Jawbone has updated the ship date for the UP3 activity tracker, informing pre-order customers and prospective buyers that the wearable gadget will start heading out to U.S. buyers on April 20. The UP3 tracker, announced in November 2014, faced numerous delays, and cited manufacturing problems with an initial apology made back in February. Today, Jawbone cites problems with water resistance as the specific cause.
Jawbone says it originally intended to ship “within a few weeks” of the announcement of the device, but noticed problems achieving the desired level of water resistance (resistant to 10 meters of total submersion) when it scaled up manufacturing to mass production.
Subsequent testing and attempts to achieve production at scale with that level of water resistance didn’t bear fruit, unfortunately, so Jawbone has instead opted to ship on April 20 with a water resistance more or less on par with many other trackers, which is to say it’s splash proof and fine in the rain, while washing your hands and even in the shower, but not for activities like swimming.
If the swimming component was a key reason you wanted an UP3, Jawbone is accepting pre-order cancellations without charge. The April 20 date is roughly in time with Jawbone’s projections back in February, it’s worth noting, but having to drop that water resistance rating is certainly a blow.
Initial shipments will target U.S. buyers first, with international availability set to begin rolling out later this year.