Adidas Smart Watch (Image credit: SlashGear)
Just 24 hours after Nike unveiled its new FuelBand SE fitness wristband, its age old rival Adidas has brought out the big guns with a new all-in-one Smart Watch.
Unveiled today and going on sale on November 1, the Smart Watch (it's unclear whether that's the official name) appears to offer a more complete solution for runners and athletes and does not require the device to be hooked up to a smartphone or tablet app.
The $400 (UK price TBC, but the rough translation is £250) watch features integrated GPS for route tracking, a heart-rate sensor which works by measuring the pulse in the user's wrist, and movement sensors.
The Smart Watch is, according to a SlashGear report, capable of creating personalised training programs, just like the company's other miCoach devices and applications. Those routines will offer on screen and audio prompts, presumably when it wants you to pick up or slow the pace.
As this is a standalone device, rather than a smartphone app, there's also a built in media player, which means users can load the watch with their own tunes, while also sending it wirelessly to a paid of Bluetooth earphones.
There's also Wi-Fi connectivity, an accelerometer and the ability to synchronise with the online miCoach fitness platform where users can record their performances and also choose from tons of workouts prepared by Adidas and the community of users.
The device is water resistant, but only when it comes to rain and sweat rather than swimming, while it's also got a touchscreen UI controlled by swipes up and down and side to side, much like the watch-face-like iPod nano devices.
Battery life when GPS, Bluetooth music and all of the sensors are in use is listed at about 8 hours, but there's also a 'marathon mode' that cuts down on the fitness tracking to enough of an extent to get you through the entire race.
Adidas told SlashGear, which enjoyed hands on time with the device judging by its coverage today, that is "not trying to make a smartwatch per se, but the smartest running watch."
Nike FuelBand SE, launched earlier this week, offers a functionality much similar to the existing device, but allows users to specify what kind of work out they're engaging in. That device requires data to be recorded back to the company's Nike smartphone apps.
We'll bring you more on the Adidas Smart Watch when UK availability is confirmed.
