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I guess I don't see why Pebble, or any smart watch, should need a phone at all. The watch should be able to connect to wifi and/or cellular by itself. We should

I guess I don't see why Pebble, or any smart watch, should need a phone at all. The watch should be able to connect to wifi and/or cellular by itself. We should be able to run full apps on the watch itself.

Majromax 2y ago
Battery life. Radios are energy-intensive, and the processing required to run "full apps" is also often pretty steep. In the meantime, while battery chemistries are getting better space is very much at a premium on one's wrist. From the other recently-posted article, the new Pebble watches are targeting 30-day battery lives between charges. That would be unthinkable for a watch that manages its own wifi/cellular connections.
- mulderc 2y ago
  I had a pebble and the limitations of the device drove me insane. I don't care if my smart watch has 30 days of battery, I care about what it does and that I can do the things I want to do on it. The Apple watch has wifi and celluar and I can do tons of things on it without my phone around. Many of the apps I use have essentially full apps on device which allows me a lot more freedom from my phone and flexibility with my watch.
bhelkey 2y ago
Two reasons: One, adding hardware to connect to WiFi and cellular increases size and power requirements. Notably, the new Pebble 's battery is projected to last 30 days. Two, people use phones. They want their watch to work with their phone instead of around it.
- mulderc 2y ago
  WiFi and Cellular are avialble on the smallest of apple watches. I don't care if my smartwatch can go 30 days between a charge, none of that matters if it can't do what I want it to do. I had a pebble back in the day and I thought it was useless as it was such a limited device and it sounds like they want to replicate that experience. I'm happy the people that want such a device are getting it, but I don't get the appeal and want a device that can do thing.
  - bhelkey 2y ago
    > I'm happy the people that want such a device are getting it That's the important bit. I personally don't see the value in a wifi/cellular watch when I already carry a phone that has wifi and cellular. I get a lot of value in a watch with extended batter life. For example, I don't need to pack a dedicated watch charger when I travel.
    - mulderc 2y ago
      What I love about smart watches is you don’t have to carry your phone. You can leave it behind and not miss much.

Majromax 2y ago

Battery life. Radios are energy-intensive, and the processing required to run "full apps" is also often pretty steep. In the meantime, while battery chemistries are getting better space is very much at a premium on one's wrist. From the other recently-posted article, the new Pebble watches are targeting 30-day battery lives between charges. That would be unthinkable for a watch that manages its own wifi/cellular connections.

mulderc 2y ago
I had a pebble and the limitations of the device drove me insane. I don't care if my smart watch has 30 days of battery, I care about what it does and that I can do the things I want to do on it. The Apple watch has wifi and celluar and I can do tons of things on it without my phone around. Many of the apps I use have essentially full apps on device which allows me a lot more freedom from my phone and flexibility with my watch.

bhelkey 2y ago

Two reasons: One, adding hardware to connect to WiFi and cellular increases size and power requirements. Notably, the new Pebble 's battery is projected to last 30 days. Two, people use phones. They want their watch to work with their phone instead of around it.

mulderc 2y ago
WiFi and Cellular are avialble on the smallest of apple watches. I don't care if my smartwatch can go 30 days between a charge, none of that matters if it can't do what I want it to do. I had a pebble back in the day and I thought it was useless as it was such a limited device and it sounds like they want to replicate that experience. I'm happy the people that want such a device are getting it, but I don't get the appeal and want a device that can do thing.
- bhelkey 2y ago
  > I'm happy the people that want such a device are getting it That's the important bit. I personally don't see the value in a wifi/cellular watch when I already carry a phone that has wifi and cellular. I get a lot of value in a watch with extended batter life. For example, I don't need to pack a dedicated watch charger when I travel.
  - mulderc 2y ago
    What I love about smart watches is you don’t have to carry your phone. You can leave it behind and not miss much.