I posted this on Twitter, but re-posting on HN for further discussion...
A lot of people are going to be talking about how Core is a wearable for runners, but if that's all, we (and _especially_ we at HN) are missing the bigger point.
The Pebble Core is what the Raspberry Pi should be - a fully functional computer so small it fits on a keychain.
One way of thinking about the Pebble Core is as the new CPU at the heart of a new motherboard. If you're building an internet connected piece of hardware, the Core is at the heart of it.
That's what I thought, an upgraded and packaged version of Photon & Electron[1].
But Pebble needs to get serious about openness if they want this thing to catch on. There are already dozens of companies trying this on Ali-Express, Indie-Gogo, Kickstarter, etc.
It is not enough to be "developer friendly", they need an API that gives open access to all the hardware, including Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS controllers. They promised an Bluetooth LE API on Pebble for the end of 2015 and we have nothing so far.
> The Pebble Core is what the Raspberry Pi should be - a fully functional computer so small it fits on a keychain.
Oh... wow... that's very exciting if this is what it is... but then why not market it as such (a competitor to the Pi) instead of a very limited/specialized accessory to a not super exciting watch?
I have plenty of Pis (well, 4) and always wish they were smaller, and had wifi / bluetooth / 3g out of the box; I would buy what you just described in an instant.
(As it's currently described by Pebble, though, it's not that enticing. Maybe we just need to wait.)
Edit: it is actually described as a micro computer on the KS campaign, but buried way down into the page; it's not even immediately clear one can buy the Core without the watch; doesn't it deserve to be marketed independently?
Core is not extensible at all in terms of adding hardware to it. I don't see many people using Pi with only GPS and cell data and accelerometer and not connected to anything else.
I read your post on twitter and absolutely loved it. But Pebble needs to make it accessible. Maybe a special dev version (not everybody will need/want to hack their Core).
I love it when a product gets a new use through mostly a marketing change rather than anything technical.
As a runner, I really don't see the point. I have a gps watch (Garmin) that records distance, time, pace, cadence, etc etc and shows it all to me on my wrist. Sure, there are people out there who just want to track a run but the use case for this - particularly with no display - seems very very limited.
I have a Garmin watch (forerunner 220) and it is a bit frustrating how limited it is for the price and how Garmin segments their watches. Example: there is no bike mode so if I ride my bike it messes up my records, etc. instead of changing one bit in the data and the model that does this is hundreds more (at the time). There were also lots of issues with auto pause, pace smoothing and the like. Finally it only has 2 custom screens, another arbitrary product segmentation limitation.
I love Garmin hardware as it is super reliable. Software is more meh.
Also with this we get a music player which obviously would be suboptimal to have a cable hanging off my wrist (though Bluetooth could be cool but a bigger battery hog). This could also be interesting to monitor running form at some point too.
As a fellow runner as well, I keep searching for that "perfect" device to replace my phone for my runs. For races I just have a basic Garmin, but for training runs I love having my phone on me for music, podcasts, emergencies, and endomondo (training app).
I think the Core is a step in the right direction, depending on how extendible it is with 3rd party apps. I love that the GPS is in such a small device and that it doesn't seem to suck the battery too much (as advertised at least). Sucks it doesn't have LTE as music streaming over 3G is painful to say the least. 4GB isn't much space to store music or podcasts either. While I'd love to ditch my phone for runs this doesn't allow me to do that quite yet.
Yeah I know back in the day we would just run with our little Casio watch, but I'm spoiled now :)
According to DC Rainmaker, when combined with the watch you'll get this information on your wrist as well.
So now it's a <$170 device that has optical HR and GPS. It may not have some of the Garmin features (ANT+ is a maybe, GLONASS isn't included), but it adds a headphone output, connectivity and I suspect it will ultimately have a stronger app ecosystem.
If they've implemented optical HR well, it could be a very compelling alternative to the less specialised Garmin devices.
As a fellow runner I freeking love this idea! I've been a Nexus user since the Nexus One and have rolled through the One, Four, Five and now Six.
Running for 3+ hours was iffy with any of those devices because they'd eat their battery. Want to take your phone on a kayaking trip? Well sorry, guess you need a drybox and an extended battery!
As a runner, I love my Garmin (since the latest Forerunners introduced bluetooth sync, decent battery life, and reasonable time to GPS lock). But I'd like a watch that has a real map and can play music over bluetooth earbuds.
I just got a Moto 360 sport which has GPS, HR and BT. You can pair it with BT headphones, and it will play music from Google Play music without a phone.
The sad thing is that I actually like to listen to podcasts while I run. And, even though Google added podcast support to Play Music, podcast cannot be sync'ed to the watch. So I still have to carry my phone.
> "Pebble’s first impulse was to supercharge the smart watch, building in GPS and accelerometers and cellular antennas and earphone plugs, so it could combine the virtues of an always-connected smart watch, fitness tracker and music player."
