Pebble OS Reborn: New Smartwatches on the Horizon with Advanced Features

Pebble OS Revival with New Hardware

Overview

Pebble OS, the operating system that powered Pebble smartwatches until 2016, has been open-sourced by Google. This move has sparked a revival effort led by Eric Migicovsky, the original founder of Pebble. The project is making significant progress, with Pebble OS already running on new hardware.

Technical Advances

• New Chipset: The software is now compiled to support the nRF52840 chipset, which offers advanced features like Bluetooth 5.3, Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth mesh, NFC, Thread, and Zigbee. This represents a substantial upgrade from the Bluetooth 4.1 used in the Pebble 2.

Community Involvement

• Developer Contributions: Developers are encouraged to contribute by creating new watch faces, apps, and working on hardware projects.
• GitHub Repository: All efforts are coordinated through GitHub, where developers can find resources and collaborate.

Future Prospects

• New Smartwatch: The revival project is expected to lead to the development of a new Pebble smartwatch with improved capabilities.
• Community Support: The success of this revival depends on community involvement and contributions from enthusiastic developers.