Missed the news last week? We announced two new PebbleOS watches - read the announcement post. Pre-order now at store.rePebble.com!

First off, just want to say thank you. It's been absolutely incredible hearing from so many Pebble users, friends, old Pebblers, app/watchface developers, suppliers, resellers, some inPulse users from way, way back, and lots of new people who either missed out 10 years ago or weren't even born last time (hearing ‘I think my mom used to have a Pebble…’ really shook me 😂). You shared some amazing stories about your experience with Pebble, some great jokes and your excitement for the future. That made me feel so darn good!

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Well, it may seem a little bit like I'm a one-man band right now, that's simply not indicative of how many people have worked to make this possible. It's true that we have a very, very small team here at Core Devices - but all this could only happen due to the incredible foundational work that my team at Pebble did 10+ years ago, alongside the imaginative, creative and energetic Pebble community around the world.

I’d like to thank the following folks (non-exhaustive list!):

• All Pebble users, especially the 2012 Kickstarter backers. There is literally no way we could have done any of this without you. You enabled us to make our dreams a reality for everyone.
• Andrew Witte - the engineer who helped create Pebble v1 and the first person I called up when I started working on this again!
• All the OG ‘First 12’ Pebble crew - you ran so hard. KS → shipped first production watch in 9 months. I never thanked you enough!
• Our fantastic product & design team (ID, UX, bizdev, everyone!) - you created a beautiful, unique and time-less set of designs that still holds up 10+ years later.
• Engineering team - holy crap, the software and hardware still works practically perfectly all these years later. This is a testament to your skill and dedication to the craft. How many other gadgets, let along ‘smart’ devices, do people still use years and years later???
• My exec team - what a wild ride. Y’all (mostly) stuck through the thick and thin of it with me, which I appreciate.
• Pebble QA and customer support team - unparalleled! I still hear stories about how awesome and special your work was to our users.
• Ex-Pebblers → new core Core team members - let’s do it!
• New colleagues - super excited to be working with some new (fresh, unjaded) faces on this. Welcome and thank you for joining up!
• The Rebble Alliance - they’ve been keeping the Pebble torch lit 🔥 in the intervening years, and (hopefully) continue nurturing and empowering the community years into the future.
• Google and specifically several Googlers who worked so hard to open source PebbleOS
• Y Combinator - the first major investor that believed in me and Pebble. YC truly cares about founders. They helped me through all aspects of the roller coaster ride. If you’re starting a startup, you should consider applying to YC.
• My (hardware) founder friends - thanks for letting me bug you incessantly and helping me navigate round two.
• The broader tech community - including journalists, bloggers, youtubers, r/pebble-ers, and more - thank you for spreading the word.
• My wife, family and friends - you’ve supported me and this whole thing since the very beginning!

Please keep in mind to strictly shower these folks with praise and thanks. If you have any problems/issues/concerns/complaints - send them my way!

Also, I recently recorded a podcast with Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy. We discussed the early days of Pebble, if anyone is interested!

Notes & Frequently Asked Questions

I left out some important details from the announcement blog post - some were cut because the blog post was long enough already, others I just forgot to mention. We received 500+ emails and thousands of comments, including a lot of repeated questions.

Notes:

📐 Dimensions: Core 2 Duo will be the same size as Pebble 2 (3D CAD). We’re still finalizing the specifications for Core Time 2. As soon as this is locked down, we’ll share the details here on the blog.

🧭 Compass: Funny story, I originally decided to include a compass and barometer sensor on Core 2 Duo as a thank you to a friend who is helping on the project. I had no idea people actually cared that much about these sensors because during the Pebble days the compass was very rarely used (long story short - you have a much more capable GPS+compass in your pocket already, most people just used this instead of fumbling though menus on Pebble). No good deed goes unpunished, though. After seeing the absolute mayhem that my folly of a decision caused to comments sections, another friend of mine pointed me to a super tiny and inexpensive compass chip - we’re now looking into whether we can include that in CT2, so keep your🤞. If you complained about CT2 not having a compass and we end up including one, you must promise to actually use the darn thing!!!

