As expected, developers of the Pebble smartwatch Kickstarter project held a press conference at CES 2013 today, announcing that Pebble is now in mass production and will be shipped to its Kickstarter backers on January 23. Company’s CEO Eric Migicovsky added that it will take almost two months to get all the initial orders out (via TNW).
Detailing the Pebble, Eric revealed that the Bluetooth 4.0 enabled smartwatch features a Sharp display, has a battery life of 7 days and a scratch-resistant lens. Pebble also has a vibrator, a three-axis accelerometer with gesture support, an ambient light sensor and is chargeable via USB.
Users can easily connect the watch to their iPhone or Android device for software updates via Bluetooth technology. Furthermore, the watch will have a magnetic charging cable to help keep it waterproof.
Pebble has mobile apps that can be paired with the Pebble watch. Through the app, wearers can modify the watchface that are displayed on the device. The device also includes email and incoming call notification.
Additionally, the company is working on developing an SDK to have third-party apps developed with the watch run on Pebble. Right now, it’s being beta tested with a small group of developers and centered around tweaking the watch face, but eventually it will be expanded further.
Pebble has previously announced its partnership with RunKeeper to compete with the Nike+ Fuel band and other similar devices.
Update: Here’s a hands-on video of the Pebble watch by The Verge at CES 2013:
