Pebble wasn't the first smartwatch to hit the market but it was one of the most important as it is arguably responsible for helping to jumpstart the modern wearable movement. The device first launched more than two and a half years ago - an eternity in tech time - but it's still fighting to remain relevant with the help of a new low price and a new area of growth for the Pebble ecosystem.

In a blog post on the matter, the Pebble team outlined some of the new features found in firmware version 2.6 which focuses on health and fitness.

Specifically, the update enables users to run activity tracking and sleep monitoring apps in the background. Apps from Misfit, Jawbone and Swim.com can take full advantage of this new functionality, the company said.

The Misfit app has been updated to enable continuous, round-the-clock activity tracking and sleep monitoring. Jawbone's UP app shows daily and weekly activity progress and automatically syncs with the new UP app for iOS. The Swim.com app, meanwhile, allows users to measure distance, pace, times, strokes and efficiency when swimming.

Pebble has also lowered the price of its smartwatch down to just $99 while the revised Pebble Steel can be had for $199. The watches are now available at Sam's Club and Fry's Electronics and will be coming soon to Sprint stores. This is in addition to their presence at Best Buy, Target, AT&T stores and on Amazon.