The Apple Watch may have hardly been a raging success but that hasn’t stopped wearable rival Fitbit launching its own version yesterday.
The watch, known as Blaze, will go on sale in March for estimated price of $US199. The cheapest Apple Watch retails in Australia for about $500.
Fitbit’s Blaze continues with the company’s health theme and will feature a colour touchscreen, heart rate monitoring and alerts of incoming calls and text from a paired smartphone. The main sensor of the Blaze can also be swapped with a number of different casings and bands which Fitbit hopes will appeal to a more fashionable market and not just a sporty one.
Fitbit’s CEO James Park said of the Blaze launch: “Whereas with [Fitbit’s other wristbands] Charge HR and Surge, it was really a ‘one size fits all’ on the look, there’s going to be a heavy focus on personalisation and accessories with Blaze.”
However, not everyone’s excited about yet another wearable hitting the market. Fitbit’s share price reportedly stumbled on yesterday’s launch news. Although it is in an unenviable place trying to protect its number one status in the market.
A number of Fitbit’s rivals have plans to launch smartwatches and fitness trackers in the coming year, including watchmaker Fossil, sports giant Under Armour and phone maker HTC. Which,if anything, means the wearables crazy is a long way from dead yet.
