Amazon today launched a smart bracelet called “Halo” for health and fitness tracking, thus challenging the market leaders Apple and Fitbit. At the same time, Amazon also launched a subscription service and a smartphone application (App).
At present, the wearable device market is dominated by Apple’s Apple Watch smart watches and Fitbit devices. Fitbit was acquired by Google for US$2.1 billion last year. The transaction is still subject to regulatory approval.
Amazon’s Halo is based on these old-fashioned health tracking devices, but it also has features that have never been seen in mainstream wearable devices, including tracking the user’s emotional state by listening to the user’s tone of voice, and based on the estimated body fat percentage. Provide 3D rendering of the body.
Analysts said that Amazon’s launch of Halo is different from its previous hardware business. Amazon has been focusing on home devices such as Echo smart speakers and Fire TV streaming video devices. Although Amazon also showed off some wearable devices last fall, including wireless headphones and a set of glasses with built-in Alexa voice assistant. But Halo’s purpose is very clear. It is to get a share of the fast-growing wearable device market. This is Amazon’s first real attempt.
The research organization Gartner predicted last year that the global wearable device market will exceed US$50 billion in 2020. In addition, Amazon’s launch of Halo is also in line with Amazon’s series of efforts to enter the $3.5 trillion healthcare market.
For the launch of Halo, Amazon has been preparing for several years. Amazon’s Halo business vice president Melissa Cha (Melissa Cha) said that Amazon already has expertise in machine learning and computer vision, but to expand into the health field, it needs to recruit some new talents.
Melissa Cha said: “In order to find the best experts, we searched around the world. We found cardiologists, fitness experts, and those who spent their careers studying sleep and health. people.”
Today, Amazon also emphasized its commitment to the privacy of this new device, saying that it will not use relevant data to sell health-related products to users.
Like other smart bracelets, the basic functions of Amazon Halo include tracking physical activity, heart rate, sleep status, and skin temperature during sleep. In addition, Halo also introduced a unique “points” tracking system, which may be more effective than competitors’ products in encouraging sports.
Unlike Apple Watch and Fitbit products, consumers cannot purchase Halo separately, but can only purchase it simultaneously as part of a subscription service . Amazon said that this model can help Halo avoid the fate of many wearable devices, that is, being put in a drawer after a few months of use.
From today, consumers can purchase Halo+ 6-month subscription service at a prepaid price of $64.99 (the price of the event will rise to $99.99 in the future, and Amazon has not stated when the event will end). After the first six months of the subscription service expires, users will have to pay $3.99 a month to continue using the service.
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