Smartwatch Pioneer Pebble Sinks to the Bottom
Pebble, a pioneer in the smartwatch space, has been purchased by fitness-tracking company Fitbit and will no longer function as an independent entity. As a result, Pebble is “no longer promoting, manufacturing, or selling any devices.” The company says that Pebble devices will continue to work normally, but functionality may be reduced in the future. Pebble is no longer accepting orders and warranty support has ended. If you have products on order from Pebble, you will receive an automatic refund. We’re sad to see Pebble go, but it seems likely that Pebble’s fate was sealed once Apple and Google entered the smartwatch market.
It is a shame. I rather like my original Pebble. While there are things that tempt me about an Apple Watch, my original Pebble has been "water resistant" the whole time, was way cheaper than an Apple Watch, and has a battery that still lasts longer than an Apple Watch's does (even with it being now about two to three years old).
Steven Levy has an article exploring more of what went wrong with Pebble.
https://backchannel.com/the-real-story-behind-pebbles-demise-303802a7afaa