Last year, Pebble Technology launched a Kickstarter campaign for an e-paper wristwatch that could connect to iPhone and Android smartphones, alerting users to various notifications and displaying messages via Bluetooth. It turned out that the Pebble is just the sort of technology consumers were waiting for, and the Kickstarter project blew up seemingly overnight. The campaign eventually raised over $10.2 million – still the most-funded project in Kickstarter history.
The huge success of the Pebble Kickstarter proved that there is a sizable market demand for smart watches, and established tech companies are now readying their entries into the new market. Rumors about Apple’s smart watch are reaching a fever pitch this week as the tech giant has begun to file trademarks for “iWatch.” Rumors have also suggested that Google might be working on its own smart watch technology.
Today, Pebble revealed that it is way ahead of the competition, as its smart watches will soon be sold in Best Buy stores. The black version of the Pebble Watch will be for sale at U.S. Best Buy stores starting July 7 and will retail for $150. The red version of the watch will be coming to retail in August. Pebble stated that moving into retail is a “key step” in its plan to meet the overwhelming demand the watches have sparked.
“It’s been so rewarding to see and share the great things our early backers and development partners have done with Pebble already,” said Eric Migicovsky, CEO of Pebble. “Their work and our evolving app ecosystem has kept demand very high. Best Buy’s partnership with us is a big step towards meeting that demand.”
Pebble Smartwatch 2013 video from Pebble Technology on Vimeo.