Basis, a company backed by Intel, has announced a new smart watch compatible with iOS devices that places a focus on health and fitness applications. The device is capable of keeping track of several health-related data points, such as steps, calories, heart rate, prespiration, the temperature of your skin, and in-depth information about your sleep habits.
The Peak doesn’t yet support basic smart watch features like email and text notifications, but Basis says those functions will come in a future software update.
The company says that the device will be available by the holidays, meaning it will beat Apple’s own market entry to shelves. Pricing? $199 in either black or white finishes, which means it comes in under the Apple wearable. You can see photos and the full press release for the Peak below:
Improves Accuracy in Heart Rate Monitoring in a Sleek Touchscreen Form Factor; First Product Introduction Since Intel Acquisition
and leader in
wearable device technologies for fitness, sleep and wellness applications
Featuring a sleek new touchscreen design and
improved sensor technology, Peak provides , without the need for a chest strap
Available in November, Basis Peak will retail for $199.99 and builds upon previous Basis models to provide better performance, increased functionality and an improved physical design. In developing Peak, Basis has reengineered its optical heart rate engine with more powerful sensor design for improved accuracy and consistency. Peak also continuously monitors movement, perspiration and skin temperature. This multi-sensor approach, combined with Basis’ BodyIQ technology, enables Peak to automatically detect walking, running, biking, sleep phases, sleep quality and more. Even with these sensors working 24/7, Peak maintains a battery life of up to four days, a challenge for many other wearable devices on the market today. Peak boasts water resistance to 5ATM, enough to withstand swimming, and is capable of displaying smartwatch notifications, like incoming calls and texts, from an iOS or Android phone, a feature that will be introduced in the future.
“Since our first product, Basis has continued to set a high standard of rich data and insights for both fitness and sleep,” said Jef Holove, general manager of Basis. “Now with Peak, we’ve achieved an even higher level of performance and extended functionality, delivering an all-in-one device to help people live healthier day and night, at work or working out.”
“As we drive innovation in wearable technology, Intel is confident that the technology improvements in the next generation Basis product help deliver on that promise,” said Michael Bell, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel’s New Devices Group. “With the introduction of Peak, Basis has expanded the boundaries of what a fitness and sleep tracker can do by delivering truly actionable information and data to its users that changes and improves their daily habits.”
Next Generation Product
San Francisco – September 30, 2014 –
Basis (www.mybasis.com), an Intel company
, announced today the next
generation Basis PeakTM fitness and sleep tracker.
24/7 heart rate monitoring, including during exercise
. With Peak, Basis carries through its unique combination of automatic activity
tracking, advanced sleep analysis and a healthy habits user experience designed to enable real behavior
change, delivering the most comprehensive picture of fitness and sleep of any product in the category.
Integrating Advanced Technology in a Sleek Design
Peak incorporates extensive technology and engineering improvements while leveraging the best of
Basis’ advanced fitness and sleep tracking capabilities. Features include:
• Intelligent Activity and Sleep Tracking with BodyIQ – The intelligence built into the original Basis
fitness and sleep tracking system will carry over into Peak. This includes its BodyIQ technology, with
proprietary algorithms, that allows for automatic tracking of sleep and physical activities (walking,
running and biking) as well as Advanced Sleep Analysis which includes REM, Deep and Light Sleep,
Toss-and-Turn, Interruptions and Sleep Quality.
Premium and Customizable Design
–
Peak sports a sleek design and forged aluminum body with a
Gorilla Glass 3TM touch screen – water resistant to 5ATM – and soft breathable silicone straps that
are customizable. Basis will initially offer Peak in two options: a matte black module with black and
red-
•
accented straps, and a brushed silver module with white and gray-accented straps. Standard 23mm watch strap attachments also allow users to customize with a band of their choice.
Healthy Habits System – Not only will Peak continue to automatically track healthy activities, but it will award credit through the Basis healthy habits system, designed to help users incorporate small, healthy changes to their daily routines. Helping users set tangible goals like going to sleep at the same time each night or standing up from their desk once an hour during the day, the healthy habits system automatically adjusts based on a user’s progress to ensure that goals are reachable, and habits sustainable.
