscreen smartwatch, it’s also an activity monitoring device. The watch can track your movements during the day and keep nine your sleep cycle at night. The watch is designed to interface with both Apple and Android smartphones. It synchronizes to smartphones via Bluetooth and provides notifications for all sorts of activities on your phone.

SmartFitty offers notifications for incoming calls, e-mail, text messages, calendar reminders, Facebook messages and posts, and twitter posts. The watch does have a dedicated silence button to turn off the alarms when you don’t want to hear them. The activity monitoring portion of the watch tracks the number of steps you take, the distance walked during the day, and the number of calories you burn.

You can also set goals and the watch will track your progress towards them. The watch has some interesting applications built-in giving you the ability to change the watch face, control your music remotely, and check in via Facebook. Runners can use the watch to measure how fast they’re going, the distance they’ve run, and how many calories they have burned. The watch even has an integrated SOS app to alert friends, family, and emergency services to your GPS location. The project is seeking $100,000 and so far has raised $2296 with 44 days to go. A pledge of $125 will get you an early bird special on one of the watches with a leather or rubber strap.

[via Indiegogo]

This series of screen-grabs includes the name GALAXY Altius, one that we’ve heard in a set of rumors very recently attached to what was thought to be the Galaxy S IV – another device rumored to be revealed soon. This device has SKT and SKTelecom on several shots, this indicating that it will be carried with a data plan on that particular South Korean mobile service. Though the software here does appear to have an Android-type look to it, it could just as easily be a basic Java-based interface not unlike what we’re seeing with today’s reveal of the REX series from Samsung.

In the upper right-hand corner of a couple of the shots, you’ll see the “Samsung-GA7″ code name – this indicative of the LCD display. You’ll find that the software version is AltiusOS beta2, this either meaning that the software was built specifically for this device, or that it’s a version of Android (or some Samsung-specific OS) fitted for this device. You’ll also find that 1.5% of the full 235MB of internal storage space is being used up – this makes the case for a rather symbiotic device rather than a stand-along model.

The final screenshot shows a series of tiles that each have their own purpose – the first is a music player, the second a clock, another a connection to your email with a little “2″ in the corner to show how many messages you’ve got left to read. The fact that the last two tiles are off to the right of the display while a bar at the bottom shows a bit of a “slider” situation shows that this device will quite likely have a touchscreen display.

Each shot here is 500 x 500 pixels, this possibly indicating that the display is working with 500 x 500 pixel resolution – we don’t know for certain because the original delivery here isn’t verified as straight from the device. That said, such a resolution is quite possible given the current standards for smart devices – especially Samsung-made Galaxy devices.

It’s also worth noting that the name Samsung Galaxy Altius was sent to SamMobile on the 22nd of January as a Samsung flagship device. Though they’ve separately confirmed the Samsung Galaxy S IV to be working with the name GT-I9500, the connection to the name Altius could just as easily be assigned to the Samsung smartwatch Altius. It’s also possible – however unlikely – that both the Galaxy S IV and the Samsung smartwatch are working with the name Altius as a sort of “family name” for this next generation of smart device releases.

Have a peek at the timeline below covering the full gamut of recent Samsung next-generation tips and suggestions and stay tuned for more action on SlashGear in the Samsung tag portal as well! Click any of the images in the gallery below for larger more close-up versions of the images you see above.

Developer Conrad Kramer released the “BTNotificationEnabler” tweak today in the Cydia app store, and it’s a fairly simple tweak that allows the iPhone to push all notifications to the Pebble smartwatch. Since the Pebble watch uses Bluetooth to connect to the iPhone, any notification from any app will be sent to the watch.

Granted, Pebble is allowing for third-party apps to use its SDK, so it would probably be just a matter of time before most apps eventually support push notifications on the smartwatch itself, but jailbreaking leaves the door wide open for possibly even better tweaks, since these kinds of apps aren’t subjected to Apple’s rules.

Then again, if you want seamless integration with your iPhone, it’s rumored that Apple is working on their own smartwatch, which may or may not happen of course, but it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in the next few months. If an Apple smartwatch does happen, the seamless integration could be quite good for iOS users, and it may even integrate with OS X as well, which would be even better.

[via Cult of Mac]

As with other Apple rumors, the iWatch is exciting the company’s fans. Surely Apple has something great up its sleeve with the watch, those fans might say. Others are already predicting that they’ll buy one and wear it each day, and before long, just about everyone else will, too. The iWatch has somehow joined the pantheon of Apple greats, like the iPod and iPhone, before it’s even launched.

