Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Best Buy May Begin Selling Pebble Smart Watch This Weekend [Updated]

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,489
30,727



According to two employees (via 9to5Mac) some Best Buy stores in the United States will offer the Pebble smart watch beginning on Sunday.

The product, which carries an in-stock date of July 7th in the store's inventory system, appears to be limited to Best Buy's brick and mortar locations.

pebble.jpg
Additionally, the inventory system points to an in-stock date of July 7th, which is the upcoming Sunday. Best Buy typically rolls out specials and new products on Sundays, so this date makes sense. However, an in-stock date could also mean that Best Buy stores are scheduled to receive the product on that date, but sales will only begin a few days later.
Click to expand...
First introduced via an enormously successful Kickstarter project, the Pebble smart watch features an e-paper display and integrates with a number of iOS apps thanks to an official SDK released earlier this year.

pebblesmartwatch.jpg
The popularity of Pebble and other similar devices has spurred multiple companies to look into producing their own smart watches. Apple is currently reported to be developing a smart watch called the "iWatch," while Microsoft, Google, and Samsung all have offerings of their own in the works.

The Pebble smart watch, which is available in an array of colors, sells for $150 on the official website. It is likely that Best Buy will offer similar pricing arrangements.

Update: Pebble is now listed as "Coming Soon" on Best Buy's public site.

pebble_best_buy.jpg

Update 2: Pebble has officially announced the Best Buy partnership, with black Pebbles becoming available this Sunday, July 7 and red Pebbles appearing next month.

Article Link: Best Buy May Begin Selling Pebble Smart Watch This Weekend [Updated]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/01/best-buy-may-begin-selling-pebble-smart-watch-this-weekend/
Jeremy1026

Jeremy1026

macrumors 68020
Nov 3, 2007
2,215
1,029
I hope this isn't true. I've been waiting for a pre-order since mid-March, if they are throwing inventory into a new channel before filling their existing channels I won't be going through with my pre-order and will wait for a competitor.
 
B

billyt1963

macrumors newbie
Jan 29, 2009
12
1
I think it is great that Pebble has been able to get this into stores, but I still have not gotten my second Kickstarter watch. There are also many
"pre-orders" that have yet to be filled. I wonder how they will be able to keep Best Buy supplied with watches.
 
J

jfreak623

macrumors 6502
Sep 26, 2007
357
57
No thanks! Pebble is nothing compared to the new Kreyos smart watch on Indiegogo. Voice and motion gesture controlled! Seems like the kind of company apple would buy out.

Kreyos Smartwatch
 
Jeremy1026

Jeremy1026

macrumors 68020
Nov 3, 2007
2,215
1,029
jfreak623 said:
check this one out. Above and beyond pebble.

Kreyos Smartwatch
Click to expand...

Estimated delivery of November...eeeeek. However, I guess since I've already waited this long might as well put a fixed date (that is definitely floating) on an alternative rather than to keep wondering if my order will process this month.
 
J

jfreak623

macrumors 6502
Sep 26, 2007
357
57
Jeremy1026 said:
Estimated delivery of November...eeeeek. However, I guess since I've already waited this long might as well put a fixed date (that is definitely floating) on an alternative rather than to keep wondering if my order will process this month.
Click to expand...

from my understanding, they have over estimated on the shipping times. They are hoping to get them to people much sooner!
 
ovrlrd

ovrlrd

macrumors 65816
Aug 29, 2009
1,384
146
All current smart watches are ugly and far too limited. I am really hoping Apple nails it with a good design and some good integration beyond just notifications and silly fitness apps. They won't likely announce it this year, but it is inevitable, and is way more likely to happen than some giant Apple branded TV screen.
 
M

MNealBarrett

macrumors member
Feb 25, 2006
60
0
jfreak623 said:
No thanks! Pebble is nothing compared to the new Kreyos smart watch on Indiegogo. Voice and motion gesture controlled! Seems like the kind of company apple would buy out.

Kreyos Smartwatch
Click to expand...

So, let me get this straight: you are comparing a product that is available NOW, to a product that may not be available in realistic quantities until well into 2014? The Kreyos is so early in it's development that we can't even compare the battery lives.