Maybe I'm wrong, but as a runner this is what I think I want. I never run with a phone, just my GPS/HR watch. Lots of them already have MP3 storage with bluetooth headphone capability. I don't really know any that have 3g functionality and can play Spotify, which is where all my music is organized currently. I don't really want a full smartwatch (or maybe I do), but I would like to be able to send pre-composed texts to a few contacts, for example. And a full Strava app. And a camera :)
This market is referred to as 'Standalone Smartwatches', but I haven't found one that really excites me. I'm sure it has to do with the limited space and high cost of that kind of device.
If you don't want to bring your big expensive smart phone with you while running, this could be an alternative. But as a runner I love having my pace on my wrist watch - it has fundamentally changed how I run. So I think they missed the boat on this (because it doesn't apply to me) but in reality there are a lot of runners who don't care about pace and might love such a device.
And additionally I don't like taking my phone with me - not because it is big but because after a few miles I can't directly interact with it via the touch screen because my fingers are too sweaty. So they might be on to something if the UX of the device turns out to be nice.
I agree. It seems like they are close, but not quite there yet. I don't bring my phone on my runs (6 plus), but there have been times (few) where i really could have used it.
I don't see this replacing my Garmin watch anytime soon.
But really, who is going to run a triathlon with a pebble. I doubt it's battery could even last an entire race if it was playing music and using GPS. Also, I imagine you can do HRM with the core but it didn't mention it.
According to the page they're aiming for 9 hours battery life with location tracking and offline music. Although it doesn't seem waterproof so a triathlon might be out of the question.
Many runners don't like carrying a heavy smartphone during exercise. The iPod shuffle form factor does have a certain appeal to those.
The bad news (for pebble) is that runners have been using wrist mounted gadgets literally for decades (HRM watches go back to the 1980ies), so they are trying to leave the wrist in the single market where wrist-worn computers are actually established.
True. The pebble core should probably be seen as an alternative "server backend" that can stand in for the smartphone whenever one of the "fat client" smartwatches would be used in standalone mode. As that, it makes a lot of sense, literally filling a gap in the pebble lineup. And yet it may still find a market amongst non-smartwatch wearers as the "spotify shuffle".
I didn't until I bought a running belt (flipbelt). Its a tight spandex belt that you wear around the top of your shorts. My phone stays pressed flat against my back and I forget it is there. The belt is hidden by your shirt so it doesn't even look like you are wearing it.
I was looking at Pebbel the other day as sort of an entry into the smartwatch world for one.
Running and sleep tracking were secondary reasons. I'm glad I chose not to buy as I would have remorse with the "new version" of sorts being presented on Kickstarter.
>"I ask him this question while we are sitting in a conference room in Pebble’s spacious new Redwood City headquarters, offices that became more spacious than intended because of the layoffs. (Instead of spreading over two floors, Migicovsky decided to squeeze the workforce into one.)"
Just another submarine piece, also I wonder if it's an open office?
Seems Pebble has lost their direction. Their original product was excellent. A information UI on your wrist.
But then came their update, and it was all about "timelines" (thanks but no thanks, i know where this is going having dealt with Facebook and Twitter "timelines").
First, pebble's timelines has nothing at all to do with Facebook or Twitter's concept of timelines in terms of what content appears there.
Second, this is just one thing they've released today. You should check out the new watches. I'm not sure why that isn't on the front page. They are a much larger leap forward and a significant price drop to boot.
> Seems Pebble has lost their direction. Their original product was excellent. A information UI on your wrist.
Yeah, I agree. Mind you - I still love Pebbles; I'm a happy owner of Time, upgrading from the Classic. But I liked them much better when they were about "information UI on your wrist" - i.e. a tool. Now it seems to be marketed as a toy for people obsessed with sports. I don't like that direction personally (and I sadly accept I'm probably not the target audience anymore).
Health/fitness/notifications is the large market that buys a lot of our products. But we're hackers at heart, that's why we made Pebble Core as open and hackable as possible. The first 'app' for it is Spotify/gps for runners, but at its core it's simply an unlocked Android 5.0 device. We're very excited about the platform.
Yeah, I understand the market reasons. You are still the best in terms of hackability, and I appreciate this very much. I already backed, can't wait for Time 2 and Core!
Its a little obnoxious to see Apples' white headphones being used in the pr0n shots of the Core prototype. I wonder if there weren't better phones available, or if its intentional..
A lot of people are going to be talking about how Core is a wearable for runners, but if that's all, we (and _especially_ we at HN) are missing the bigger point.
The Pebble Core is what the Raspberry Pi should be - a fully functional computer so small it fits on a keychain.
One way of thinking about the Pebble Core is as the new CPU at the heart of a new motherboard. If you're building an internet connected piece of hardware, the Core is at the heart of it.