The Pebble e-paper watch, which interacts with smartphones, surpassed $1.8 million on Kickstarter, a web platform that lets companies and people plumb the crowd for money.
When I first wrote about Pebble yesterday morning, the watch had garnered about $850 thousand on Kickstarter. In other words, the Kickstarter project raised $1 million overnight. The project began on April 11 and will close on May 18.
For those that don’t know, Pebble is a sleek smartwatch that will interact with iPhone and Android devices via Bluetooth connection. When users first get the watch, which comes in white, black, or blue, they download an app on their Android of iPhone devices. Pebble syncs with this app, allowing it to vibrate whenever you get a text, email, or phone call. In addition, Alerta, the company behind Pebble, packed it with an accelerometer, which tracks things like speed, location, direction, and distance.
Pebble has its own app ecosystem as well. There are hiking, running, biking, and other applications, each of which interacts with the accelerometer, so you can monitor your activity while wearing the watch.
Part of the watch’s success on Kickstarter–aside from being the first smartwatch to nail both design and functionality–is that backers of the project will actually get the watch shipped to their doorstep. If you pledge $99 to the campaign, you get a Pebble.
A novel idea, good execution, and an affordable price, what’s not to like here?
