Roger Fingas
Fitness gear maker Polar on Tuesday annoucned a new fitness tracker, the A360, which offers features like a color touchscreen, a heart rate monitor, and iPhone notifications.
The A360 is waterproof and designed to be worn 24 hours a day, automatically tracking steps, sleep patterns, and estimated calories burned. Though it syncs with HealthKit, Google Fit, and some other apps, detailed analysis is handled mostly through an iOS and Android app called Polar Flow, which also has a companion Web service that can be used to share data with coaches and trainers. The A360 can further guide wearers through workouts and reaching daily goals, and is compatible with Polar Club group workouts.
iPhone owners can receive vibrating notifications of calls, messages, calendar events, social media updates. Android notifications are coming, but are only promised towards the end of November.
One of the more notable features is battery life, since the device can last up to two weeks on a single charge, assuming an hour of training per day on top of regular tracking. Many fitness trackers last no more than a week, and smartwatches often last just a single day.
The A360 should ship sometime earlier next month at a price of $200, with silicone bands in white, black, blue, pink, and neon green. Polar is promising more colors "soon," and that changeable wristbands in all colors and sizes will go on sale in January.
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6 Comments
Just curious - why a screen at all? Why not just a band with an app?
I'll take one.
Just curious - why a screen at all? Why not just a band with an app?
Hey pax, not sure this is where you are going but, being able to see your HR at anytime during a certain type of workout can be important.
E.g., while running if you stay in an aerobic zone, you are burning fat as your fuel. I'm 57, my aerobic zone is ~123 (180-57age=123HR) It's hard to keep my HR that "low" while running trails and hills. If I go over that HR my body switches to anaerobic which means I'm now using sugar in my blood to fuel my run. I want to avoid that because I don't want to be sucking down sugary sports drinks and goo's to keep up my blood sugar after only 90 minutes of running.
Long explanation, sorry.
P.S. I could see Apple making a more simple band than the AppleWatch for athletes similar to this in the future. Rather, how they cornered the MP3 market with the classic iPod and later introduced the flash based iPod Shuffle and took the rest of the market.
Anyway, best.
I think it's 220 minus your age. So your aerobic zone would be 163.
[quote name="christopher126" url="/t/189634/polar-announces-a360-fitness-tracker-with-heart-rate-sensor-iphone-notification-support#post_2793455"]Hey pax, not sure this is where you are going but, being able to see your HR at anytime during a certain type of workout can be important. E.g., while running if you stay in an aerobic zone, you are burning fat as your fuel. I'm 57, my aerobic zone is ~123 (180-57age=123HR) It's hard to keep my HR that "low" while running trails and hills. If I go over that HR my body switches to anaerobic which means I'm now using sugar in my blood to fuel my run. I want to avoid that because I don't want to be sucking down sugary sports drinks and goo's to keep up my blood sugar after only 90 minutes of running. Long explanation, sorry. P.S. I could see Apple making a more simple band than the AppleWatch for athletes similar to this in the future. Rather, how they cornered the MP3 market with the classic iPod and later introduced the flash based iPod Shuffle and took the rest of the market. Anyway, best. [/quote] Thanks for that. (I am interested in the details so not too long a reply). And I guess it is obvious that you need to read your HR at a glance. My thought was that this was a sensor band for use with a smart watch. I was thinking someone ought to bring out a sensor band with advanced sensors that beams the info directly to an ?watch. Maybe this even exists?Personally I don't go running so I am not in the market. I do my workout in the gym with weights, mostly. I do walk a lot but it is hard to make that strenuous :)