"We won’t be happy until we have Drugwars on the Pebble."

Importantly, Pebble kept almost all the internal parts unchanged in the new Steel model. The same e-paper display, battery, and hardware platform is present, with the only change being a doubling of memory from 4MB to 8MB — this has always been a very frugal device. The company's keen to have a "one platform design," meaning it wants to give a consistent target for developers and avoid hardware fragmentation. To that end, it's launching its app store at the end of this month, right alongside the Pebble Steel's release. Version 2.0 of the Pebble software is also going to be available then, and seeing it on the new watch showed an impressive improvement in speed and performance. There aren't any real interface tweaks to speak of, but the expanded API library and access for devs should mean we see plenty of new functionality for both generations of Pebble smartwatch as 2014 rolls along.

Looking to the future, Migicovsky expects to see even more apps that expand the Pebble’s functionality as a smartphone companion. The already-present Foursquare, Pandora, and ESPN applications are just scratching the surface of an ocean of extra functionality this humble wearable can offer. He showed me a game Pebble built called Piny Wings — as the name suggests, it’s a copy of Andreas Illiger’s iOS game Tiny Wings, but made playable on the Pebble. It’s enabled by a bit of coding magic provided by a Pebble fan in Germany who figured out how to create gradients and simulate 30fps animations on the e-paper display. More than half of Pebble’s current staff are working on software for what is now a family of wearables, and Migicovsky concludes by saying that he won’t be content "until we have Drugwars on the Pebble."

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Pebble’s long-term success will depend on making those tantalizing experiences and promises real, but the company’s first hurdle is to get people to even consider wearing its product on a daily basis. The Pebble Steel is the stylish answer to that challenge, and the early impression it makes is a very positive one. The basic foundation may still be the same, but the presentation and craftsmanship of the product have taken a leap forward that will be appreciated by many. The Pebble Steel is available to pre-order now and will start shipping on January 28th for $249, with the original Pebble continuing on as the $149 entry level model.