Advertisement

Withings enters the smartwatch fray with an ‘analogue’ wrist piece

Share

Amid the flood of recently announced smartwatches from technology giants Apple, Google and others, French electronics company Withings is releasing a classically designed analog watch with fitness-tracking features.

Withings’ Activite, which is scheduled for release in the fall, doesn’t have a digital display — rather, users can tap the watch face to switch between the analog clock and the pedometer mode.

Despite the classical watch look, the Activite measures steps taken, swimming strokes or even sleep patterns, and vibrates to notify users when they hit a fitness goal or wake up.

Advertisement

The Activite syncs with Bluetooth LE to any iOS device to change settings or record fitness information. Withings said the watch will be waterproof and have a yearlong battery life. The Activite is expected to sell for $390.

Withings is entering a crowded smartwatch market -- in addition to recent reports of Apple’s long-rumored iWatch, Google-owned Motorola is expected to showcase its Android-only smartwatch at this week’s Google I/O conference.

Though details are still scarce on Motorola’s Moto 360, the watch is expected to work with Android apps, and keyboard app developer Minuum said it was developing a keyboard-specific app for it.

The keyboard will be on the edges of the circular watch face, which Minuum says will be helpful for situations where voice-to-text recognition isn’t convenient, like in class or when trying to enter a password.

The Moto 360 is scheduled to be released this summer and should sell for around $249.

Advertisement