Pebble has announced the release of a new member of the Pebble family, the $249 “Pebble Steel.” The new smartwatch, is made of forged and CNC-machined stainless steel. The company also announced their Pebble appstore will open in late January.
Pebble Steel takes everything you know and love about Pebble—the crystal clear ePaper display, weeklong battery life, and waterproof design—and wraps it a smaller, thinner package. It’s made of forged and CNC-machined stainless steel.
The display is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass lens with an oleophobic, anti-fingerprint coating. The housing also subtly incorporates a RGB LED light to indicate charge status. Like the original Pebble, Pebble Steel is waterproof up to 5 ATM.
The Pebble Steel is available in two finishes: Brushed Stainless and Black Matte. All models include both a matching metal band and a black leather strap.
Starting today, the Pebble Steel will be available exclusively from getpebble.com for $249 US, which includes free courier shipping worldwide for early orders. Orders will begin shipping on January 28.
Pebble also announced the launch of the Pebble appstore at the end of January. The appstore will be available from within the existing Pebble app on your iOS or Android device, so Pebble apps will be downloaded to the watch directly from your smartphone.
The Pebble appstore will offer a centralized location for users to discover, manage, and install apps and watchfaces.
The Pebble appstore will include categories for Daily, Remotes, Games, Notifications, Tools & Utilities, Fitness, and Watchfaces. Developers who want their Pebble apps in the appstore at launch must submit them by January 9.
Pebble also announced that Pandora, ESPN, and Mercedes-Benz are joining Yelp, Foursquare, GoPro, and iControl in their growing family of partners. Those companies will be demoing their Pebble apps at the CES 2014 event.
