Eight years after Pebble shut down its beloved smartwatch business, the company has decided to bring back its beloved E-paper smartwatch.

When Pebble first shipped its watches in 2013, it predated the Apple Watch and Google's WearOS, and garnered hardcore fans with its thoughtfully designed user interface, novel screen technology, and the extensible capabilities afforded by its app store, reports NewAtlas.

Unfortunately, Pebble failed after shipping two million units and earning US$230 million. It was unable to adequately manage its funds and meet subsequent sales projections. Founder and CEO Eric Migicovsky, who founded the firm in 2008 with a group of friends, filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and sold Fitbit the Pebble brand and intellectual property, which Google ultimately purchased.

The Pebble owners kept the company afloat while Migicovsky closed it down by creating unique web services to power its numerous cloud-connected applications and features, which together make up the Rebble project. Therefore, the devices have remained in the possession of devoted devotees for many years after Pebble's official demise.

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This leads us to the most recent development. A year ago, Migicovsky politely requested that the owners of the Pebble IP to open source the operating system. They did as of today!

This means that everyone, including Migicovsky and the Rebble project volunteers, can now access the OS's code base, with the exception of some parts that have been deleted and others that require updating.

Additionally, it means that someone may use PebbleOS to create a new watch. And that someone is Migicovsky. He wrote in a blog post yesterday that no wearable currently on the market has all the characteristics he wants, including tactile buttons, long battery life, an always-on e-paper display (like a Kindle), an easy-to-use interface, and the option to hack it and install your own programs.

"Manufacturing hardware for a product like Pebble is infinitely easier now than 10 years ago," he wrote. "There are plenty of capable factories and Bluetooth chips are cheaper, more powerful and energy efficient."

Migicovsky also said that he will not be able to provide a release date for the new Pebble for some time. The PebbleOS code base is available on GitHub, and on the rePebble website, you can register to receive project updates via email.