Smartwatch Notifications –
Optimized for Mobile –
Availability
Peak will be available through select U.S. retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy and REI, as well as www.mybasis.com. Peak will also be available in Canada and the UK by the holidays.
Peak is capable of displaying smartwatch notifications, including alerts
for incoming calls and texts, from an iOS or Android smartphone. This feature will be a free future
upgrade to all Peak customers, and these notification capabilities will be expanded over time. The
band is also equipped with a vibration motor for such alerts.
The Basis iOS and Android apps will power device set-up and display data
throughout the day. In addition to basic metrics such as steps, calories, and BodyIQ fitness and
sleep activities, the mobile app will display rich sleep, activity and habit insights to keep users on
track.
Previous Basis bands, including the B1 and Carbon Steel Edition, will be supported but no longer
available for purchase. User accounts and data will carry over for owners who choose to transition to
Peak for their tracking needs.
For more information about Basis Peak, accessories, free web, iOS and Android apps, and the latest
product updates, please visit: www.mybasis.com.
About Basis
Basis, an Intel company, makes advanced fitness and sleep trackers. The wrist-based trackers and
mobile dashboard help people easily incorporate healthy habits into their daily routine. Basis leverages
four types of sensors in its lightweight, customizable design to calculate steps taken, calories burned and
sleep quality, as well as physiological metrics like heart rate. Basis’ Body IQ technology automatically
captures activities like walking, running and biking as well as sleep.
Intel, the Intel logo, Basis and Peak are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
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Fitness and Sleep tracker. Not a watch. Period. Ugly as all hell too – no one will be wearing this to work or a party unless they’re a social abnormality and have zero taste.
Yep. They should hire a designer.
I’m also wondering if they could have made the screen any smaller and the bezel any bigger and any uglier.
DOA.
First paragraph – perspiration, not prespiration.
On their website, they say it’ll be 199$. Good value, IMHO
They also mention you can get up to 4 days of battery. But I wonder when are you supposed to charge it if you want to use it’s sleep monitoring features.
I charge mine while sleeping, using one of those external USB charger things; I don’t want to be plugged into the wall while I snooze.
Guess it depends how long it takes to charge. If its 1/2 hour you could charge it while your getting ready for work once a week…
What’s with the massive FUGLY-factor of all these things??!
I don’t usually say this, but that has got to be one of the ugliest devices I’ve ever laid eyes on. Whoever greenlit this abomination ought to be ashamed of themselves.
What? No, No! It’s a sleek design, it says so in their press release!
I own the previous model. The company hasn’t even yet managed to provide support for the 24-hour clock and currently has no HealthKit roadmap. If you think a software update will ever come then good luck with that.
While I had mind there was a software update at least once a month
Pricing has been revealed its $199 . I had the Bases B1 for a few months before the strap broke and I lost it (my fault, shouldn’t have wore it to a dropkicks show) Really cool device, had its flaws but it looks like this one fixes them
Peak has some potential… jack of all trades, typically, turn out to be underwhelming, though.
Plus side: 4+ days of battery life. Now we’re beginning to talk.
Minus side: ugly. Both the frame and the bracelet.
Might be pretty nice looking if they could resist the very uncontrollable urge to try and squeeze their brand on the face.
I find the design to be pretty nice, in comparison to the Apple Watch. I find Apple’s offering to be weirdly bulbous and almost too childish in terms of design. This Peak though, pretty sleek.
LOL… you can only be pitied. Greatly.
I was a early bird for the funding of basis and it was a waste of $200
there were years of delays and then when it did ship they promised a export API among other things and its been about 2 years since it shipped and we still don’t have a export API (other then the hacked together JSON grabbers the community has made)
they also failed to deliver on the promises to add more peble type notifications/smartwatch features, 3rd party app interrogations etc.
on top of all this there activities to keep you motivated haven’t changed much and are not really customizable
it was the most feature rich “smart watch” that was available for its time but now many have the same features and actual support.
avoid BASIS like the plague, even intel hasn’t been able to put a fire under there butt to support there only existing product so why believe they would properly support this one