Fitbit pins hopes on UK athletes as it launches Surge smartwatch

06.02.2015
Fitbit, the fitness wearable taking the US stock markets by storm, has chosen the UK as the first market in Europe to sell its new smartwatch, the Fitbit Surge.

Fitbit's wearable products, which work in conjunction with a smartphone, track an individual's health and fitness through the day.

Until now, Fitbit has focused on developing wristband-like devices but the Surge device can be described as a smartwatch.

The San Francisco-headquartered company, cofounded by James Park and Eric Friedman, describes the Surge device as a "fitness super watch" that can help people to train smarter.

The device - retailing at £199.99 and available in black, blue and tangerine - syncs with mobile devices to show route history and workout summaries.

While training, Fitbit Surge users will be able to see who is contacting them on their mobile and control the music being played through their smartphone.

The device's backlit touchscreen display shows users their real time training stats and allows them to navigate between multiple workout apps.

It comes with a built-in GPS that delivers stats such as pace, distance, elevation and split times. It also has an accelerometer, gyroscope, digital compass, optical heart rate monitor, altimeter, ambient light sensor and a touch screen.

The battery on the smartwatch is said to last for up to seven days.

The company did not reveal why it chose to launch the smartwatch in the UK first.

In addition to the Surge, Fitbit also announced today that it is shipping the Fitbit ChargeHR wristband across Europe.

"With Fitbit Charge HR and Fitbit Surge, features like heart rate tracking are made simpler by being continuous and automatic so the technology works no matter what you're doing and the experience is seamless yet powerful, giving users valuable all day health insights," said James Park, CEO and Co-Founder of Fitbit.

Fitbit is also behind the Fitbit Charge, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit Zip and Fitbit One activity trackers, as well as the Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale.

(www.techworld.com)

Sam Shead