HTC takes aim at Fitbit and Jawbone with the Grip exercise tracker
Remember that weird day at CES when HTC announced that it was partnering up with Under Armour, the fitness gear brand that would later buy popular health apps MyFitnessPal and Endomondo? Well, now we know what they've been working on together: Meet the HTC Grip, a black-and-green fitness tracker you wear on your wrist.
Yes, we're not entirely sure why either. The Taiwanese company is making quite a bit of noise about branching out into different hardware categories, even when it arguably should work on nailing its smartphone business. It doesn't help that the formula is an incredibly familiar one -- there's a seriously crazy number of companies trying to make money by slapping glorified pedometers onto our wrists. Thankfully, HTC's angle involves a few new tricks that just might make it a serious contender in a super-saturated market.
There's a GPS module tucked away inside that two-tone chassis for capturing all your runs, and the company claims that all of the data it collects about you -- your calories burned, your reps, when you workout -- will get stored in Under Armour's new Record fitness database. Sure, why not. More importantly, the Grip has a curved, touch-sensitive P-OLED display to show you the time and just how far you've actually run today. (Pro tip: It's probably not enough.) Throw in the ability to connect to certain external accessories like heart rate monitors -- though not AMP+-compatible ones -- and you've got an awfully feature-packed bracelet. Just be wary of leaving that GPS on for too long: The Grip'll only stay alive for about five hours if that's the case, a figure that balloons to two and a half days when location tracking is turned off.
Interest piqued? We're not sure we can blame you. The HTC Grip will set you back $199 when it hits the United States (and apparently nowhere else for a while) this spring.
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