Fitbit, the San Francisco based fitness tracker company, today unveiled its first mainstream product since January 2015 in the form of the Alta. This new wearable seems to be the company’s effort to return the market in favour of itself.
The all new Alta comes with all the standard Fitbit functions including activity tracking, sleep tracking, move reminders, a clock and smartphone notifications. The only thing the newbie lacks is a heart-rate monitor. It also supports the ability to switch bands which you can buy in a variety of different styles.
The Alta will be available in North America at $130 from March, the company said. The worldwide rollout is expected to be somewhere down in April. Additional swappable bands in different colours and textures will be available for $30, $60 and $100.
The last major mainstream product shipped by Fitbit was the Charge HR. It was announced in October 2014 and shipping began early in January last year. While the device vastly resembled the previous flagship, Charge, there were a few differences like the addition of a heart-rate monitor and a calorie counter. Another difference was the significant reduction in battery life due to the new additional features.
Fitbit’s previous line of products propelled the company to the top of the list of wearables’ firms, beating the likes of Apple and Xiaomi. But it has been quite a while since we saw any new devices from this American firm.
The company also started shipping its products in India, exclusively through Amazon, since July 2015. Fitbit, though, isn’t the only company flaunting its low-cost variables in the subcontinent. Rivals like Micromax’s Yu and China’s Xiaomi have been constantly providing heavy competition to the company.
The new launch comes in just weeks after Fitbit announced the $200 Blaze at the CES 2016. The Blaze is, by far, the company’s most advanced as well as powerful device but competition has still been fierce in the market.
