Weekend Wrap-Up: Pebble Time Steel Unveiled; iPad Pro Could Arrive Later This Year
Things are really heating up in the wearable space! Apple is set to show us more of the Apple Watch tomorrow, right on the heels of some pretty big announcements from a competing smartwatch maker — Pebble. We’ll catch you up on what Pebble unveiled to the world, as well as other big stories from Apple, Google, and Valve.
Your Weekend Wrap-Up starts now.
Pebble Unveils Pebble Time Steel
If you’re familiar at all with Pebble, you may know of the company’s higher-end smartwatch, the Pebble Steel. The Steel is built with fashion in mind, and Pebble seems to be sticking to that approach with the fancier version of its Time smartwatch, the Time Steel. Neither the Time nor the Time Steel are on sale yet — in fact, they’re both currently in Kickstarter form, which shipping targets of May and July, respectively. You can Kickstart the Pebble Time Steel at a discounted price of $249; the watch will retail for $299 when it hits store shelves.
iPad Pro in 2015? Reports Say Yes
Few things get the world buzzing like a secret Apple product, and the iPad Pro is one that people just can’t seem to let go of. New reports now say the product could arrive in the second half of 2015, sporting a 12.9-inch display and a USB 3.0 port. History seems to suggest that, should Apple launch such a product, the announcement would happen 1-4 weeks before launch. History also suggests that reports can be wrong. Say, what are you watching there on your Apple-built television?
Google Wants to Be a Wireless Carrier
When Google decides to jump into an industry, the stalwarts in that industry are put on notice. We’ve seen this happen countless times in the past, and now it appears Google has its sights set on becoming a wireless carrier. Google reportedly wants to build an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) service on top of an existing network, enabling it to offer its own plans and prices to customers. It’s said that Google would likely limit this service to its Nexus line of Android devices, but who knows — could Google use an MVNO as a springboard to become a bigger player in the industry?
Valve Announces Steam Link
I recently built a new PC in an attempt to embrace PC gaming a bit more. But while many PC games are able to be used with a controller (which I prefer), PCs themselves don’t always look great in the living room. I know mine doesn’t. That’s why I’m super intrigued by Valve’s Steam Link, a $50 box that lets you stream your Steam titles from your workhorse PC (in some other room, probably) to your TV. Steam’s streaming technology is pretty darn good, and I absolutely see myself picking one of these bad boys up when they launch in November.