A couple of weeks ago, while shopping with my wife, something caught
my eye. The Pebble Smartwatch. I'd never heard of it or seen it
before, but on a whim, I decided to buy one.
I must say: so far, I really like it. I check my phone a lot less, and
have even turned on the Do Not Disturb function on my phone. I miss
fewer texts and emails, I can control music much easier, and,
honestly, the Pebble is just fun.
As a programmer, I now have another hobby project to take up even more
of the spare time that I don't have. I'm really looking forward to
writing a couple of apps for the watch. There's even a website where
you can make watchfaces. The Sonic the Hedgehog watchface I'm
currently using was made for me by my wife.
No touchscreen. No color. No speaker or mic. No calls. No sending
texts (when used with iOS, without jailbreaking). No sending
emails. Purely notifications, information, and entertainment. It works
with iOS and Android, and the e-ink display allows for days (average
almost a week) of battery life on a single charge. There are also
health and exercise related apps as well as GPS and mapping apps
(including one that gives you turn-by-turn directions directly on the
watch). One day I'll explore these other apps. For now, I'm happy with
my purchase.