Pebble isn’t slowing down releasing more information on the Pebble Time Kickstarter. Pebble released the Pebble Time Steel, and talked about smart straps. The Pebble Time Steel is the premium version of the Time, and is all made of metal. It’s heavier and thicker than the Time, but also boost longer battery life. The watch will come with a metal and leather band that will be interchangeable. The screen is still the color e-ink and with the larger battery, the watch can last 10 days between charges.
The Pebble Time Steel is going to retail for $300, but will be $250 on the Kickstarter. The watch will come in three colors: Stainless Steel, Black and Gold. As I said the watches will also come with leather straps that are the brown leather, but the gold will have a red strap. If you decided to change your pledge on Kickstarter you can upgrade without worrying about losing your spot. The watch will ship in July, around the same time the Pebble Time will start to hit store shelves.
Pebble outlined the smart straps, which will let developers plug heart rate sensors, gps, and other straps into the Pebble. Pebble isn’t releasing their own smart straps now but is releasing blueprints so developers can build their own hardware. The connector can send and receive power and data. The smart straps are apart of Pebble’s grand plan to build a hardware community like it did with the app ecosystem for the first Pebble.
If Pebble can build a hardware community around the watches it will be a boon for the watch maker and its loyal customers. I would love to have a GPS strap for when I run, and maybe an extra battery strap for when I’m traveling, or more health related sensors to keep on for regular use.