adidas has announced the launch of its miCoach Smart Run watch, designed to work with its existing range of web and mobile coaching products, to hit stores on 1 November.
Launched more than a year after the Nike+ Fuelband, which has a new version ready to pre-order, the company is hoping to capitalise on the numbers of people already using miCoach training products. Training plans and completed workouts are automatically synced with its free miCoach platform, a process that took a few clicks with the early Fuelband system. adidas also has apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 – but Nike is yet to offer an Android app for its users.
While Nike has not taken its relaunch opportunity to add a heart rate monitor to the new Fuelband SE, the adidas watch monitors the user’s heart rate from their wrist, as well as offering GPS mapping and an accelerometer to track exercise. The watch also has an MP3 player and works with Bluetooth so runners can use a wireless headset to listen to music or hear coaching commands. Guidance also comes from vibrations or the watchs 1.45 inch color touch screen.
But the adidas smartwatch comes with a significantly higher price tag – costing $399 (£249), compared to just £129 for the new Nike Fuelband SE.
Jawbone, iHealth, Garmin and Withing are among those trying to get in on this lucrative mHealth opportunity, which is estimated by Juniper to be worth $19bn (£11.9bn) by 2018.