Pebble unveils fancier Pebble Time Steel

TORONTO – It’s been less than a week since Pebble raked in over $10 million on Kickstarter for its new Pebble Time smartwatch, but the company has already unveiled an upgraded version of the device aimed at those looking for a fancier finish.

The Pebble Time Steel – which was unveiled Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona – has the same tech specs as the Pebble Time, but comes in silver, black and gold finishes.

Pebbled launched the Pebble Time last Tuesday on Kickstarter, raising over $1 million in less than 35 minutes. The campaign has raised over $13 million to date.

The Pebble Time features a colour e-paper screen and is 20 per cent thinner than its predecessor, according to the company. The previous versions of Pebble only had black and white screens.

READ MORE: Pebble Time reaches over $10M on Kickstarter in 48 hours

Other new features include a built-in microphone for voice activated commands and a new operating system that holds more apps than the previous version. The device’s battery will also last up to seven days on a full charge.

Pebble has added the Steel version of the smartwatch to the Kickstarter campaign – and yes, those who backed the original device are able to upgrade to the Steel version.

But Pebble Time Steel will cost $299 – $100 more than the original version.

The fancier watch may be what Pebble needs to compete with competitors like Apple, who is expected to announce a launch date for its Apple Watch on March 9.

Apple will also sell a dressed-up version of its smartwatch, dubbed the Apple Watch Edition, coated in 18 karat gold. Apple has yet to announce pricing for all of its models. However, it’s been rumoured that the Apple Watch Edition could have a price tag as high as $4,000.