All about Technology: Pebble watches gain new fitness and sleep apps, drop in price

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

Pebble watches gain new fitness and sleep apps, drop in price

Pebble and Pebble Steel are among the best smartwatches on sale, and the two wearables are even better today thanks to a health and fitness-focused update.

The Kickstarter-backed company announced new software that enables full activity tracking and sleep monitoring for all Pebble watches.

This puts your favorite Pebble watch face on-screen while the activity (or inactivity) is still counted in the background.

And now there's even more to be counted. Pebble announced that its Misfit partnership has expanded to include continuous, round-the-clock activity tracking and sleep monitoring.

Jawbone is also adding its popular Up app to the Pebble ecosystem after doing the same for Apple's iOS 8 Health platform over the weekend. Swim.com is counting laps and strokes for swimmers too.

Why this matters

Sure, we've been overwhelmed with fitness-tracking smartwatches, from latest circular Moto 360 to the the Tizen-running Samsung Gear Fit to the ugly-but-accurate Basis.

However, Pebble stands out because its watches can last up to four or seven days. It's kind of difficult to track your sleep with any day-long Android Wear smartwatch at the moment.

You're also not going to find that Swim.com app too many other places either. It measures distance, pace, times, strokes and efficiency in the water thanks to Pebble's impressive 5 ATM water resistance.

Pebble and Pebble Steel price drop

While adding to its 4,000 apps, Pebble is slashing the US price of its two smartwatches, which previously cost $150 for the plastic version and $229 for Steel. And it's gaining direct UK pricing for the first time.

Pebble is now $99 (£99, about AU$114) and the Pebble Steel is $199 (£179, about $228). The UK will no longer be gouged by third-party retailers online.

Pebble is also expanding its availability in the US and UK. American shoppers at Sam's Club, Fry's Electronics and Sprint stores should see the smartwatch on shelves soon.

UK residents can finally pick up either smartwatch in person at Dixons retail, O2 and Amazon.co.uk starting in October. Just in time for the holidays and well before Apple Watch changes the game.