Quantified Self enthusiasts are getting their fair share of excitement at CES this week. Basis first unveiled its intriguing health-tracking watch at the event last year, but after hiccups and lawsuits, the company finally launched its product on the market in November. At launch, however, the band looked great and the entire package was very promising.
Unfortunately, the company hasn’t yet launched the mobile apps that will accompany its tracking band and web dashboard, yet today the company gave a glimpse into its first app — for Android — which will be made available in March.
For those unfamiliar, Basis’ band and dashboard allows users to continuously monitor skin temperature, heart rate, motion, calories burned and sleep patterns, among other things. The watchband comes with an LCD display that shows the date and time, BlueTooth support (to be activated once the apps launch) and, most impressively, is laden with sensors.
The watch has a 3-axis accelerometer that measures sleep patterns, an optical scanner to track blood flow and heart rate, skin and ambient temperature trackers that measure heat dissipation and workout intensity, etc. The startup then uploads all this information into the cloud, applies its algorithms and allows users to view heat maps and activity patterns, and then allows them to accumulate points, unlock habits (meant to gamify the experience), and so on.
The idea behind the accompanying mobile apps is, as one would expect, to be able to view all that health data on the go. But, beyond that, it’s been unclear how the company’s mobile apps will supplement its web experience. Thanks to Basis’ demo at CES today, we’ve got a little bit more of an idea. As the startup made clear in its blog post today, its new Android app will include automatic syncing, allowing users to sync data from their bands wirelessly to their dashboard.
Users will be able to sync the app with the dashboard “automatically in the background and on-demand” so that the dashboard is always up to date. On top of that, users can view their habits and insights from their phones and receive notifications, which will alert them when they hit targets and achieve goals, or offer reminders when in need of a push in the right direction.
The app will be available for beta users “by the end of March,” and Basis says that an iOS version is “also in the works” but would give no timeframe for its release. It will likely hit sometime this summer.
Again, it’s an active week in the activity space at CES, as Basis’ announcement follows Fitbit’s launch of its new $99 Flex wristband, which gives the popular health tracking device a new form factor, taking it from clip to wrist. Find out more here.
The new product isn’t available yet, but it’s clear the space is heating up, and some of these companies are already launching multiple product lines. Meanwhile, Basis is taking its time to roll everything out. It remains to be seen whether this approach will work to its advantage. So far, we think it looks great.
Check out our big year-end list of healthtech apps, gadgets and startups here. Full review here.
