IFA 2014 : Garmin’s Fitness Tracker Vivosmart Comes With Smartwatch Capabilities
Fitness trackers have created their own niche market in the tech industry. While they are small, easy to manage and minimalistic than most smartwatches, they are also seem restricted to certain features.
At the ongoing IFA 2014, Garmin, popular in-car navigation systems maker, has introduced a new wearable device that combines the communication features of a smartwatch with the fitness-centric capabilities of an activity tracker. The Vivosmart does what typical activity trackers do best, along with which it borrows some of the key features typically found in smartwatches.
Unlike its predecessor, Vivofit, Vivosmart can also receive notifications from your smartphone for everything from social media updates to emails and text messages, all displayed on the device’s horizontal screen. You can also use the Vivosmart to control your smartphone’s music player.
Vivosmart has a hidden OLED display which light ups with a double tap. A finger swipe on the display rotates through various customizable display pages, like the fitness-focused ones. The Vivosmart is waterproof up to about 50 meters and is fueled to get up to 7 days of battery life.
It also tracks your sleep, based on movement, and offers daily reports on how much time you spent moving vs being still. In fact, through the Garmin Connect app, all your activity data gets translated into easier-to-understand charts and graphs.
None of the fitness trackers from the likes of Jawbone or Fitbit, two of the biggest names in fitness bands, can do this, giving the Vivosmart a huge advantage over its rivals. The Vivosmart goes on sale in mid-September exclusively at Best Buy for $169 or $199, it is already up for pre-order.