As long as we are comparing the Pebble to non-existent products, how do we know for sure that the developers of the Pebble don't already have a 'Pebble 2' in the works that could be even better than the Kreyos? Point is, we don't, just as we don't know for certain that the Kreyos will actually see the light of day.
 
Last edited:
AstronomyiPhone

AstronomyiPhone

macrumors regular
Jun 9, 2013
156
6
Maryland
Jeremy1026 said:
I hope this isn't true. I've been waiting for a pre-order since mid-March, if they are throwing inventory into a new channel before filling their existing channels I won't be going through with my pre-order and will wait for a competitor.
Click to expand...

There are people that backed the Kickstarter project on the first day more than a year ago and opted for the color white (and even other colors that have been in production for quite a bit longer) that still don't have theirs. I've been waiting for a pre-order since mid-December and I understand your frustration, but there are people who have been waiting much longer and deserve Pebble's attention much more than Best Buy. They still have a list of about 100,000 pre-orders to fill, so I don't see why they feel like they can start selling to people who have never even heard of it before...
 
C

ceeekay

macrumors newbie
Jul 1, 2010
9
10
Jeremy1026 said:
I hope this isn't true. I've been waiting for a pre-order since mid-March, if they are throwing inventory into a new channel before filling their existing channels I won't be going through with my pre-order and will wait for a competitor.
Click to expand...

Oh - you're still waiting for a preorder watch? I'm still waiting for my watch that I pledged for on kickstarter after day 3 of their campaign, over a year ago. If someone's able to walk into a store and buy one before I even get mine, I'm going to be severely annoyed.

Pebble have utterly mismanaged this entire thing from the day they got their cash in hand.
 
lolkthxbai

lolkthxbai

macrumors 65816
May 7, 2011
1,426
489
AstronomyiPhone said:
There are people that backed the Kickstarter project on the first day more than a year ago and opted for the color white (and even other colors that have been in production for quite a bit longer) that still don't have theirs. I've been waiting for a pre-order since mid-December and I understand your frustration, but there are people who have been waiting much longer and deserve Pebble's attention much more than Best Buy. They still have a list of about 100,000 pre-orders to fill, so I don't see why they feel like they can start selling to people who have never even heard of it before...
Click to expand...

Money changes everything.
 
Chupa Chupa

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
hexonxonx said:
The watch is over priced for what it does.
Click to expand...

I bought 5 of them on Kickstarter meant as holiday gifts but we know what happened. Then I was going to give them as graduation and birthday gifts, but then the colored ones were delayed. So I decided to change my order to 4 black and one white. I put the black ones on eBay and sold 2 at $200 and 2 for $250.

Still waiting on the white, but got a ship notice yesterday.

So it seems at $150 it's priced right, and does have nice features like BT 4.0, water proof, 1 week battery. But you are, right the watch body itself it pretty junky and unpolished. If it looked nicer and not like a toy I think SDK development would make it very useful. It is nothing with out developers, no smart product can be.
 
Anonymous Freak

Anonymous Freak

macrumors 603
Dec 12, 2002
5,561
1,252
Cascadia
Jeremy1026 said:
I hope this isn't true. I've been waiting for a pre-order since mid-March, if they are throwing inventory into a new channel before filling their existing channels I won't be going through with my pre-order and will wait for a competitor.
Click to expand...

White or gray? My gray is in "processing shipment", having gotten to "please confirm your address" on June 26th.
 
H

hafr

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2011
2,743
9
The MetaWatch Frame is the only smart watch for me. It's not trying to be too much, it does what it does with no problems what so ever since the FW update before last. The design isn't fantastic but it's definitely way better than its competition (meaning it doesn't stand out by looking like a toy). The battery life is great as well, and the pricing is decent.

MetaWatch understood what the others still haven't: a watch is an accessory. No one would use the same watch when running as when going out to a restaurant, so why are they trying to sell smart watches with the selling point that you can use it at any occasion? It's just stupid. It's like trying to sell a pair of shoes that you can use at any occasion.

To the Pebble... Considering how they've treated their backers, I wouldn't touch that company with a ten feet pole even if they had a good product - which I can't really say I think they have.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom