We first heard the news that Fitbit was on the verge of buying Pebble at the beginning of the month, one week later and the deal has been finalised.

However, it's not great for fans of the smartwatch manufacturer.

Fitbit has said it's only interested in specific areas of Pebble, including "key personnel and intellectual property related to software and firmware development". The buyout does not include Pebble hardware. That, for all intents and purposes, is being scrapped.

Instead, Fitbit will stick with its hardware designs and manufacturing processes and just take bits of Pebble's smartwatch software to enhance its own.

Fitbit CEO James Park says he's confident the acquisition will result in faster delivery of new products and software updates, with the overall aim being to better compete with rivals and to offer products that can used as part of daily life, as opposed to just fitness purposes. He added, "We saw the acquisition as an opportunity to build on our strengths and extend our leadership position in the wearables category."

In short, Pebble is dead and the Fitbit brand will incorporate some its technologies in its own products.

How does the Pebble sale affect me?

Pebble was forced to sell up, with the figure estimated to be $40 million, after facing intense competition from other smartwatches, especially the Apple Watch. The company used Kickstarter to help fund its product, with the first edition raising more than $10 million and was seen as a massive crowdfunding success story. One that didn't have a happy ending, however.

Pebble issued a statement about the deal and said anyone who pledged money for a Pebble 2 and not received theirs yet, or an unreleased Time 2 or Pebble Core, will receive a full refund back to the original payment method.

Anyone who already has a Pebble watch can continue to use it as normal, but Pebble said it doesn't expect to release regular software updates or introduce new features anymore. It's also possible that "functionality or service quality may be reduced down the road".

Any active Pebble watches are also no longer covered by a warranty for repair or exchange.

If you have ordered and received a Pebble watch from pebble.com, you're not able to return or exchange it, but if a return was completed before 7 December, a full refund will be carried out.

Further information can be found on Pebble's Kickstarter page.