Razer Delays Developer Preview of Nabu, Wants to Make Sure its Hypoallergenic

We came away from CES back in January, looking forward to the release of the Razer Nabu smartband. It seemed like the perfect mix of notifications and fitness tracking, made by a computer company which most people hold in very high regard. It was stated at CES that the Nabu would likely be launched to a group of developers for an extremely attractive price of just $49.99 starting in Q1, however, as of this morning that timeframe has been pushed back. 

Razer states that they are going through rigorous testing with the material of the Nabu, making sure it is fully certified hypoallergenic – meaning it will not cause any skin rashes or irritations if worn for any period of time.

It’s no surprise companies want to make sure their products won’t cause allergic reactions. After the situation we saw from the Fitbit Force, you can guarantee that no one would want to make that same mistake. Besides, late May or early June isn’t all that far away. They just have to hope that Android Wear doesn’t somehow swoop all of their would-be developers and customers.

Here is the full statement below.

Dear Developer,

We are delaying the launch of the Razer Nabu Developer units from previously announced end-Q1 to late May / early June. The reason for this is because we are currently engaging medical professionals to run stringent tests to ensure the Nabu is fully certified hypoallergenic by the time it gets on your wrists. We want to be sure our device can be worn worry-free of skin irritations.

If you are receiving this message, please also take it as confirmation that your application is being reviewed by our Developer Relations team, and when the device is ready, we will be reaching out to you with next steps on how to purchase it at developer price.

We appreciate your patience and thank you for your interest in our wearable. We’re excited to get it out to you as fast as we can.

Razer