About 6 months ago, Fitbit released the Aria WIFI scale scale which competed directly with Withings. It seems Withings isn't about to play dead and has announced the Smart Activity Tracker as a direct assault to the Fitbit Ultra.
This is a crowded field and this newcomer will have to compete with the liked of the Nike Fuelbank, Lark Life, Misfit Shine. An interesting new feature the Smart Activity Tracker brings to the table is monitoring of your pulse. The device has a tiny sensor on the back that you push your finger against and within seconds, it will detect and record your heart rate. It will of course monitor your daily activity, calorie consumption (via smartphone app) and measure sleep quality.
The device will upload data via Bluetooth 4 to your smartphone which means it is portable but the new bluetooth standard also is more energy efficient which means it can run for up to 14 days between recharges.
We'll have to wait and see the full software/hardware package before judging its competitiveness but competition is always great for the consumer. At the very least, it will drive innovation and hopefully push prices down.
