Big news this week is that we're getting the watchface SDK ready to be out into the wild. We're going to publish it during the 2nd week of April. We're also publishing a firmware update next week, and while we have definitely not finished our manufacturing work, over 40,000 Pebbles have been built to date.

Firmware Update Next Week

In other news next week we'll be publishing a firmware update for Pebble, version 1.9. With this latest update, we've changed around the interface flow. Watchfaces are now at the bottom of the window stack; if you keep pressing the back button from anywhere inside Pebble's menus, you'll get to your previously displayed watchface. The right top and bottom (up and down) buttons now change between different watchfaces you've installed on your Pebble. This simplifies the main launcher menu. We've also made a lot of changes under the hood on the text rendering engine, making it easier and faster for developers to display text on Pebble.

Watchface SDK

Right from the beginning, PebbleOS was built with multiple apps in mind. This was mainly in reaction to the developer response to our first watch, inPulse. In the fall, as we began work on the user facing apps on Pebble, we started using a prototype of the SDK internally to develop watchfaces for Pebble. That's when we knew that the first release of the SDK would be mainly geared towards watchfaces as this was the first type of app that would be well supported. It turns out games are similar in structure (only require button inputs), so they are also candidates for this revision of the native SDK :)

Important note: the proof-of-concept Pebble watchface SDK will not enable access to the accelerometer (or magnetometer), or communication between watchfaces and smartphones (among other major deficiencies).

As a small company, we had to be very careful with our focus and priorities. We knew that getting Pebble into mass production and shipping watches to you, our Kickstarter backers, needed to be our prime objective. We also knew that the out of box experience was important which is why we worked really hard to support the wide variety of Android devices and iOS variations right from the start. 

During the 2nd week of April, we'll be releasing a proof-of-concept watchface SDK. It's a work in progress, and there's a 99% chance that we're going to be changing a lot of the APIs...but it's an important first step towards shifting our focus towards supporting developers. I know we have communicated very poorly to developers up until this point, but we hope that you'll understand how important it was for us and for Pebble as a platform to have the initial release of the hardware go well.

We made the decision to beta test the watchface SDK with hacker backers. It's been incredible seeing just what a small subset of the Pebble developer community has created in a short period of time. As soon as the watchface SDK is released, developers will be free to share all apps that they've created. The good news is that the following 3 apps will be available as soon as firmware version 1.9 is released next.

Hoe Laat Is Het?, by Hudson (Can you tell time in Dutch?)

Fairly classic watchface

Snake game, by Nicholas

If you're searching for inspiration for your first Pebble watchface design, look no further than the fantastic Pebble Concepts site, hosted by RichardG. We're big fans of a bunch of designs there, but remember that some designs will not be implementable using the proof-of-concept watchface SDK. Pebble's display is 144 x 168 pixels, black and white only.

Some of the awesome Pebble-compatible designs that Pebblers have submitted to RichardG's site!

Tidbits from the Pebble World

• Production of Red lenses happened this week (the first colour that has gone into production so far). Next step is to optically bond the display to these lenses, which will be happening next week.
• Two thousand long watch straps will be shipped next week by letter mail. Over 85% of the Kickstarter backers who ordered long straps are in this first batch. 
• Over 40,000 Pebbles have been manufactured so far, with many more on the way (check ispebbleshipping.com for recent stats)
• We're doing our best to work our way through all technical questions and issues. The best spot to start if you have any issues is at help.getpebble.com, then if you continue to have a problem, please use the 'Contact Support' or 'Email Support' button inside the Pebble iOS or Android app.

We know we've got a lot of work ahead of us, but we're really pumped up so far with the early reactions from Pebblers on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, our (new) forums and more! While we can't respond to everything out there, we do read voraciously. Keep the feedback coming, thanks Pebblers!

Eric + Pebble Team

We posted a couple new watchfaces available to install on your Pebbles today. You can find them inside the Pebble App for Android and iOS (you may need to close the app and open it again to refresh). Let's just say we got quite a few requests for a digital watchface that actually told the time as well as date, so we're happy to get this one out :) These are early days in the Pebble watchface arena, and I'm pretty excited about where it's headed. Unfortunately I don't have anything new to announce about the Pebble Watchface SDK today, other than we're working on it and using it internally to write watchfaces.

Manufacturing

Chinese New Year wrapped up at the beginning of the week, and our production line is back on-line. We're still not at full production speed yet as the various subvendors and factories that supply components to the Pebble assembly come back up after CNY. Also continuing to deal with delays (shenanigans?) as we ship plastic components from Taiwan to the factory in Dongguan, via Hong Kong.

As usual, you can track our production process at www.ispebbleshipping.com. We've manufactured over 25,000 Pebbles so far (30% there!), with 8,000 currently flying from Hong Kong to our distribution centres right now.

Speaking of plastics, the factory has shifted one of our two lens tools back to working with colors (one tool will always be making black lenses, almost 24-7). We're 'shooting' (injecting) each color one at a time because each color of plastic requires a slightly different temperature, pressure and cycle time. Each individual color also needs to be approved through a process called First Article Inspection (FAI) during which all dimensions are double checked. We've found that the fit between the bottom housing and the lens can vary quite a lot depending on the injection parameters, so we're being very careful before approving the mass production parameters for each color.

