Daily Tech Snippet: Thursday, December 8

• 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. 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 Warranty support for Pebble devices has already been withdrawn, according to the blog post.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. Kickstarter backers whose rewards have not yet been fulfilled are slated to get a full refund within 4-8 weeks as a chargeback to their credit cards. Anyone who returned a Pebble device before December 7 will also get a refund, according to the post. In terms of what exactly Fitbit is acquiring, Migicovsky writes that “many” Pebble staff will be joining Fitbit to work on wearable software platforms. The focus of the acquisition looks firmly to be software.

• Airbnb Turns the Volume Down on Its Fights With Regulators Everywhere: Airbnb has reached that moment in a brash young startup's life where it decides it's in its best interest to acknowledge the existence of rules.Airbnb has always operated under a cloud of legal uncertainty as it battled city governments over how to regulate its network of short-term rental properties. The company has been kicking it into high gear to clear the situation up in recent days. On Wednesday, it released a report laying out its approach to local regulations, trying to capitalize on a weeklong stretch in which it agreed to enforce limits on rentals in London and Amsterdam, dropped a lawsuit against New York City, and praised new rules in New Orleans as a potential nationwide model. The report released today mostly restates the arguments that Airbnb has made in the past. Airbnb acknowledges that rules will vary from city to city. In general, it says it wants to collect taxes, and will help cities enforce limits on how many nights per year people can rent out their homes on the platform. It continues to push back against the idea that hosts should have to register their apartment with city officials, but suggests ways that cities can make the process less onerous. The moves over the last week mark a shift in Airbnb's priorities, putting a stable regulatory landscape ahead of the move-fast-and-break-things approach that got it to this point. It's also a major de-escalation for a company that spent the last several months suing governments in some of its most important markets. At some point it needed to start getting along with regulators in order to prepare for an eventual IPO, although until recently it seemed to be hoping to enjoy the free-for-all for a bit longer.