Pebble Time Round, the world’s thinnest and lightest circular smartwatch, is on sale

[Wireless News]

http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/6A.SG.GnMBzWtLZgl39foQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9ODY7cT03NTt3PT EzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/homerun/digital_trends_973/169cef8565e8df71070e6195365da9ec (http://news.yahoo.com/pebble-time-round-world-thinnest-130716358.html)Pebble, the Kickstarter darling, has finally broken outside the square aesthetic-that’s come to define its crowdfunded smartwatches.-It announced-the Pebble Time Round in September, a circular smartwatch that-Pebble says is the thinnest and lightest of its kind. Updated on 11-06-2015 by Andy Boxall: Added in final news of the Pebble Time Round’s release You can buy the Pebble Round in stores Pebble’s bypassed Kickstarter with the Time Round. After several weeks of pre-orders, the circular watch will go on sale November 8 in retail stores and online. Those who pre-ordered the watch after the September announcement will see their watches ship on the same day. Related: Forget the Apple Watch, Pebble is far more fascinating- The Time Round can be purchased through Pebble’s own website, or on Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Target. The latter two will stock the watch in retail stores, as well as online. Prices start at $250. What’s it like? The Time Round-is-quite low in profile-— only 7.5mm. It’s incredibly lightweight too, and-features-premium materials like a “marine-grade” stainless steel 38.5mm chassis and an LED-backlit color e-ink display. And it-sports Pebble’s familiar tactile navigational buttons, splash resistance, wireless fast charging,-and the-vibrating motor and microphone of Pebbles past. The-Time Round’s compactness confers a few drawbacks, though. The Time-Round-only lasts “up to two-days” on battery, considerably shorter than the seven-day life of its-square Pebble Time counterparts, and the bezel around the display-is quite thick. The Round Time occupies-the pricier side of the Pebble spectrum too, at $249. When Pebble unveiled-its first crowdfunded smartwatch-in 2013, there wasn’t much choice-in wearables. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, arguably the preeminent-smartwatch at the time, was compatible with-only with a handful of Samsung smartphones. Others, notably the-Qualcomm Toq and Martian Passport, were expensive. All-struggled to last more than a few days-on on battery. To say the first-generation Pebble’s-battery-boosting-e-ink, cross-phone compatibility,-and palatable price-was paradigm shifting is an understatement. It’s a well-known success story:-the Pebble-raised a record $10.3 million on-Kickstarter and sold-millions of units including a metal-clad variant, the Pebble Steel, through traditional retail. But a lot has changed in two years. Pebble’s hardly been idle — it launched the Pebble Time in February, a-refresh-of the original Pebble-that sports an improved display, thinner exterior, and the redesigned Timeline interface based around chronology-— but neither has the market.-Apple has the Apple Watch, Samsung has the Gear S2, and Google’s smartwatch platform, Android Wear, now numbers half a dozen hardware partners. Related: 30 must-have Pebble Time apps, watchfaces, and games for your wrist The elephant in the room, of course, is where-the-Time Round fits in-today’s-smartwatch market. It’s not the-cheapest, and cross-smartphone compatibility, one of Pebble’s longstanding selling points, has since been-adopted by Android Wear. Pebble’s relying on the Time Round’s gorgeous design, the company’s-legion of fans, the-strength of Pebble development-to maintain momentum,-but on thing’s for sure:-the new Pebble-will face intenser market scrutiny than any-before it. Just how intense remains to be seen. Also watch: Apple iPhone 6S Plus vs. Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Please enable Javascript to watch this video



More... (http://news.yahoo.com/pebble-time-round-world-thinnest-130716358.html)