It’s apparently no longer enough to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve — or wrist. Under Armour’s new Armour39 ($150) system attacks the digital performance monitoring question with a new “bug” device, which comes with a special sleeve that straps to the chest; like other bluetooth-enabled fitness computers, it records exercise data and stores it in the cloud. Similar to Nike and its FuelBand ($149) bracelet, Under Armour’s device measures a proprietary metric, dubbed WILLpower, which is rated on a scale between 1 and 10 — and calculated from a variety of other data points collected such as calories burned, speed, heart rate, steps taken and intensity.
The device will also allow users to share progress through social media outlets via a companion iOS app (which will be available at launch) in addition to an Android app which is supposedly coming later, despite Nike’s decision to ignore the platform. If you’re curious about the name, it’s an homage to Under Armour’s roots and the style number for the company’s first white undershirt — 0039. It’s expected to hit shelves March 20 at a somewhat steep price of $150 for the strap and $200 for the watch accessory. At least the app is free.
Available March 2013