NEW YORK, Oct 17 — While Nike took the spotlight Tuesday for its FuelBand refresh, Adidas has upped the competition with the announcement of its new smartwatch for runners.
Unveiled at GigaOm’s Mobilized conference in San Francisco, the miCoach Smart Run uses GPS mapping to track runs and monitors heart rate from the wrist – something Nike’s new FuelBand SE can’t do. Also, users can listen to their favourite tunes and receive real-time coaching using the colour touch-screen running watch. Plus since the watch works as an all-in-one device, you won’t need to sync to an app to analyse data.
To improve your distance or speed, the miCoach Smart Run also features interval training to guide you along during your runs. Vibrations can alert you to when it’s time to slow down or speed up, or users of a Bluetooth headset can receive vocal alerts.
Slated to go on sale in the US on Nov 1 via adidas.com, the watch sells for a steep US$399 (RM1,261) – that’s US$250 more than the Pebble smartwatch and Nike’s FuelBand SE. Announcements for global release dates are pending.
