Sony have just made launched their next endeavour into wearable smart devices with the SmartBand, a flexible fitness tracker that’s designed to pair with smartphone using Bluetooth via NFC to log health statistics.
The SmartBand is being touted by the company as a 24/7 wearable device. The company has stated that the Smartband is waterproof and while initially available only in black, more vibrant colours will be made available at a later date still to be announced. There will also be a special edition version of the Smartband which will be available in time to help celebrate the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The SmartBand, will interact with the LifeLogging app which will be available to download from Google Play, when the device is launched. The App will automatically record users physical, social and entertainment activities. In the app, users can look at any given day to see just how active they were and how they have been communicating with their world around them.
The heart of the SmartBand is the removable Core – which was first introduced back at CES – which contains advanced sensor technology that feels the users every movement and sends this data to compatible smartphones.
The Lifelogging app is also being touted as being able to help users set their activity goals and monitor their progress within the app. Lifelog will also let users know what the weather is going to be like the next day. LifeLog also has a Smart alarm feature which tracks body movements of the user, calculate and measure and then communicate with the SmartBand to then wake you up at the best time based on your sleep cycle gently vibrating to bring you out of your sleep.
There is also a Life bookmarks feature within Lifelog, which when the Life Bookmark key the SmartBand is pressed, everything going on at that moment is caught and remembered forever. Specific details surrounding how this feature will work aren’t available at the moment but will become clearer at launch.
The SmartBand and Lifelog app do require Android 4.4, which leaves only a small minority of the Sony Xperia range and indeed only a small range of Android devices in general according to last months Android distribution numbers. Phones and tablets launched at todays event – the Xperia M2, Xperia Z2 and Z2 Tablet – will of course be compatible.
Sony Mobile Australia have released a press release about the LifeLog and SmartBand from Sony, in which it does state:
SmartBand will be available to Australians though Sony direct channels including Sony Centres, Sony kiosks and Sony Store online.
With the Smartwatch 2, Sony is certainly expanding their wearables product line whether the SmartBand and Lifelog will help the company gain further traction in this space is something we can’t wait to see.
Would you consider buying the SmartBand and using the Lifelog App with it? Do you think Sony can stay ahead of the smart wearable devices?
No heart rate monitor built in? Disappointing for sure.
still no release date wish they can release this soon