Pebble’s new wearable wants you to reconsider what a ‘smart ring’ should do

[phillynews215]

TL;DR

• Pebble’s new Index 01 ring is a finger-mounted voice recorder.
• The Index 01 records voice notes on a paired smartphone, and can also do things like set reminders and control music playback.
• The new ring is available for pre-order today for $75. Units ship in March.

Following its teaser yesterday, storied smart wearable maker Pebble has announced its latest device — and it isn’t what I expected. Today, the company is introducing the Pebble Index 01, its first-ever ring-style device. But an Oura competitor this is not: the Index 01 is tailor-made for some specific use cases, and it’s priced to move at a reduced pre-order cost of just $75.

Unlike typical smart rings, the Index 01 doesn’t track activity or sleep. The company describes it as a “memory device,” designed primarily to record voice notes in the Pebble companion app on your phone. Recordings are processed and stored locally by default and there’s no subscription required to use the ring, though “an optional cloud service” allows for online backups and better-quality speech-to-text.




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