[Image concept by ADR Studio]

But perhaps we need to come back down to reality. Apple’s iWatch idea is probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a long time. And I, for one, wouldn’t be caught in public wearing the company’s watch.

Now, I’m sure there are many people who will respond to this column by saying that many industry observers believe that wearable technology is the future. And I can’t disagree with that. But is a watch really the product to deliver the next giant leap in technology?

The beauty of Apple products is that they can be used anywhere a person goes. The iPhone is a work and home device. The same can be said for the iPod and iPad. Macs have even found a way to bridge the gap between consumers and enterprise users.

But a watch is a different story altogether. I’ve yet to find a tech-lover’s watch that actually looks good on the wrist. More importantly, it fails to deliver the kind of end-to-end solution that Apple’s many other products might.

For example, would you really wear the iWatch to work? Sure, it’ll help you keep the time and maybe check your e-mails, but you already have an iPhone and iPad for that. And if you’re in a client-facing business, would a big, bulky Apple watch really send the right message? Perhaps. But it depends on the industry. I don’t necessarily see financial-industry bigshots putting down their Rolex for an Apple iWatch.

To me, the iWatch sounds like a gimmick. It’s something that I could see someone wear while on a run or perhaps working around the house. But to wear it as the central part of an outfit each day doesn’t quite add up.

Of course, the technology industry is littered with people like me who have doubted Apple’s ability to score big and succeed. But I think the iWatch is an attempt by Apple to bite off more than it can chew. I get the smartphone, the tablet, the music player, and the television idea. But I don’t get the company’s reported desire to make a push for timepieces.

I’m impressed by Apple’s ability to make smart decisions year in, year out. But if the iWatch launches sometime this year, I couldn’t help but wonder if the best ideas have already been revealed.

Samsung is no stranger to companion devices for its smartphones, in fact. The S Pebble, its compact music player designed as an accessory for the Galaxy S III, quietly launched in the US last December, while all the way back in 2010 Samsung was flirting with a combination stylus and Bluetooth headset for the original Galaxy Tab. What it hasn’t done, so far, is a watch.

That day could be sooner than you think, at least according to the latest batch of speculation. Samsung’s rumored “Project J” could well be a trio of hardware, not a single device, according to SamMobile‘s digging; the so-called “Project J Active Fortius” is tipped as a smartwatch-style device, at least by divining from the expected accessories. There will supposedly be an official arm band, bike mount, and pouch for the Fortius, with that – and the name -driving chatter that it’s a compact, fitness-related gizmo.

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch, either. The slick looking timepiece shown here, complete with an interchangeable hub that docks into a wristband among other things, is the handiwork of Johan Loekito in association with Samsung Design America, and dates back to 2009.

Some of the same arguments we’ve made in favor of an Apple iWatch hold, to an extent, true for Samsung’s potential “Galaxy Watch.” For instance, we suggested that Siri could be the wildcard on your wrist, with the voice control system meaning smartwatch users would no longer have to pull out their phone or tablet in order to actually respond to an alert.

Samsung has its own speech control system, in the shape of S Voice, though initial feedback on the service was mixed. However, when combined with Google Now‘s predictive technologies as part of Android, that could make for a compelling way of interacting with digital services: a little like Project Glass, perhaps, but on your arm not suspended above your eye-line.

With estimates that the wearables market will surge by 2017, Samsung’s involvement in the segment is probably unavoidable. That health-tracking gadgets are expected to lead that surge, and that Samsung already has its S Health service up and running, only makes it all the more likely that fitness and activity monitoring will be its initial foothold. Factor in Samsung’s own work on flexible OLED, itself expected to come to fruition in 2013, and Apple might not be the only firm with a wraparound smartwatch.

According to the sources, the team is comprised of software and hardware engineers, marketing group members, and managers. The device they are working on with be similar to a wristwatch, but will perform tasks that are currently done by an iPhone or iPad. The watch will likely connect to the wearer’s iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth, but may function as a standalone device as well. Not much else is known aside from the speculation and rumors.

According to the original source, Apple has already been in talks with Foxconn, which is said to be actively developing wearable device technology for several companies, not just Apple. In particular, the manufacturer is said to be working on creating more power-efficient displays for the smartwatches, which will have limited space for batteries and require a long battery life due to the nature of the device.

Likewise, the sources are reported as saying that Apple has actually been looking into wearable devices for quite some time now, and had originally said that the company had already hired some employees, a statement the latest crop of sources have elaborated on. Apple has again declined commenting on the rumors, so take it all with a grain of salt.

