The Pebble smartwatch is finally shipping. It's been a long journey to this point, but despite some lingering "kinks and issues" that will be ironed out soon, the company is today dispatching the first wave of watches to its earliest Kickstarter backers — so long as you ordered the black one, at least. Unfortunately the total number of shipments is lower than Pebble first anticipated; less than 500 watches are going out today. Why the small figure? As it races to move outbound units to its fulfillment center, Pebble says the process has been "held up by documentation at the airport."

There's also a bit of bad news for iPhone users. It seems the Pebble iOS app won't be available for download as these initial shipments arrive. "We submitted 2 weeks ago and have been responding to reviewer feedback," reads an update on Kickstarter posted today. To be clear, you'll still have access to all of Pebble's core functionality like notification alerts and music controls. But you won't be able to install new watchfaces or firmware updates until Apple gives Pebble the stamp of approval. The Android app will be available in Google Play as planned tomorrow.