🍎 iPhone support: just to clarify - our new watches will work just as well with iPhones as Pebble watches did before. All features like notifications, calendar, music control, downloading apps and watchfaces, etc will be available (though no AT&T SMS sending). Compared to functionality on Android, the main disadvantage is that you cannot reply to notifications from the watch (just as it was before). To be clear, the blog post I wrote about this was not meant to be some sort of Apple takedown, it was primarily intended to be a ‘heads-up’ so iOS users could set their expectations accordingly. Transparency++.

🖤 Core 2 Duo black is currently sold out. A few more units may become available over the next few months. If this happens, we will email the mailing list. You can sign up here: rePebble.com/signup.

🔘 C2D buttons: as mentioned in the announcement post, we were able to design and build Core 2 Duo so quickly because we found a supplier who still had inventory of some Pebble 2 components - specifically the main watch body that includes the front glass, display, plastic frame and TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) buttons. Given that we are well aware of the button problems that have affected Pebble 2, why did we decide to use these Pebble 2 components in Core 2 Duo? I made a decision based on these factors: a) we wanted to get a new watch on our wrists asap, b) CT2 will take the majority of our time/effort to build so the alternative to not using these components would have been to skip making a b/w or smaller/cheaper watch entirely, c) we were able to increase the longevity of the buttons a bit through a mechanical insert, and d) we knew that it’s possible to replace the buttons fairly easily if they break (3D print, or purchase - I’ve used these, thank you @astosia!!). Why have some Pebble 2 buttons broken down over time? The material used, TPU, can degrade in high heat, high UV environments, or from certain oils/sunscreen. If this is concerning/worrying to you, we recommend getting a Core Time 2 - it has a completely different and new design, with metal buttons, or get ready to replace the buttons on C2D after a few years.

🪢 Watch strap: each watch will come with a (likely silicone) strap, with standard 22mm quick-release spring bars. The straps will be quite basic, but the good news is you can swap them easily for any 22mm watch strap you might have. I personally will be using my absolute fav band.

Q’s and A’s

1. Can I choose a colour for Core Time 2? Yes, of course you can! Just not yet. I should have mentioned this on the main page. We are finalizing all the colour options and will contact everyone prior to shipping so you can choose which colour best suits you! We’re considering 3 colour options: black, silver and one other colour (perhaps a nice red or dark blue?)
2. Can I turn off various features? Yes! You don't want the heart rate sensor, turn it off. Don't want to use the touch screen? Turn it off in settings. On top of that, PebbleOS is now open source so you (or a friendly developer) have ultimate control over what your watch does and how it works.
3. Will international shipments go through US? No. International shipments will be shipped from Asia (most likely Hong Kong) direct to your country. No US tariffs will apply. But your own country may charge import duties, taxes and fees. We’re looking into offering a DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) option but no guarantees.
4. Will you bring back Pebble Time Round? If we get a-round to it, we will let you know!
5. Why no PayPal option? As a small team we do not have dedicated staff to manage multiple payment streams. At this time we are focused on creating these watches and keeping fraud to a minimum.
6. What happens if I move before my watch ships? Send us an email ([email protected]) and we can update your address. Before your watch ships, we will send you an email to confirm your shipping details as well.
7. Will my old Pebble watch work with the new upcoming iOS and Android apps? Yes! We will launch a new app for iOS and Android before we start shipping Core 2 Duo. This new app will be compatible with all old Pebbles on firmware 3.x and above.
8. Can my old Pebble run the new open source PebbleOS? Maybe! Updating old watches to work with the new firmware is not something we (Core Devices) is focused on, but there is a, among others, a very smart ex-Pebbler working on this and we are helping as much as we can. Are you an embedded developer and want to help? Join #firmware-dev on the Rebble Discord.
9. How will repairability compare to older watches? Similar to older Pebbles, the new watches will have support for aftermarket repairs. It will roughly be as easy to replace parts as with Pebble 2.

The future

Lots more info to come over the next few months! Here are some of the future blog posts I’m working on:

• Software roadmap: we’re mostly focused on getting PebbleOS to work on the new watches, but there are a few SW improvements and new features we’re considering
• Full hardware details for Core Time 2
• SDK: how to get started writing PebbleOS apps again, and how things will work with new capabilities (speaker, touchscreen)