AppleInsider Staff
Fitness tracking hardware and software firm Misfit on Tuesday announced Flash, a reworking of the company's Shine activity monitor designed for durability and a more attractive price of entry.
According to Misfit, Flash is a complete reimagining of its original Shine activity monitor, which launched in 2013 as the company's first product. The new fitness monitor offers the same fitness and tracking capabilities as Shine, but at half the price.
The most apparent design departure is the switch from an aluminum chassis to a structure made from polycarbonate and wrapped in "soft touch" thermoplastic polyurethane. While the circular shape remains unchanged, Flash is thicker to accommodate a new push button physical user interface. The device can be placed anywhere on the body using clasps and wrist straps, while the new chassis material brings new bright neon color options.
Unlike Shine, which uses an accelerometer to detect and translate taps into controls, the entire front face of Flash is a large input button. Accumulated motion and time is displayed by 12 red LEDs that shine through the polyurethane covering.
Internally, components are largely the same, with motion tracking sensors, a button cell battery and waterproof seals good down to 30 meters. Like the Shine, Flash also tracks sleep quality and connects to the Misfit iOS app via Bluetooth 4.0.
Today's announcement comes one week after Misfit debuted a developer toolkit in hopes of bringing connected fitness trackers and wellness apps together with a single unified platform.
Flash is scheduled to launch in October at Best Buy, Target, Amazon, Walmart and other partner retailers for $50, while preorders go live today through Misfit's website.
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65 Comments
Hmmm looks very familiar...oh wait.
At least that's modern- no Scott Forstall-like "scroll wheel" aka digital crown.
These are the kind of devices that ultimately will cease to exist thanks to Apple Watch. Yes, I'm aware Apple Watch will not track your sleep (but neither will this gadget when u take it off to charge it)....my point is, single function $49 wearables have no future whatsoever.
Maybe it's just because of last week's keynote, with all the references to "most personal" products... but on the face of it, "Misfit" seems a horribly miscalculated brand name for a wearable.
(Yes, I know the intended reference well, no need to remind me of "Santa Claus is Coming To Town"...)
Of all the product names, they have decided on a name that Apple choose to not support on the iPhone.
I'm going my new Android tablet... wait for it... "Camry"