Patrick O’Rourke for MobileSyrup:

With the help of crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, Pebble has revealed plans to launch three new products, the Pebble Time 2, Pebble 2 and Pebble Core.

The most interesting of the three devices is the Pebble Core, a 3G connected wearable Pebble says is designed to allow runners to track their fitness without carrying a smartphone. The Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 are “fitness-focused smartwatches” according to Pebble, and both devices are set to feature built-in heart rate monitors.

The watches themselves look like standard fare but, as O’Rourke mentions in the piece above, the Core looks to be the most interesting piece of this puzzle. I’m curious to see not only how well that sells but also what sorts of interesting things the hacker community will come up with.

My issue with this whole thing is how much Pebble seems to be abusing the infrastructure of Kickstarter. I’ve always felt that it was the place for people or businesses with limited resources that wanted to bring projects to life, like what Pebble did with their original smartwatch. Kickstarter itself says this on their site:

Kickstarter helps artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the resources and support they need to make their ideas a reality.

Pebble’s last campaign, the second of three, brought them $20 million. At that point, I’d say they have the resources they need. Once again turning to Kickstarter to fund their project doesn’t help quell the rumours of the company’s decline, if anything, it makes me think there’s more to it than we first heard about.

Having pledged for the Pebble Time and been disappointed with the finished watch, I’m definitely passing on these new Pebbles. The new project has already greatly surpassed the amount they were looking for so backers can rest assured that they’ll be receiving their updated hardware. I guess you could always wait it out if you’re unsure, something tells me Best Buy will be carrying them.

Ian Hardy for MobileSyrup:

Pebble is laying off 25 percent of its total staff this week (about 40 employees). CEO Eric Migicovsky confirmed the news to Tech Insider. The company has since issued a statement, “We have a vision where wearables will take us in five to 10 years, and this is setting us up for success.”

This is sad news for sure but the company has plenty of competition in the space that didn’t exist even a few years ago and it’s likely only going to get harder.

Greg Kumparak for TechCrunch:

Pebble, the company that arguably sparked the whole smartwatch trend with a $10M Kickstarter back in 2012, is shifting things up today. After years of sticking with square-faced displays, the company is today introducing its first round-faced smartwatch. It’s called, aptly, the Pebble Time Round.

I’ve done a complete 180 on Pebble. I really loved the original watch, released back in 2013, but after my brief couple weeks with this year’s Pebble Time, my initial excitement quickly faded as I realized that it just wasn’t what I was hoping for. Sure, battery life is great but the screen is beyond terrible (actually harder to see than the original) and the lack of any significant apps made it tough to get behind.

In the case of this new device, with uses much of the same hardware as the Time, things don’t seem to be getting much better. Round smartwatches, in my opinion, just don’t work.

It feels more and more like Pebble’s days are numbered. That’s assuming the company doesn’t release an entirely new, more contemporary watch. Even then, the lead by the Apple Watch as well as the growing number of Android Wear devices will make it next to impossible to compete at that stage.

With the rumoured new watch from Pebble with a colour e-paper display, the company has been able to completely change my outlook on their future. When I first got my Pebble watch, I was pretty convinced that something like the Apple Watch would eventually come along and completely overtake them. Really, that was my assumption until very recently when I realized that the company has chosen some pretty clever ways to outdo their overpowered rivals.

While the Apple Watch, as well as the Android Wear devices, decided to go with a much higher-end screen for their hardware, Pebble stuck with the e-paper display. Sure, it doesn’t look nearly as nice but what they gain over all other smartwatches is an incredible amount of battery life. Rumours (and word from Apple themselves) have the Apple Watch needing a charge every day. With my Samsung Gear Live, I needed to plug it in after about a day to a day and a half of use. I can still, after several years, go 3-4 DAYS without needing to charge the watch because of its less demanding screen.

The second big advantage Pebble has over companies like Apple, LG and other smartwatch makers is that they’re cross-compatible with iOS and Android. I’ve switched phones various times over the past few years, jumping back and forth between both mobile operating systems and have never had to worry about losing out on functionality or not being able to use the Pebble at all. In the case of my Galaxy Gear Live, the device became completely useless to me when switching over to the iPhone 6 Plus.

I think these are important things to consider when organizing a “tale of the tape” as it were for the big upcoming smartwatch battle everyone is talking about. The Pebble has been able to keep up with the best of them thus far and if this new watch is anything like the rumours say, that’s likely to continue. That’s not to say that the Apple Watch doesn’t look like a game-changer, I just feel like there’s room for more than one smartwatch in our lives.

In my experience, the Pebble is a pretty great device and a really good way to test the waters without investing a ton of money.