Sure Pebble put its best forward when it launched not one but three new products the other week, but a startup’s got to stagger a little bit of news to keep us interested ahead of launch (though judging by its current tally of $9.7 million on Kickstarter, the company is doing just fine in the buzz department, thank you very much).
Today’s news entails the Pebble Core, the real dark horse of group product launch. The little runner-focused keychain computer will be getting Amazon Alexa integration when it starts shipping to backers early next year. This move, Pebble is quick to point out, makes the Core the “first fully-mobile wearable” to officially get the Amazon voice functionality.
Among the host of voice-related features are the ability to play music by way of Amazon Prime Music and iHeartRadio, headline news reading, Pebble Health summaries, weather and traffic updates, Amazon shopping and smart home device control. Really, the stuff you might otherwise be doing on a screen. And, naturally, as Alexa functionality increases, so too will its usefulness on the Core.
Pebble’s also using the opportunity to remind potential developers that the Core’s “infinitely hackable platform” is open, as well. No doubt the company is hoping such hacking opportunities will lead to even more functionality ahead of the product’s 2017 launch.