The Kickstarter fueled Pebble smartwatch has finally begun to ship but not without a set of possible delays and a bit of shipping confusion.
The watch will arrive late to some customers because of issues with “documentation at the airport,” and the team notes that other delays could be caused by address confirmation e-mail issues. In some cases, customers may not receive a shipping confirmation until days after their smartwatch has shipped.
The Pebble smartwatch is expected to start arriving for 500 customers in the coming week; however, those customers may not be able to fully enjoy their watches upon receiving their long-awaited shipment. The team at Pebble is still awaiting Apple approval in the App Store. Pebble engineers submitted the iOS app two weeks ago and have been responding to reviewer feedback ever since.
While buyers will still be able to use the watch, they will not be able to install watch faces or upgrade the watch’s on-board software until it has received Apple App Store approval. The watch can still display notifications and control music.
The Pebble smartwatch team also plans to debut its software on Google Play starting January 24.
According to production numbers, the factory responsible for the Pebble smartwatch is currently producing between 800 and 1,000 Pebbles per day with the ability to increase that number to 2,400 watches per day.
The Pebble smartwatch is being sent to distribution centers in the United States and Hong Kong with delivery times to those facilities pegged at five days to one week.