The HTC Grip fitness band was supposed to be released this Spring. Do you remember their fitness band being showcased earlier this year in Barcelona? Well, forget it, because although the company is still planning on releasing their fitness band, it’s going to be quite different.
HTC just confirmed that after an “extensive wear testing and user feedback.”, they have decided to push it a little bit further in 2015. A spokesperson for HTC noted that the company has – “[…] decided to align Grip with the entire product portfolio for health and fitness launching later this year.”
The exact HTC Grip fitness band model that we saw earlier this year in Barcelona will most likely be better, performance wise, and rumors have it that the company will still be shipping their product with their initial design.
The HTC Grip fitness band is being developed in partnership with Under Armour.
2015 has been an extraordinarily year for HTC. The company is tackling markets outside of their traditional medium – smartphones. Earlier this year, HTC announced their partnership with Steam, and their plans to build a virtual reality system. Also, they have plans in to develope home lifestyle products.
Their new fitness product-line might bring in some sweet revenue to the company.
The HTC Grip fitness band was supposed to cost $199, and it held a close resemblance with Nike’s Fuelband – although, it wasn’t equipped with a built-in heart sensor, and monitor, but the company promised that Grip will come with an in-built GPS-system. We don’t know if HTC will change the price, or it will remain the same.
Maybe HTC has finally realized that not featuring a heart sensor, and monitor is a deal-breaker to the majority of fitness band users. At the current moment we don’t know anything more, and hopefully, the Grip fitness band that we saw being showcased in Barcelona won’t be that much redesigned.
Here’s the official HTC statement:
Through our partnership with Under Armour, we have continued to refine our vision and approach to the health and fitness category. Our goal is to offer best-in-class products for our customers and partners. After extensive wear testing and user feedback, we have decided to align GRIP with the entire product portfolio for health and fitness launching later this year. This will be a state-of-the-art comprehensive portfolio of products for this category powered by UA RECORD. We are excited to launch this new comprehensive product suite and will share further details as we get closer to launch.