Pebble Technology was able to collect more than $4.5 million in less than one week to fund the production of an e-paper based wristwatch.
Called Pebble, the wristwatch can run apps and wirelessly connects to an iPhone (iOS 5) or Android (2.3 and up) phone via Bluetooth. For example, apps allow a user to control music playback on a phone, use the phone as a workout tool and to receive text messages or caller information from a phone. Additional apps can be browsed via a phone screen and then directly installed on the watch. The battery of the watch lasts about seven days on a full charge, the developers said.
Pebble has turned into the most successful Kickstarter project so far, collecting more than $1 million in the first hours - on a $100,000 funding goal. To receive a Pebble watch, backers will have to donate at least $115. The company said that the watch will retail for more than $150 when it becomes commercially available in September of this year.
Before Pebble, three other projects have drawn a Kickstarter jackpot totaling more than $1 million this year. The first project to exceed a million dollars of funding was the iPhone Elevation Dock, which received $1.46 million from more than 12,500 backers in February of this year.
Lets be honest, though. If you can remember to plug your phone/tablet in nightly, you can remember to take your watch off and plug it in before you go to bed one night a week.
Think GameBoy battery life vs 3DS; if you're content playing GameBoy games, great, but if you want more functionality, it comes at a price. Same applies here.
I am the type that takes it off for NOTHING. Yes, that means shower, sleep and sex. I don't remove it from my wrist unless I absolutely have to, which has been zero up until my recent job. Been a Timex guy since I was 12. So that is 13 years constantly wearing a watch. Only removing it to replace the battery, band, or taking it off to go through security.
But that's just me
I have't used a watch since I got my first cell phone. Ad that was a loooong time ago, in a not so far-away galaxy.
Watch is something I don't want to have to think about. It should be simple and reliable, not requiring constant maintenance/recharging.
I agree. I don't always use a watch, but when I do, I want to grab it off the counter, where it has probably been sitting for weeks without me using it, and to put it on. I don't wear a watch every day and don't see the point.