Pebble fires 25% of its staff.

[suicidalfranco]

1 hour ago, deviant88 said:

they are doing so bad because of apple shit fame everyone and his mother buys apple no one cares about small companies these days, their best bet is to be aquired by huge corporations and lose control over everything but dont go bankrupt, they would probably be fired either way looks at nokia...

only if MS is the one buying lel

[79wjd]

3 hours ago, ShadowCaptain said:

OR just implement the fitness stuff into the pebble

1 hour ago, deviant88 said:

they are doing so bad because of apple shit fame everyone and his mother buys apple no one cares about small companies these days, their best bet is to be aquired by huge corporations and lose control over everything but dont go bankrupt, they would probably be fired either way looks at nokia...

I don't really think that's the issue. There are two issues with the Pebble A) their marketing is atrocious (most people have never heard of the company (even before the Apple Watch)....that doesn't bode well for a company's success), and B) they still haven't really given their watches the same or even close to the same functionality as every other smartwatch that exists. Sure Timeline was a big interface improvement over the original OS, but they really needed to keep updating it and adding features to it to make it a feasible device in the long run. I like my Pebble Time Round, but ultimatley it's good for telling the time, getting notifications, using it as an alarm, and controlling certain apps (like music player). And Health tracking is atrociously bad (sleep tracking is very accurate).

 

[Exotath]

I have never, EVER, seen a Pebble advertisement. 

 

If it weren't for this forum I would not know who they are or what their product is. That is the problem.

[exyia]

ummm...."fire" gives off a way worse connotation than "laid off". they should not be used interchangeably

[165660_1454180884]

I work for a big IT company and currently I don't know anyone of my colleagues still using a smart watch.

We had some pebbles and few apple watches but no one uses them anymore on regular everyday basis. That should tell you something.

[SansVarnic]

As much as I may have wanted to get one of the Pebble watches they are not compatible with Windows Phones.

But I don't really have a good reason to buy one anyway. The watch I wear daily has been replaced twice, once every 5-8yrs, only due to wear. $35 watch and never looses time.

 

[Blade of Grass]

Sucks to hear that they're going through a hard time and had to lay off that many people, but hopefully this situation will make them reevaluate their products and, hopefully, they will come up with a design that doesn't look like a child's toy. 

[SansVarnic]

40 minutes ago, Blade of Grass said:

<snip> but hopefully this situation will make them reevaluate their products and, hopefully, they will come up with a design that doesn't look like a child's toy. 

I would have to agree with this.

[Garfieldus]

With the design of their no wonder they are going through a rough time. I wouldn't wear one even if someone gave it for free let alone buy one by myself. For me and many others I know, watches are accessories.

[dalekphalm]

On 2016-03-24 at 6:39 AM, deviant88 said:

they are doing so bad because of apple shit fame everyone and his mother buys apple no one cares about small companies these days, their best bet is to be aquired by huge corporations and lose control over everything but dont go bankrupt, they would probably be fired either way looks at nokia...

No, they're doing badly for a few reasons - the Apple watch is one one of them:

 

1. How many excellent Android Watches are there now? There are several good ones that integrate on a lower level access to Android Smartphones.

2. The Apple Watch, also, integrates on a lower level access to the iPhone.

3. Pebble have made quite a few questionable business decisions, including throwing away a huge cash infusion and partnership with Microsoft that would not have impacted their other platforms at all (All they did was give Windows Phone users the middle finger, since Microsoft did all the app work - literally, Microsoft had Pebble working on WP8 and Pebble CEO said "nah, fuck em, I don't like Microsoft on a personal level, so I'll let my personal bias impact my business decisions" - paraphrasing of course lol)

4. They failed to stay ahead of the game - now there are dozens of smartwatches to compete with. What does Pebble offer that you can't get through the competition?

[suicidalfranco]

4 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

No, they're doing badly for a few reasons - the Apple watch is one one of them:

 

1. How many excellent Android Watches are there now? There are several good ones that integrate on a lower level access to Android Smartphones.

2. The Apple Watch, also, integrates on a lower level access to the iPhone.

3. Pebble have made quite a few questionable business decisions, including throwing away a huge cash infusion and partnership with Microsoft that would not have impacted their other platforms at all (All they did was give Windows Phone users the middle finger, since Microsoft did all the app work - literally, Microsoft had Pebble working on WP8 and Pebble CEO said "nah, fuck em, I don't like Microsoft on a personal level, so I'll let my personal bias impact my business decisions" - paraphrasing of course lol)

4. They failed to stay ahead of the game - now there are dozens of smartwatches to compete with. What does Pebble offer that you can't get through the competition?

a smartwatch that doesn't have to be recharged at least twice a day (unless you only use one as jewellery and barely use it or don't mind it being off)

[dalekphalm]

38 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

a smartwatch that doesn't have to be recharged at least twice a day (unless you only use one as jewellery and barely use it or don't mind it being off)

Pebble isn't the only one to offer that anymore. According to this roundup review article:

http://www.gizmag.com/best-smartwatch-comparison-2015/40432/

Several Android watches can get 1.5 days worth of regular use, with "Always on" watch face (eg: It's always telling you the time). Granted, power users will burn that battery down quicker, but they'll do the same in a Pebble too.

 

Point being, even excluding the Apple Watch, Pebble has far fiercer competition coming from the Android side of things.

[suicidalfranco]

3 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Pebble isn't the only one to offer that anymore. According to this roundup review article:

http://www.gizmag.com/best-smartwatch-comparison-2015/40432/

Several Android watches can get 1.5 days worth of regular use, with "Always on" watch face (eg: It's always telling you the time). Granted, power users will burn that battery down quicker, but they'll do the same in a Pebble too.

 

Point being, even excluding the Apple Watch, Pebble has far fiercer competition coming from the Android side of things.

and the Pebble is marketed for a week of battery life, with real life tests almost getting close to that spot

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/25/pebble-time-steel-review-metal-body-150-hour-battery-life-smartwatches

the time round, which sacrifices battery for form and has the smallest battery of the bunch lasts 2 days, but at least only requires around 15mn on the charger to get you another day 

http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/23/pebble-time-round/

 

IMO pebble has done many rights thing in their smartwatch solution, the only reason i can blame them is not pumping the marketing machine and the huge bezels (only turn of i see in them and reason why i haven't picked one up)

 

[dalekphalm]

12 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

and the Pebble is marketed for a week of battery life, with real life tests almost getting close to that spot

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/25/pebble-time-steel-review-metal-body-150-hour-battery-life-smartwatches

the time round, which sacrifices battery for form and has the smallest battery of the bunch lasts 2 days, but at least only requires around 15mn on the charger to get you another day 

http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/23/pebble-time-round/

 

IMO pebble has done many rights thing in their smartwatch solution, the only reason i can blame them is not pumping the marketing machine and the huge bezels (only turn of i see in them and reason why i haven't picked one up)

 

People are starting to realize that a Smartwatch is going to be just like a Smartphone - obsolete within a few years. Looks, among other factors, are going to matter more and more. A Watch has always been more of a fashion statement then just about pure function. More so today, when you can tell the time easily when you have a smartphone. I haven't owned a watch in years, because all I ever had it do was tell me the time.

 

Pebble needs to market more. But more importantly, they really need to work on their aesthetic design.

[handymanshandle]

I don't think that if Pebble goes under that smartwatches are a lost cause it's that some of them don't look like watches.

I really don't like the idea of something like Fitbit becoming the only option for a smartwatch.

If I had the money for a watch and thought that I would use a watch, I might get either the LG Watch Urbane (1 or 2) or the Fossil Q Founder or the Asus Zen Watch 2.