I am the proud owner of an iPod Nano Touch which I’ve converted to a wristwatch. I converted it to a wristwatch (pictured above) using the LunaTik band, which is famous for having been the most successful Kickstarter project ever raising almost $1,000,000. That record stood until today.
Today a new company took the crown. Pebble. The minds behind Pebble have taken almost everything I wish my Nano would on my wrist, and made it a very amazing reality. And dare I say, almost as sexy as Apple.
Wanting to raise $100,000 to start product, Pebble has raised more than $6,500,000 with 23 days left to go until they end their fundraising. I was curious & did some digging. What I found were some interesting facts:
The real estate for your wrist is actually a pretty big market. There are over 200 domestic and import watch brands among which over 60 are import brands including Omega, Rado, Longines, Rolex, Tissot, Tudor, Enicar, Citizen. These are not small dollar purchases in many cases. In 2004, China alone exported $1.36 billion dollars worth of wrist watches.
Water-resistant, with e-paper face. Pebble talks to my iPhone which operates as the “brain” for the watch. And get this, 7 days of battery life before I need to charge it. Unlike my current iPod watch, which I charge nightly while I sleep.
Oh, and more thing…Pebble has the ability to add apps.
I certainly hope you have an answer coming soon, Apple. Throw in a touch screen & button for Siri, and my wrist is yours forever. And since we’re at it, how about having it ready for Christmas? It’s what Steve would want. And probably a ton of other people too.
So stop standing around, you’ve got work to do. The clock is ticking. Where’s my iWatch?
Disclosure: Long Apple in personal & client accounts
