Coming off the announcement of the new Nike FuelBand earlier this week, another big shoe maker brand is throwing its hat into the wearable technology ring. Adidas announced at the GigaOm Mobilize conference in San Francisco that it plans to release a fitness tracker device all its own.
Paul Gaudio, the vice president in charge of Adidas' interactive division made the announcement promising a device with a GPS connection, Bluetooth connectivity and a heart rate sensor that will track athlete's performance and provide feedback and heart rate training guidance through the watch's screen, a vibration or through headphones, according to GeekWire, via NBC News.
Unlike many other smartwatches on the market today, Adidas' device doesn't require or rely on the user to have a smartphone with them in order to augment the watch's features. The device will carry a flash storage for music that is built in. Since you won't have your smartphones music library to work from, you can upload files to your smartwatch and listen to them there while you work out.
In relation to other smartwatches, like the Samsung Galaxy Gear, which are built to send notifications and take phone calls, the Adidas smartwatch is aiming to be more for working out than augmenting a smartphone's capabilities.
"We're not trying to make the best smartwatch," Gaudio said. "We're trying to make the best running watch."
It might still be a hard sell as the device is slated to cost $399, almost $250 more than the Nike FuelBand SE. While the Adidas watch will offer several things that the Nike watch will not, it might not be enough of an upgrade to merit the significantly heftier price tag.
The watch is set to release to the public on Nov. 1, however it is unclear where in the world it will be available and at what retailers.
