Fitbit is getting more involved in the smartwatch market with the introduction of its Surge wristband for athletes.
The fitness tracker is receiving a lot of hype already with the San Francisco, California-based company saying it is more advanced than the typical "wearable," and has called it a "superwatch," according to The Verge.
With Surge, athletes will have access to GPS tracking and will be able to monitor their heart rate, calories burned, distance traveled, steps and time spent being active. Users will also be able to keep track of how long they sleep, and can use a silent vibrating alarm to wake up. The device can also record running, cross training, cardio workouts and other activities, in addition to providing workout summaries that include levels of intensity and calories burned.
Fitbit says Surge can be worn all day, despite its bigger size compared to other smartwatches, CNET reported.
Wearers will also be able to receive call and text notifications, control music and sync fitness data with the Fitbit app on their smartphones.
Fitbit plans to make Surge available in the coming weeks for $249, according to The Verge. Consumers will have three color options: black, slate and tangerine.
Surge is one of three fitness trackers that Fitbit plans to release in the near future. The other two are the Charge, which is intended to be a new and improved Fitbit Force, and the Charge HR, which will be able to work with the company's PurePulse wrist-based heart rate monitoring system.
