Fitbit's Smartwatch is going to be Iconic

In the evolution of wearables, Fitbit has invested considerably in its latest product, a long-awaited rival to the Apple Watch. It's make or break time for this kind of a device, and this autumn we'll know if Fitbit has a future in doing this, read on.

If the Apple Watch is a neat gadget, Fitbit's Ionic is must-have for the health conscious geek.

If you can stomach the $300 price tag, it's going to be able to do a lot of good stuff and will hit stores in three colors as of October. #FitbitIonic

 The smartwatch represents years of R&D and millions of dollars in acquisitions converging into one product. - Tech Crunch

The Ionic even has its own pair of earbuds. This is health monitoring innovation at a scale we've not yet seen before.

Over the past couple of years, Fitbit has made an important pivot, acquiring Pebble, Coin and Vector — all to culminate in this product, a next-gen smartwatch that puts it all together as we know Fitbit can.

As consumers, we might be fickle for a an idea that didn't take - the wearable device. Just like VR, it's partly a price barrier that's to blame, but Fitbit knows their audience as well as anyone and this is their best shot.

We live in a mobile world sure, but how much do we care about our health? If a consumer can get a smart speaker for approximately one tenth of the price? It looks good though:

As Apple moves in on health, this is Fitbit's last chance perhaps to prove it can be ubiquitous again as a beautiful holiday gift. But, can it rival Apple Watch's exclusivity and voice interface?

Fitbit has lost traction in a shrinking market that has seen both Apple and Chinese tech Giant Xiaomi overtake it. The rather large and clunky screen, however, comes with some pretty significant features.

We’re using nano molding technology, which only had been seen before in larger devices like phones. The fact that we now have a pretty advanced optics system with three wavelengths of light, third party apps, really amazing GPS performance, contact list payments, all with four days battery life. Yeah, that was a lot of work. - Fitbit CEO James Park 

• Next-Gen Fitness Tracking
• Improved heart-rate monitor
• Payments (e.g. Visa)
• Superior Battery life (around 4 days)
• Color LCD touch screen
• Admirable GPS
• Third-party apps (more to come)
• Water-resistant (swimming is a go)

Fitbit has recorded, 79 trillion steps, five billion nights of sleep and 160 billion hours of exercise in its decade-long existence.

Health Data's Bright Future

While it's difficult to say how this competes with Apple and Samsung, it's admirable to see Fitbit still around innovating and doing important R&D around the intersection of health and consumer data. Its personal coach, signature app, and third party app ecosystem is certainly evolving. How we track our health data in real time is still important.

In fact, that data is so valuable I could see Fitbit being acquired in 2018, I would say don't be surprised if Amazon, Humana or even Facebook were tempted. Fitbit's stocks are getting to the point it's making more sense.

From monitoring our exercise routines to our sleep, being in tune with our health promises to reach beautiful levels of integration in the golden age of personal data that's on the horizon. It's very tempting to make this a priority.

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