Investment of more than a year and acquisition of three startups and finally Fitbit is all set to foray into the world of smartwatches, a category dominated by likes of Apple, Samsung, Xiomi, and Fossil among others. Fitbit CEO James Park made the announcement today that company's first smartwatch – Fitbit Ionic along with first headphone – Flyer Bluetooth headphone will be available for purchase on October 1.
They have been priced at $299.95 and $129.95 respectively and would be available on all popular e-commerce portals like Amazon, Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Kohl's, Macy's, REI, and Target. Company has not said anything about India launch but one source confirmed that Fitbit Ionic will be made available in India very soon. Having solid market presence in fitness bands, with this launch Fitbit aims to acquire decent share of smartwatches market too.
Priced at $299.95, the Fitbit Ionic promise to offer five-day battery life, sleep tracking, guided workouts and music playback via Pandora or Fitbit's Music app. The device will be available in three combinations – silver grey with a blue grey band, smoke grey with a charcoal band and burnt orange with a slate blue band. In addition, customer would be able to buy Classic and Sport accessory bands for $30 a piece or leather bands for $60 each. According to reports, company will also launch its personal training app – Coach which will feature more than 90 videos and audio workouts that a consumers can subscribe for $8/month.
Going through Fitbit CEO James Park media interactions and details available on technology websites, the device is likely to be a mix of fitness band and smartwatch. Company has made the announcement about the Ionic in August last year with no release date. Ionic supports third-party applications and Fitbit OS.
