Smartphones seem to keep growing larger and larger every year; devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note II blur the line between phone and tablet, and the wildly popular Samsung Galaxy S 4 weighs in with a sizeable 5” screen. All that extra real estate is fantastic for typing, watching videos, playing games, and multitasking, but it comes at the cost of having to lug around the extra bulk of a larger device. Needing to dig through a bag or squeeze a phone in and out of a small pocket can get annoying, however, the new smart watch from Pebble can relieve many of those inconveniences.
Device compatibility
For those unfamiliar with Pebble, this unique little watch that can partner with your iPhone or Android to relay all sorts of information. By pairing up with your phone via Bluetooth, Pebble can display incoming caller ID, text messages, e-mails, calendar appointments, weather alerts, Facebook messages, and Twitter notifications. A silent vibration will alert you when a message comes in, and you can enable or disable whichever sets of notifications you please.
Customize with apps
Downloadable apps currently allow you to use the watch as a workout assistant—displaying speed, pace and distance data for runners and cyclists—and to control the music you’re listening to without having to reach for your phone. More apps are in the works to make Pebble of even greater use, and customizable watch faces are already available to suit your tastes; you can even switch out the wrist strap for almost any standard 22mm watchband if you’d like.
e-Paper display
The screen is made out of a shatter-resistant anti-glare lens, which protects the e-paper display from scuffs and scratches. That display makes the watch as easy to read in natural light as regular paper or an e-reader, and comes with a great deal of efficiency—a single charge can give upwards of seven days’ worth of power.
Pebble already earned a reputation as a sort of “little gadget that could” among techies when it broke onto the scene with a wildly successful crowdsourcing campaign to get its business off the ground, and that story has now become even greater as the innovative smart watch has signed on to be carried in Best Buy stores across the country! Be sure to keep in touch with your local store, though, as demand for the Pebble has already proven quite strong, resulting in constrained inventory as of this article’s original publishing.
