this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2025
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Google recently open sourced Pebble and today, Repebble has put some of the watches up for preorder.

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[–] zarenki@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Of all possible names, they're really using "Core 2 Duo"? I feel like anyone who has been following tech long enough would immediately think of the Intel processor when hearing that name.

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It's a play on words of core 2 do-over

[–] Lifter@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 days ago

Just waiting for an IP lawsuit to happen there

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 67 points 1 week ago (16 children)

Genuinely considering it as I love e ink, lightweight, long battery life, and open source

[–] rhymepurple@lemmy.ml 33 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I understand that the watch operating system is open source. However, it seems that the watch will connect to a companion smartphone app. Do you know if the app is a requirement and/or if the app will be open source?

[–] calamityjanitor@lemmy.world 51 points 1 week ago (5 children)
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[–] gofsckyourself@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Gadgetbridge is compatible with Pebble devices

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[–] Kaloi@lemmy.world 51 points 1 week ago (6 children)

I still can't believe that no one else has made a smart watch with physical buttons and low energy use that has surpassed the pebble after all this time. I'm still cautious that this venture will pan out, but honestly there really hasn't been a smart watch released that matches my use case. Sleep tracking makes no sense if I have to charge the watch daily, as I'd probably charge it over night. Media control with screen buttons is awful. Fossil came close with their hybrid smart watch, but the layout of the media controls made no sense and couldn't easily be used without looking at the watch. Just let me check my calendar and texts and skip through ads in podcasts, and last over a week of battery and you will have my money.

[–] undone@lemm.ee 25 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Don't love the closed-in ecosystem but Garmin watches with MIP display do almost all you just said.

  • Touch screen + also Buttons for 100% touch-free interaction
  • Battery life of around 3 to 4 weeks (depending on what you are doing)... more with the Solar models
  • Media control is there, but don't really use that

Podcast ad skipping sadly not a thing.

Price might be an issue though. The top end models with all the whistles come at a smartphone flagship price point.

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[–] guy_threepwood@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Garmin watches come close?

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[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 22 points 1 week ago (6 children)

I'm still very confused about why we needed PebbleOS for this. It's been like 10 years and no one could come up with any comparable software? They whipped up the hardware design in a few months.

[–] ObviouslyNotBanana@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago (24 children)

From what I've read from Eric since this relaunch was announced, he just wants a new pebble and so do some of the userbase. This project isn't really intended as a viable, polished product. Rather it's a niche thing made for a Core audience of nerds.

Disclaimer: I'm one of the nerds this is intended for. I instantly pre-ordered a watch because it's a pebble. I7

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PebbleOS was awesome, though. Such a well thought out system for end-users, and it already has tons of apps. Developing for it (in C!) is also super easy because it has an amazing SDK.

[–] synestine@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago

Because good software is hard. The PebbleOS is a gem, and no, no one could in 9 years.

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[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I've pre-ordered the Core Time 2.

Pre-orders are something I never usually do, but given this is essentially just an improved version of an existing product, as opposed to a Kickstarter, I feel more confident. And I can cancel the preorder at any time (plus I'll see reviews of the cheaper model before the Core Time 2 ships).

The price made me wince, though. It's very expensive for the functionality. Technically cheaper than the original watches adjusted for inflation, but that ignores the current-day smartwatch market. Still, I loved the Pebble, so I think it's worth it.

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[–] fauxerious@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Torn between this and a bangle.js 2, if I need a smarwatch at all

[–] subtex@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

Having used both, personally I highly preferred the Pebble over the Bangle JS.

Pebble was solid software, good designs and it all just worked simply and did what I needed. I also thought the Pebble Time Round was near perfect in design and execution. I'm not a fan of the geeky look of the normal pebble and bangle watches (or the apple watch look).

The Bangle was fun to dev for, and I love that it exists, but it all felt like a dev project. Not a finished product. Granted it was early on in the project so I'm sure it's in a better place now.

They both have similar capabilities. I say go with whichever you think is going to fit what you need a smartwatch to do.

[–] anonvurr@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 week ago

Eh. I prefer the PineTime watch. It was like 25€+shipping and customs and it does everything I need, is fully open-source – it displays weather info, time, date, heart rate (although not very well), and has timer, stopper, etc.

[–] BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Is there any company that let's you export your health tracking data in a non proprietary format and doesn't charge you a monthly subscription to use your smartwatch's health tracking features?

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[–] singletona@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I want one, but I don't know what I'd do with it. It's hackable, it pairs with a phone/tablet/etc.

I'm just trying to figure out what it can do for me. My lack of imagination annoys me.

[–] unphazed@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I use my autopebble with tasker. Scripted a few things, like find my phone, load my audiobook, messages, etc. Used to have Google Home messages and lights and stuff, but I stopped using smarthome stuff for the most part. Mostly I use it for music control and weather and time though.

I also scripted a weird one that I could enter my feeling level at work throughout the day (1-10) and based on the average at tthe end tasker would play one of three songs when I got in my car at the end of work (only within a time range and if bluetooth was connected to car)

[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Pebble sounds cool but i really dont like square watches(except the retro casios and gshocks) and now its owned by google so thats shit as well.

[–] synestine@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 week ago

Google dumped the Pebble OS code on GitHub when this whole "rePebble" thing (not Rebble) started. Now there's a new phone app coming out soon (or out now, depending on your platform and abilities) that handles old and new Pebbles and modern phone platforms.

None of this is from Google.

[–] qaz@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

...and now its owned by google so thats shit as well.

Google acquired it back in 2021, this move to open source it is a good thing.

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[–] phx@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I still have my circa-2016 email confirming my pledge for the Time 2 Silver, which ultimately got cancelled just before the fulfillment date due to Pebble selling out to Fitbit.

While I loved my original Pebble back then, I would really want something similar to look and function of the T2S so will watch this project in hopes it too is resurrected

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