[via Bloomberg]
[Concept image by ADR Studio]

Corning revealed its Willow Glass technology last June, but the tough, flexible glass has in fact been in development for more than ten years. The material can be just 100 microns thick – making it thin enough to wave in the wind – which also helps with broad viewing angles: that could come in handy if you can only briefly glance askew at your wrist to check, say, on your latest iMessage pings.

Corning Willow Glass overview:

It’s not just the flexibility that makes Willow Glass special, however. The material can also be processed at very high temperatures – up to 500 degrees centigrade, in fact – which makes it suitable for roll-to-roll production. Such systems, where assembly of display components is carried out continuously rather than in individual sheets, would likely be essential for productivity if Apple was to go into mass production for what would likely be an affordable and popular accessory.

Corning Willow Glass roll-to-roll production:

According to the NYT’s sources inside Apple, the smartwatch would “operate on” iOS, though it’s unclear whether that means the digital timepiece would have its own, standalone operating system, or merely act as a conduit for iPhone and iPad notifications. The colloquially-named “iWatch” is expected to use Bluetooth 4.0, the low power iteration of the short-range wireless technology, to connect to a nearby Apple device.

Exactly what it could do with that connection is unclear, though there’s plenty of potential for a discrete, wrist-worn way to access data. Beyond the usual notifications for email, calendar alerts, messaging, and calls, the Bluetooth link could be used to remotely command Siri, Apple’s virtual personal assistant. That would help bypass the presumed absence of a complex touchscreen interface, and address one of the biggest ongoing criticisms with smartwatches in general: that though they allow wearers to check alerts, they usually fall short when it comes to acting on them.

With Siri, however, iWatch users could reply to messages, establish new appointments, search the internet, and get navigation guidance, all by asking for it out loud. Previous rumors have suggested Apple might use a roughly 1.5-inch display – akin to the sixth-gen iPod nano, perhaps, which many buyers wore on their wrist using special third-party watch straps – though how much information would be displayed on-screen and how much would be audibly reported is unclear.

A timescale for Apple’s iWatch launch is still something of a mystery, and both the company and manufacturer Foxconn have declined to comment on the speculation.

[Concept image by ADR Studio]

According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the sources says that Foxconn is currently working on making the wearable device displays more power-efficient for battery purposes. If Apple does ever release a wearable device, it is said that it’ll be integrated with the iPhone, probably connecting with the device via Bluetooth and allowing the two to have a symbiotic relationship.

This isn’t a new thing for Apple, according to the sources, which say the company has been looking into wearable devices for quite some times. The company has allegedly gone so far as to hire employees with experience related to the technology. Apple declined commenting on the situation, and Foxconn has not said anything about the matter.

If the Pebble smartwatch is any indication, this type of device could be wildly popular. The Pebble, which connects with a mobile device, reached its $100k pledge goal in a little over an hour and a half on Kickstarter, and went on to break records and receive thousands of pledges. We’ll keep you updated as more details surface, so stay tuned.

[via Wall Street Journal]

The update presents two bug fixes that should reduce users’ grief. The first of the two corrects the problem with undiscoverable Pebble watches. The second, meanwhile, is more simple, being a change in the Play Store listing that lists which devices are incompatible, making it a device support fix/misclassification fix.

This release takes the app to version 1.6.8. According to the Google Play store, the app is available for devices running Android 2.3.3 and higher, coming in at a svelte 2.5MB. Still, despite the update, the app is not without its bugs. Pebble itself has listed a problem on Google Play, where it states that certain Samsung users who are running Android 4.0 and higher could find their smartphones speaking when Pebble accessibility services are enabled.

The bug results from Samsung’s Android operating system that gets screwy with any accessibility service, not just Pebble’s. According to the company, it is waiting for Samsung to issue a fix that will stop the problem. For those who don’t know, this app allows Pebble users to interface with their smartwatch, providing update notifications, custom watch interfaces, and performs troubleshooting.

[via Android Community]

“The apps won’t do anything until you receive your Pebble,” the message to Kickstarter backers pointed out, “but rest assured that they exist and are waiting for you.” Without the iOS app, iPhone users with a Pebble would have been left with limited functionality: notifications and music control would work, Pebble said, but owners would not be able to install watchfaces or upgrade to the latest PebbleOS.

That’s no longer an issue, and as well as the iOS app, the Android version is out to download for those with phones or tablets running Google’s OS. So far, functionality includes changing watchfaces, updating the firmware, and sending sample notifications – of emails, SMS, pings, and phone calls – to the timepiece.

