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Pebble confirms it’s shutting down, devs and software going to Fitbit

RIP Pebble… The wearable maker that pioneered wrist-based notifications before Apple and many others waded into the smartwatch space has confirmed it’s closing its doors as an independent entity.

Late last month rumors emerged that Fitbit was set to acquire Pebble — with our sources telling us the price-tag was between $34 million and $40M, a figure they said “barely” covered the startup’s debts. Although the company avoided an explicit confirmation of the rumor by tweeting a shrug emoji until now.

Today Pebble’s CEO Eric Migicovsky has published a blog with official confirmation of the acquisition and details of what will happen to Pebble products. The post does not confirm the acquisition price, however.

“We have made the tough decision to shut down the company and no longer manufacture Pebble devices,” he writes. “While dissolving Pebble as you know today is difficult, I am happy to announce that many members of Team Pebble will be joining the Fitbit family to continue their work on wearable software platforms.”

“It’s a bittersweet day, but I want to extend my biggest thanks to the Pebble community,” he adds.

Migicovsky goes on to note that while Pebble devices will continue to work “as normal” — and asserts there will be “no immediate changes” to the user experience “at this time” — he does also warn that “Pebble functionality or service quality may be reduced in the future”.

So really it sounds like it’s only a matter of time before Pebble wrist-wear reaches the end of the functionality road — with whatever lifespan left now up to Fitbit to determine.

Warranty support for Pebble devices has already been withdrawn, according to the blog post. While the Pebble 2, which only started shipping earlier this month, has now been canceled — with no more orders being accepted or fulfilled.

Via

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