The very first Pebble smart watches are now shipping, although quantities are limited. For the time being only 500 watches will be shipped, and the recipients will be those who first backed the project on Kickstarter.
Pebble started off as an idea last year and gained a momentous following through tech blogs and fans and as a result it soared past its funding target within days, raising over $10.2 million. The watch features an e-paper display that’s similar to that of the Kindle and connects using Bluetooth LE to an iPhone, iPod Touch or Android phone.
Primarily the watch can be used as, well, a watch, but that on its own is just boring. You can also install apps onto the watch that make it super useful, including options to read your text messages and emails on the watch face, check your Facebook and Twitter and view weather alerts, amongst many other nifty features.
You can also use the watch as a remote for music playback on your phone, a run tracker or a pedometer. At $150 per watch it might seem pricey to some, but it’s also a geek’s dream. Developers can download a software developer kit and start creating their own apps and uses for the watch, so in the future there’s likely to be many, many more things you can do with one.
In anticipation for the arrival of the first batch of watches, the free iOS app is now available to download from the App Store. The Android app is said to hit Google Play today (January 24th) as a free download – both apps allow the user to add apps to the watch, change watch faces and more.
Have you already snagged yourself a Pebble smart watch?