You can download the iOS app from the App Store here [iTunes link], and the Android app from the Play market here. Over at Android Community they’ve had a tentative look at the Android app - or at least as much as you can without having a Pebble watch itself – to see what features are promised.

More on the Pebble itself in our full hands-on

“We submitted [the iOS app] 2 weeks ago and have been responding to reviewer feedback” Pebble wrote in an email to backers today. “For the moment, iOS users who receive Pebble early will be able to do notifications/Music control but will not be able to install watchfaces or upgrade to the latest PebbleOS until the app appears in the App Store.”

As for the Android app, that will arrive in the Play store tomorrow, Thursday January 24. Pebble has also set up a somewhat-whimsical “Is Pebble Shipping?” site, though the real meat of order tracking is yet to be enabled in the accounts page of the company’s site. It’s likely to be a heavily-accessed feature, too, not helped by the fact that the Pebble team apparently got too excited and sent out some “we’re shipping your order” emails prematurely.

Those who ordered a black Pebble, and who are in the US, are likely to get their smartwatch first. Pebble decided to manufacturer “in large batches of 1 color at a time” and, since black was the most popular color among Kickstarter backers, that’s the hue they opted for first. Meanwhile, there’s some detail on timescale as to mass shipments and their frequency to each location:

“We are shipping master cartons of Pebbles by air freight across the Pacific to our US distribution center 1-2 times per week, and 1-2 times per week to our Hong Kong distribution center which fulfills shipments to any country that isn’t the US. There is a 5-7 day lag between a Pebble coming off the assembly line, and it arriving in a fulfillment center for shipping” Pebble

Finally, the team reiterated its intention to push out software updates every 2-3 weeks until the full set of initially promised features are enabled. More on the Pebble smartwatch in our interview with project founder and CEO, Eric Micogovsky.

With so many rival smartwatches already on the market and in the pipeline – Toshiba is showing one such concept here at CES - Migocovsky says it’s been a “perfect storm” of publicity, timing, and attention that has seen Pebble capture the imagination. Part of that is backer engagement, Migocovsky believes: the fact that Pebble is contactable by Facebook, Twitter, and other routes to anyone with a question or a suggestion.

Those suggestions have come thick and fast, though Migocovsky is wary of over-promising at this stage. The current SDK only caters for alternative watch faces – the first thing you’ll see when you glance at your wrist, given the e-paper display is permanently on (and a tap of the watch triggers the backlight) – and there’s no timescale for when third-party applications will be enabled. Still, the If This Then That integration does make for more flexibility for those willing to craft a few web-app macros.

Pebble Smartwatch demo:

Pebble doesn’t see that app limitation as a drawback, however; in fact, Migocovsky argues it’s an advantage. If the initial product isn’t good enough to be deemed worthy of a place on your wrist, you won’t wear it, he points out: if people aren’t wearing it, then developers won’t recognize it as a worthy market to code for, and the carefully-honed ecosystem will shrivel.

Pebble Smartwatch interview with Eric Migicovsky

That commitment to Kickstarter backers isn’t going anywhere, either. Not only will the 85,000 people who supported Pebble with cash up-front be the first to get their smartwatch, Migocovsky is also determined to make sure they don’t end up with an outmoded device any time soon. The “added extra” hardware features – such as the Bluetooth 4.0 capabilities, despite the fact that Pebble currently only uses Bluetooth 2.1, and the ambient light sensor – are a big part of that, and Pebble will be pushing out firmware updates every 2-3 weeks until every initially-promised feature is present and correct.

Next step, though, is batch-shipping of the first Pebble units to backers, with Migocovsky saying the factory is capable of producing 15,000 units a week when at full tilt. When the initial list is done, then they’ll turn to the reservations list that opened after the Kickstarter closed; that currently measures in the tens of thousands, Pebble says, though not quite the same number as the watch start-up saw backers.

The wearables market is certainly heating up, with a range of form-factors (on the wrist, digital eyewear like Google Glass, clip-on activity trackers, and more) being played with, and it seems 2013 may be the year it all comes to a head. Our early impressions are definitely positive – several of the SlashGear team are also Kickstarter backers – but we’ll reserve our full opinion until we can live with Pebble on our wrist for a while.

On the wrist, it’s lightweight, with the rubberized strap – that can be easily switched out – comfortable. The display is clear and legible, and lacks the refresh-pause we’re familiar with from E Ink ereaders. The fact that it’s only monochrome is offset by the great contrast, and the twin font levels make it easy to read even body text in emails and SMS.