Help and Technical Support

I'd like to personally apologize for anyone who has emailed us over the last 2 weeks. We have been swamped with questions and we have not done a good job at managing the overload, leading to a a bunch of unanswered messages. To help fix this, we now have 5 people dedicated to working with our backers. We're also working hard to improve our Support Center (help.getpebble.com). 

If you backed Pebble on Kickstarter, your questions (when is my Pebble shipping? Where are the longer straps? and more) may already be answered here: http://help.getpebble.com/customer/portal/articles/1008261-top-kickstarter-faq

Shipping FAQ: http://help.getpebble.com/customer/portal/topics/453712-shipping/articles

If you missed the Kickstarter and pre-ordered through getpebble.com, check our our FAQ for preorders: http://help.getpebble.com/customer/portal/articles/1008241-top-pre-order-faq

Technical Support

If you have any questions about your Pebble, please consult the Tech Support FAQ: http://help.getpebble.com/customer/portal/articles/1008279-top-support-faq

We're tracking two major issues right now: 

iOS Email - Email notifications are still not flowing correctly on iOS. With input from the survey in the last update, we've been able to target our efforts on a solution. We'll be testing it internally over the next few weeks.

Battery life - We're getting reports from some Pebblers seeing a 1-3 day battery life instead of 5-7. We're unable to replicate this issue on any of our Pebbles, but we're hoping to narrow down the problem with the help of our backers. We're working hard on this, and we're confident that we can get to the bottom of it

We're also tracking several other issues: Allow/Ignore prompt on iOS (working on it), Android music control (fixed in next release of Android app), Caller ID on iOS (thought we fixed it, but broke again, working on it).

On the Android side, we're pleased to see many developers begin using Pebble's Android Intent API (developer.getpebble.com) 

Pebble Notifier brings dozens of new notifications and alerts to your Pebble, and integrates with Tasker.

Lightflow provides 'Total Notification Control' and integrates well with Pebble.

Great to see all those photos of Pebble in the wild, keep them coming! Thanks Pebblers,

Eric + Pebble Team 

Our production line is humming along, with the daily output creeping upwards to 1,500 Pebbles per day (PPD). Overall, it takes about 2 weeks for a single Pebble to be manufactured, assembled, boxed up and shipped to our distribution centers, so it took us a little while for the whole process to be ironed out.

There will be a one week interruption in output from the factory next week during Chinese New Year. We've taken steps to reduce the effect of CNY by stockpiling necessary components at our factory so that assembly can resume promptly after the holiday. In particular, to increase output before CNY, we've shifted some subassembly manufacturing to a facility in Taiwan for the most important assembly in the design, the optical adhesion of the LCD module to the lens. Building will be paused during CNY, but shipping will continue as we have a backlog of manufactured Pebbles to ship out.

Color Pebbles

As you can see in the graph above, we're on track to have manufactured 15,000 Black Pebbles before the beginning of Chinese New Year (Feb 8) (more data available on ispebbleshipping.com). After the holiday, production of other colours Pebbles will begin. In order to avoid delays, if you have a requested a Black Pebble as part of a multi-Pebble reward pack we will also be trying our best to fulfill that portion of the reward separately. We had to modify our shipping software to break down rewards into separate colors, so this hasn't started yet.

Software Updates

If you already have your Pebble on-wrist, keep your eyes peeled for updates to Pebble Android and iOS apps. As backers send us support requests and let us know about bugs and other problems, we will be publishing updates that fix issues you may be experiencing.

Software updates to the Pebble operating system (OS) itself will also be published regularly. The Pebble app on your smartphone will let you know when an update is available, and prompt you to install.

Known Issues

Pebble users have already reported several major issues that we're working to solve.

iOS email
When Pebble's Bluetooth connection with an iPhone or iPod touch is broken, the iOS software module that sends email notifications switches off. We've brought this issue up with Apple's developer support, but we can't expect a solution necessarily from this pathway. Currently, there is a workaround method to reenable email notifications (link) but it means toggling a switch after a disconnect. We are working to solve this problem (this is our #1 priority iOS task), and we'll keep Pebblers updated about this issue. To help us out, if you're an iOS Pebble user, please fill in this survey about your email usage.

Other issues that we're working to solve
- Email notifications from the default email app on HTC and some other Android devices are not being delivered to Pebble yet. On other default email apps (Samsung in particular) do not transmit email contents. Working on it.
- Some Pebbles are rebooting after receiving some notifications. If this happens to you regularly, use the Contact or Email support button inside the app to send us debug logs.
- iOS Caller ID. We've identified a bug that prevents a caller's name from appearing on Pebble. Will have a fix in the next iOS Pebble App version.
- Android two factor authentication - click here for instructions
- Watchfaces not loading on iOS. Fixed in the next version of the iOS app.
- Battery indicator: we're seeing reports of Pebble battery lasting from 2-7 days. It seems to be related to the variety of different Bluetooth connections on different phones. The first thing we're working on is improving the battery logging and how Pebble alerts you when the battery is almost empty. Then we'll move to improving battery life across the board.
- Android ROMs: we'll do our best, but unfortunately we cannot promise support for the entire wide world of Andriod ROMs out there. We're testing with stock devices from HTC, Samsung, Nexus (among others) and always on the stock OS.

