【Covet: Island of Desire】

Remember Pebble?Covet: Island of Desire The company made cool, versatile, affordable smartwatches a decade ago, before shutting down in late 2016 and selling most of its assets to Fitbit (which itself was acquired by Google in 2021).

Now, Pebble is back — sort of. Eric Migicovsky, founder of the original Pebble, is restarting the brand with two PebbleOS watches, set to launch later this year. Given that Pebble's intellectual property was sold off, these aren't exactly Pebble watches; Migicovsky's new company is called Core Devices, and these watches are called Core, even though they run the open source PebbleOS.

SEE ALSO: Apple M4 MacBook Air review: A really good deal

First, there's the Core 2 Duo, a $149 watch which is very similar to the old Pebble 2, and has a 1.26-inch, black and white e-paper display, a polycarbonate frame that comes in white or black, water resistance (Migicovsky says he's "targeting" IPX8), step, and sleep tracking. Given that the Pebble 2 is eight years old now, you'd expect some improvements, and indeed, the Core 2 Duo has a 30-day battery life (up from 7 days), a speaker, barometer, compass, and more reliable buttons.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

The $149 Core 2 Duo has a black-and-white, e-paper display. Credit: Core Devices

Then there's the Core Time 2, which has a larger, 1.5-inch e-paper touchscreen display that supports 64 colors. The frame is made out of metal, and the watch will be available in black and white, though Migicovsky says there will "likely" be a third color option as well.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Other features include water resistance (again, targeting IPX8), sleep and step tracking, microphone and speaker, and a heart rate monitor. Both watches can run existing Pebble apps and watch faces.

Pre-orders for both devices are open now over at store.rePebble.com; the Core 2 Duo ships in July, while the Core TIme 2 ships in December.

The new PebbleOS watches are platform-agnostic, but there's a bit of bad news for iPhone owners. In a blog post, Migicovsky argued that Apple "restricts Pebble from being awesome with iPhones," and listed a number of limitations Apple imposes on third-party smartwatch makers. These include the inability for a third-party smartwatch to send text messages or iMessages, or reply to notifications. He also says it's "very difficult to enable other iOS apps to work with Pebble," among other issues. Check the blog post for a full list of limitations according to Migicovsky.

The short version of it is that the new Pebble watches will work with iPhones, but fairly poorly. Android users should have a much-better experience. Sorry, Apple-lovers who also want a smartwatch with an e-paper display.

Topics Smartwatches

• Digital Culture
• Shopping
• Games
• Science
• Social Good
• Tech
• Life
• Entertainment

• 'Severance' Season 2, episode 7, explained: What is happening to Gemma at Lumon?
• The Bill O'Reilly/Smash Mouth mashup nobody was asking for
• Juicero might make you hate humanity but these comments will make you love it again
• 'Fantastic Beasts' sequel has found Newt's war hero brother
• The Biggest Tech Fails of the Last Decade
• How to pick the right camera for 360 video
• Campus vending machine does you a solid by selling condoms, pregnancy tests
• The Bill O'Reilly/Smash Mouth mashup nobody was asking for
• Use Gmail Offline and Enable Email Scheduling & Snoozing
• Doctor Who himself makes an appearance at the March for Science in London

• Quiz: Can you find the end of Donald Trump's sentence?
• Watch Donald Trump throw a mini temper tantrum after the debate
• Europe's Mars lander is lost on the red planet
• Joe Jonas accidentally got porn sent to his parent's house one time
• Trump jokes about 'nasty woman' comment at charity dinner
• Kanye West says there's no 'Watch The Throne 2' because of Tidal/Apple beef
• Pakistan enforces blanket ban on Indian content on its TV and radio channels
• This 1 Simpsons
• 3.2 million debit cards compromised in India as banks investigate security breaches
• This code word will help you when you feel unsafe on a date

• Best robot vacuum deal: Save $300 on the roborock Qrevo Edge
• Miami is re
• Get ready for augmented reality *everything
• 'Fantastic Beasts' sequel has found Newt's war hero brother
• The Ultimate Guide to Protecting Your Identity in the Digital Age
• Katy Perry just found out that her new haircut makes her look like Guy Fieri
• Google Play update makes it easy to delete unusued Android apps
• Katy Perry just found out that her new haircut makes her look like Guy Fieri
• The Best Tech Deals and Discounts for Students
• It’s not your job, it’s you: The real reasons you’re unhappy at work

• Skates in the deep sea may incubate eggs near 'black smoker' vents
• Google Play update makes it easy to delete unusued Android apps
• Google Play update makes it easy to delete unusued Android apps
• Google Play Music will now be the default on all Samsung devices
• Clever backyard water tank looks like a giant raindrop
• Want to feel old? Shaq and Manute Bol's sons play high school basketball together.
• Why Jaime Lannister is the 'Game of Thrones' hero we've been waiting for
• 'The Handmaid's Tale' cast says their show isn't a 'feminist story'
• This new app is like Shazam for frogs
• Inside the filthy chaos of Gorillaz's Brooklyn house party pop