The clever folks at Pebble certainly know how to run a Kickstarter: The new Pebble Time
(and Pebble Time Steel) crowdfunding campaign has just drawn to a
close, with the final total standing at $20,338,986. That’s almost
double the $10.2 million the original Pebble pulled in back in 2012.It’s officially the most well-funded campaign in Kickstarter history, though not the most popular by number of backers. Earlier this year the Exploding Kittens card game attracted 219,382 supporters, whereas the final total for the Pebble Time is 78,471. With funding now secured, Pebble can begin mass production on its latest smartwatch, with shipping expected in May and June.
Related: Apple Watch event causes a spike in pre-orders… for the Pebble Time
The final update on the Kickstarter campaign page shows off some new photos of the Pebble Time and the premium Pebble Time Steel, as well as announcing details of the engraving designs for all Kickstarter backers and the launch of the Timeline SDK Developer Preview. The SDK allows developers to start building connections between apps and websites and the new Timeline interface appearing on the Pebble Time watches.
The Pebble team has also announced that the new devices are going to be water resistant to a depth of 30 meters. Any accompanying smartstraps won’t be though, so be careful before going into the shower.
With such a successful campaign behind it, Pebble will be confident about taking on the might of the Apple Watch when it goes on sale in April. Both the Time and the Time Steel offer a color e-ink screen, the new Timeline interface and a built-in microphone. Battery life is impressive too, with seven days quoted for the Pebble Steel and 10 days for the Pebble Steel Time.
Once Kickstarter backers have their smartwatches, the new Pebbles will go on sale to the wider public, with the Time costing $199 and the Time Steel $299