Pebble’s charging system - which magnetically attaches to pins on the side – clips on easily, though it also pulls off very easily; we’d prefer a slightly tighter grip, especially if you’re trying to recharge the watch without taking it off first. The buttons are large and easy to press, the watch seems responsive.

Of course, the whole platform will only really come to life when third-party developers get into gear. That will be the moment when Pebble tips over from neat gadget to wrist-essential, using services If This Then That and other web apps to feed data to the device. The Pebble team says it’s focusing on a core group of abilities that work with sufficient polish to get buyers to strap the watch on every morning, with a more expansive array of apps coming after that.

Pebble smartwatch hands-on and demo:

The first units will begin shipping out on January 23 to Kickstarter backers, with Pebble expecting it to take 6-8 weeks to fulfill all those orders.

Some of the initial watchfaces have already been released, with a mixture of analog and digital styles. There’s a Braun-esque analog, plus a binary one which would look at home on a Tokyoflash timepiece, and the Pebble team itself has created some fashionable written-text UIs, which say “Twenty past Nine” rather than showing numbers.

Pebble also demonstrated the music interface, with the smartwatch paired with an iPod and used to scroll through a playlist. The watch shows what’s currently playing on the display, and thanks to the waterproofing, you could even use it to control playback while you’re in the shower. The accelerometer is used for controlling the backlight, with a simple tap of the watch turning on the display.

As for message previews, they show your email subject and sender, as well as the content of the message; SMS, meanwhile, shows sender and the full content. Incoming phone calls show caller ID and number at the same time, and you can dismiss the call with a push of one of the side buttons. Phones can also send things like Facebook alerts, and developers will be able to use Pebble’s user-ID system to send notifications directly to their subscribers’ smartwatches.

Pebble has also jumped on If This Then That (IFTT), which allows for easy creation of macros to send notifications to the smartwatch when different criteria are met. So, you can set up a weather alert – pinging news to your wrist when the temperature reaches a certain point -  or a stock price alert online, and link Pebble in.

Installing new apps and watchfaces is a simple matter of using Pebble’s smartphone app, tapping the required content in the gallery and then watching it load on the smartwatch almost instantaneously. Software updates are delivered the same way, triggered from the app and pushed to the watch; Pebble says there’ll be updates every 2-3 weeks until the initially-promised features are working. That will include Runkeeper support, for instance.

That’s great for the Pebble side, but a persistent Bluetooth system takes its toll on your phone. Pebble says the watch will impact your phone’s battery by 5- to 10-percent per day, thanks to its 24/7 connection. The smartwatch will begin shipping later this month.

That has a standard USB plug on one end, and a magnetic plug on the other which clings to the side of the watch. That allows Pebble to avoid any unnecessary openings to the watch, ensuring it’ll keep working even if you wear it in the shower or drop it in your drink.

It’s actually water-resistant to 5ATM, which is enough for a little swimming though not diving. Whether you’d actually have your smartphone nearby – Pebble hooks up via Bluetooth to pull over notifications – is questionable, however.

Of course, while a proprietary cable solves one problem – how to make the watch water-resistant – it also opens up another, i.e. the fact that you’ll need to carry it around specifically if you want to recharge the smartwatch on the go. The lack of standard microUSB flexibility is offset by the lengthy battery life, however.

That mass production is pumping out 15,000 Pebble watchers per week, so it’ll take a little time to satisfy all of the multi-million spending Kickstarter backers. In fact, Pebble estimates that it’ll be around 6-8 weeks before all of those orders are met.

Of course, after that there’s a small legion of subsequent preorder customers who jumped onto the smartwatch after it made its Kickstarter goal last year. They’ll have to wait a little longer for their new toy.

In the box will be a standard 22mm watch strap, but Pebble says it’s easily interchanged with a standard band. It’s also water-resistant, and has a scratch-resistant glass on top of the e-paper display. More hardware details in the timeline below.

The display runs at 200 x 320 resolution, which is sufficient for multiple lines of text, with simple controls to navigate through the menus and options. As well as messages and calls, it will offer directions pulled from your iOS or Android smartphone, together with news headlines and weather forecasts.

The ECG sensor tracks heart-rate and can keep a record of your fitness, but Toshiba also expects to use it for security: if the smartwatch doesn’t recognize your usual pulse, it won’t unlock. Toshiba also envisages a download store for alternative watch faces and apps.

What most struck us, though, was the content of Toshiba’s looping demo, which included choice messages like “I get so emotional when your [sic] not around. I think the emotion is called happiness.” There’s no telling whether the watch and its charging cradle will actually make it to market, but Toshiba would probably need to slim down the design before that could happen since it’s a chunky block right now.