Low-key launch as Apple Watch finally goes on sale

EARLY ADOPTER: Customer Tomoyoshi Fujimura setting up his Apple Watch, which is to be paired with his iPhone, after buying it at an electronics store in Tokyo.

TOKYO: The Apple Watch launched globally today (April 24) with a small queue of Japanese tech-addicts lining up in Tokyo for Apple Inc's first wearable gadget, but there was no sign of the excitement usually attached to the company's product rollouts. 

Buyers can take the smartwatch home from a handful of upscale boutiques and department stores, including The Corner in Berlin, Maxfield in Los Angeles and Dover Street Market in Tokyo and London, which Apple courted to help position the watch as a fashion item.