- Watch breaks record for ‘crowd investing’ Kickstarter site
- Raised $4.3 million in five days – and $10million in two weeks
- ‘Smart watch’ pairs with smartphones to display messages
Bluetooth watches, which pair with your phone to display text messages and control your music, have been tried before with limited success.
But when enthusiastic inventors promised to get it right if they were given enough funding to create their ‘Pebble’ wristwatch, the Internet erupted with generosity.
The team hoped to raise $100,000 in a month – they achieved this in just hours.
Now, three weeks later, the creators have $10.1million in the bank, and 85,000 buyers waiting to receive their own watch once it rolls off the production lines.
The watch has an E Ink screen and users can pair it with apps on Android and iPhone smartphones
The watch will pair with phones to receive and display text messages
Kickstarter works by allowing investors to put up anything from $1 to thousands of dollars. Some enthusiastic fans pledged $10,000 to turn the smartwatch into reality. Those who donated more than $100 will get a Pebble delivered.
So why is it so special?
‘Pebble is the first watch built for the 21st century,’ say its creators. ‘It’s infinitely customizable, with beautiful downloadable watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps.
‘The watch will connect via Bluetooth, and alert users to incoming messages via vibrations – and apps bring Pebble to life.
‘Cyclists can use Pebble as a bike computer, accessing the GPS on your smartphone to display speed, distance and pace data.
‘Runners get a similar set of data displayed on their wrist. Use the music control app to play, pause or skip tracks on your phone with the touch of a button.’
