Pebble E-Paper Watch

Watch technology sometimes to be at a standstill, with mechanical watches being the most desired form. But that is not really the case, as watches technology has evolved from mechanical, to quartz to digital, each has found a useful place in the watch ecosystem. At the same time the number of younger persons who do not use wrist watches is growing. With every mobile phone being a watch, to many, wristwatches are fashion accessories, and if you cannot afford to buy a expensive fashionable watch, why wear one at all? Just flash your iPhone when you want to check the time. That is a fashion statement in its own way.

The last few years saw the evolution of a new form of wristwatch. The Smartwatch. Essentially, this is a small computer worn on the wrist. For the most part this watches are used for sports related activities, but a new form of Smartwatch promises to have broader appeal: the Smartwatch as a smartphone accessory. 

Pebble Technology used Kickstarter to seek funding for its US$115-US$125 E-Paper Watch, which is designed to connects to an iPhone or Android smartphones using Bluetooth. Aside from telling the time and date, it will alert you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. A music control app to play, pause or skip tracks on your phone with the touch of a button. Cyclists can use Pebble as a bike computer, accessing the GPS on your smartphone to display speed, distance and pace data. Runners get a similar set of data displayed on their wrist. If you're a golfer, Pebble is working with Freecaddie to create a great golf rangefinder app for Pebble that will work on over 25,000 courses world-wide.

So how is this project doing? On its launch in April 12, enough people were interested in it to invest US$1,000,000 in its first day on Kickstarter. Right now has US$3.3 million in funding.  Smartphone sales are estimated to hit 1 billion devices in 2014. Imagine what a 1% share of that market will look like?