The highly successful indie watch marker, Pebble, decided two weeks before south by that it would be a great idea to throw a party in Austin Gyspe Lounge. The “Pebbjama Jam,” as Pebblers were calling it, was a place for Kickstart backers, Pebble owners, and Pebble developers to mingle with some Pebble employees, and most importantly see real people wearing the Pebble Time. It gave backers that were at SXSW to drink, mingle, and talk Pebble with the people who helped create Eric’s (CEO and founder of Pebble) dream come true.
Anyone who joined the jam left with pajama bottoms and a t-shirt with Pebble branding, of course. The 10 Pebble employees in attendance ranged from product engineers, software engineers, to people in the business and marketing department. This very intimate event gave people the chance to ask these employees and Eric what they thought about the device. They had a lot of questions, comments, and love for the device that managed to range from the new smart straps to the Pebble branding on the Pebble Steel.
Eric let it slip that the company would help Kickstarter projects that were trying to build smart-straps for the Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel by backing them. He said that they would announce this Tuesday once he was back in the office and away from SXSW. He didn’t say how much Pebble would pledge to one project or what would make a kickstarter eligible for this huge offer. This news highlights Pebble’s love and understanding of its community, which helped build a app ecosystem for the Pebble smart watches. They are now trying to do the same thing they did for apps, but now for hardware.
The Pebble Time’s were still running a test firmware and not the last version. The images that I’ve included below show the Pebble Time compared to the Pebble Steel. The color e-ink worked beautifully in the bright Austin sunlight, and gave the watch a little character that its older brothers didn’t have. The employees only had Pebble Time’s and no Pebble Time Steels yet. This could mean that they don’t have any built yet or they aren’t ready as the production date for those are later in June.
Overall the party was a chance for Pebble to thank the amazing people who helped back the project and launched Eric’s dream. I’m personally excited for the smart straps and what uses could come out of it. I would love to see a start with NFC so I could make mobile payments from my Android devices.
Tell us in the comments below what you think about the Pebble Time compared to the Pebble Steel.
The watch in your picture is not Pebble Time Steel. It is old Pebble Steel. It seems that they didn’t show it at SXSW. Eric himself was wearing just a Pebble Time…What will he announce on this Tuesday?
Let me hopefully clarify for everyone: The employees didn’t have the Pebble Time Steel, but some attendees had the Pebble Steel. They said no one was wearing it but declined to answer why any of them didn’t have one. On the Tuesday announcement Pebble will tell the world that they will pledge to Kickstarters that are building smart straps for the Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel.
I hope that answered your questions and thanks for those great questions.