Pebble is really back: New Pebble-branded smartwatches are on the way

Earlier this year Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky announced that he was bringing Pebble back from the dead by launching a new company called Core Devices that would start by making two new PebbleOS smartwatches.

But while the watches would look a lot like classic Pebble devices, at the time there was one thing Migicovsky couldn't legally do: use the Pebble brand. So the first Core Devices watches were originally going to be called the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Time. Now Migicovsky has announced that Core Devices has "been able to recover the trademark for Pebble," so say hello to the Pebble 2 Duo and Pebble Time 2*.

Pebble Time 2*

What's with that asterisk? Pebble launched a crowdfunding campaign for a watch called the Pebble Time 2 in 2016, but that model never actually shipped because Pebble was acquired by Fitbit, which shut down Pebble's operations (and then Google acquired Fitbit). So the new watch isn't just an updated version of an older product… it's expected to be the first device to actually ship featuring the Pebble Time 2 name.

The $225 Pebble Time 2* is designed to look a lot like the original, with a 1.5 inch, 200 x 228 pixel touchscreen color display (with support for 64 colors) and four physical buttons. The new model has a metal frame and heart rate monitor.

The $149 Pebble 2 Duo, meanwhile, is expected to ship first. It has a 1.26 inch, 144 x 168 pixel black and white display and a design that resembles the original Pebble 2 smartwatch. While Core Devices had hoped to ship the first batch of Pebble 2 Duo watches in July, that date has been pushed back and the earliest the watch will go out to customers is likely to be late August.

Both watches are rated IPX8 (or higher) for water resistance, support step and sleep tracking, have a mic and speakers, and run an open source version of PebbleOS that should support thousands of apps and watchfaces designed for older Pebble devices.

That's possible partly because Google open sourced most of the software earlier this year. And while Google shut down the infrastructure for downloading apps, responding to messages, and doing just about anything else that requires an internet connection, the folks at Rebble have maintained an unofficial alternative for years.

Now that Core Devices is in charge of the Pebble trademark again, not only can the company call its watches Pebble again, but developers can also use the Pebble name on new apps and watchfaces, as long as they follow the company's legal guidelines.

You can find more details about the progress of Core Devices' new hardware and software in Migicovsky's "July Update" blog post.

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