Pebble Time (Photo : Facebook)
After setting a Kickstarter record for amassing more than $20 million in crowd-funding, Pebble decided to put that money to good use by funding startup companies in order to help them develop modular features that could be integrated to the upcoming Pebble Time smartwatch.
According to Pebble, it will release $1 million to hardware developers who can come up with the most innovative add-on accessory that can be added to the Pebble Time. The upcoming Pebble Time will include a "smartstrap" which is essentially a smart-accessory that adds other hardware functionality to the smartwatch. Pebble presented this plan when it first announced the second-generation Pebble Time.
One of the many hardware companies interested in developing these "smartstrap" is Seeed Studio. Seeed's plan is to take advantage of Pebbles Xadow module which offers features like Global Positioning System as well as Near Field Communication, according to PC World. Many industry experts say that Seeed's plan is not directed towards consumers but rather targets other companies who can use their developed modules in order to create their own "smartstraps."
Another startup company that showed great interest in developing "smartstrap" for Pebble is Spark.io, the company's project is known as Spark Electron. The company said that its plan is to design a hardware that has an electron SIM-enabled dev kit which can enable Pebble Time to have cellular connectivity. This piece of hardware can, in theory, turn the Pebble Time into a smartphone.
Pebble said that the company is receiving "hundreds" of proposal about different hardware ideas that could be very beneficial to its smartwatch, according to Tech Crunch. However, the company added that any accessory that will be integrated into the upcoming Pebble Time will base heavily on the demands of its users.
