Pebble confirms that it's joining Fitbit; will issue Kickstarter refunds
Pebble confirms that it's joining Fitbit; will issue Kickstarter refunds
Pebble, one of the pioneers of the smartwatch industry has confirmed that it is ceasing operations and will no longer manufacture Pebble devices, following a buy out by Fitbit.
Pebble’s CEO Eric Migicovsky posted a blog confirming Fitbit's acquisition and details of what will happen to Pebble products.
"We have made the tough decision to shut down the company and no longer manufacture Pebble devices" writes Migicovsky. "While dissolving Pebble as you know today is difficult, I am happy to announce that many members of Team Pebble will be joining the Fitbit family to continue their work on wearable software platforms.”
Migicovsky states that Pebble devices will continue to work "as normal" and says there will be "no immediate changes" to the user experience "at this time." However, he does also warn that "Pebble functionality or service quality may be reduced in the future". Warranty support for all Pebble devices is also immediately discontinued.
On another post on its developer blog, Pebble says: "The Pebble SDK, CloudPebble, mobile apps, developer portal, appstore, timeline API, dictation service, messaging service, and firmware will all continue to operate without interruption. Further down the road, we’ll be working to phase out cloud services, providing the ability for the community to take over, where possible."
Additionally, Pebble's recently completed Kickstarter campaign for the Pebble 2, Pebble Core, and Pebble Time 2 has now been canceled, with Pebble Core, Pebble Time 2 and any remaining Pebble 2 backers who have not already received their watch getting a full refund by 16th December. Anyone who returned a Pebble device before 7th December will also get a full refund.
From the looks of it, the majority of Pebble's developer team will be joining Fitbit, with Migicovsky adding "The team joining Fitbit will help the company accelerate development of the tools and resources devs need to enhance future Fitbit products with experiences that can take wearables to new heights of utility and appeal."
Source: Pebble