The smartwatch industry has received a significant boost as Pebble’s founder Eric Migicovsky prepares to relaunch the once popular brand. This move comes amidst Google’s decision to open-source its Wear OS software, which aims to encourage a collaborative and innovative ecosystem. Having established Pebble in 2012, Migicovsky quickly gained traction as his wearable company became an early leader in the smartwatch space. However, in 2016, Pebble’s story came to a halt when it was acquired by Fitbit during a tumultuous period for smartwatch manufacturers as consumers were still warming up to the concept of wearables.
Eric Migicovsky remained within the industry and held positions at hardware accelerator Highway1 and consulting firm Concept Corporation, but his heart never strayed far from smartwatches. A recent LinkedIn post hinted at his return, sparking curiosity among industry insiders. Taking on an advisory role, Migicovsky is likely to bring his wealth of experience and market foresight back into the smartwatch domain, reviving the Pebble brand and addressing key obstacles to overcome in the competitive wearable tech field.
On the other hand, Google’s decision to open-source Wear OS marks a significant change in the tech giant’s strategy, fostering collaboration between developers and hardware makers. By embracing an open-source platform, Google will help improve Wear OS’s market competitiveness, pushing it closer to the likes of Apple’s watchOS in terms of performance, development, and user experience. The open-source approach will encourage more developers to build applications and integrate features that capitalize on the wearable’s unique capabilities, ultimately tailoring the platform for a more diverse audience looking for solutions to a multitude of problems.
Open-source initiatives such as this also suggest that Google wants to build a more inclusive, transparent, and versatile ecosystem that benefits hardware makers, software developers, and ultimately, consumers. It allows engineers from various companies to work on Wear OS, improving its performance and pushing boundaries previously unreached. In short, open-sourcing Wear OS enables the creation of a vibrant and robust ecosystem that could potentially lead to the development of groundbreaking smartwatch technologies in the near future.