- Pebble seems to interfere with Siri on iOS devices. Working on this problem.

Thanks for all your support, Pebblers! It's awesome to see the first users post pictures of their Pebbles in the wild. Keep the #PebbleTime coming!

Eric + Pebble Team

Apps Available Now

Well, that was timely. Just as the first Pebbles went out the door, our iPhone app was approved. We've also uploaded the Pebble Android app to Google Play. The apps won't do anything until you receive your Pebble, but rest assured that they exist and are waiting for you. Please try to resist the urge to 'Contact Support' via the App unless you are having issues with your Pebble. That button is for technical support only. Thanks! 

When you get your Pebble, be sure to download the latest Pebble app. We'll be uploading new versions regularly.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pebble-smartwatch/id592012721?ls=1&mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.getpebble.android

(We're receiving reports that the Pebble Android app can't be installed on tablets yet. We'll be looking into this.)

Master cartons departing the Pebble factory

Shipping

Pebble will start shipping today! We'll be sending out the first batch to the very first backers this afternoon. There are still some kinks and issues that we need to work out, but I'm glad to say we've made it this far. 

Notes:

• Pebble iOS App is not yet available in the App Store. We submitted 2 weeks ago and have been responding to reviewer feedback. For the moment, iOS users who receive Pebble early will be able to do notifications/Music control but will not be able to install watchfaces or upgrade to the latest PebbleOS until the app appears in the App Store.
• Android app will go live on Google Play on Thursday Jan 24
• We weren't able to get as many units to our fulfillment centre as we expected (held up by documentation at the airport). Less than 500 units are going out today, with more expected to ship soon.
• We accidentally more Address Confirmations emails than available Pebbles. So some people who received address confirmation emails will not get a tracking number for a few days until their Pebble ships out.

To track our shipping progress, we've made a (light-heartedly named) website: www.ispebbleshipping.com 

We're also working on adding shipment tracking to account.getpebble.com. Please do not email us right now about shipment tracking, we will not be able to provide any information over email about the status of your Pebble. As soon as this functionality is finished, we'll post an update and you'll be able to check online. Sorry for the delay on this. 

Mass Production

As we mentioned during the last announcement, mass production has started at the factory. It's awesome to walk along the assembly line and see thousands of Pebble components in various states of readiness. It's going to take some time before we reach our maximum capacity, but we're getting there.

PCB (bottom left) and FPC (hanging out on the pink foam)

FPC after depanelization (being trimmed from supporting material) and PCB

We have more than 1,000 glue jigs on the production line. 

It's 5 o'clock somewhere! 

Ah a beautiful sight...finished product, all boxed up and ready to be placed in 60-Pebble master shipping cartons.

High resolution images available here: http://imgur.com/a/6MHPo

Production Notes:

• As of today, the factory is manufacturing roughly 800-1,000 Pebbles per day. We're working hard to get this up to our full capacity (2.4k per day)
• We are shipping master cartons of Pebbles by air freight across the Pacific to our US distribution center 1-2 times per week, and 1-2 times per week to our Hong Kong distribution center which fulfills shipments to any country that isn't the US. There is a 5-7 day lag between a Pebble coming off the assembly line, and it arriving in a fulfillment center for shipping. 
• Right now at the beginning of the manufacturing run, we're building batches of 1 colour at a time. Since black was by far the most popular colour, we started with a run of black Pebbles. I realize that this is different than what I said before...while we would have liked to be able to ship out all the colours at the exact same time, it's proven to be impossible. We're doing our best to bring production of other colors on-line as soon as possible. (This doesn't mean we're producing every single black Pebble first)

#PebbleTime contest

During the press conference, thousands of people tweeted with the hashtag #pebbletime and posted questions on Facebook and Reddit. The winner of the Clear Pebble contest is Luke K. (from Facebook) for asking a great question: "What is the most interesting/unique idea for the use of a pebble that you have heard to date?"

I didn't have a good answer at the time, so I wanted to follow up. There was a thread on our forums.getpebble.com recently about how to use Pebble to, ahem...creatively bend school rules during exams. Definitely one of the most unique Pebble use cases! 

Runner up's for the contest will receive t-shirts and some other swag: @flashpunk, Phoebe Furby Sturges (from Facebook), captbunzo (from Reddit). Winners, please send us a message via Kickstarter and we'll get your gear sent out!

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Our job is most definitely not finished, we have lots of improvements to make, and tens of thousands of Pebbles to ship out. We will continue our biweekly updates, and as was mentioned 2 weeks ago, we'll be issuing software updates with new features for Pebble every 2-3 weeks.

Thanks for the support, everyone! Looking forward to hearing what you think of Pebble when it finally makes it onto your wrist.

Team Pebble