Garmin new activity tracking wristband adds features

Garmin International has a new wristband activity tracker that also nudges you with reminders if you’ve been a couch potato for too long.

The Vivosmart wrist band is scheduled to go on sale in mid-Sepember in Best Buy stores at a suggested price of $169.99, or $199.99 for a unit that offers additional monitoring capabilities, the Olathe-based company said. It is available for pre-orders at BestBuy.com.

Garmin said it will announce additional stores and online availability in November in advance of the holiday shopping season.

The product has a curved, waterproof wristband and a battery life of up to seven days. The touchscreen displays time of day, steps, distance, calories, a goal countdown and a “move bar” that has five segments that begin to fill in after one hour of inactivity.

The Vivosmart can be synched with the Garmin Connect smartphone app. It was designed with a vibrating alert for calls, texts, calendar reminders, emails and more. The alert also “encourages users to stay consistently active throughout the day,” Garmin said in its announcement.

The Vivosmart is the latest in Garmin’s line of activity trackers, which includes the Vivofit.

“With its activity tracking features, additional workout support including timed activities, and smart notifications, Vivosmart is like having a personal coach and assistant right on your wrist,” Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales, said in a statement.

The Star

This story was originally published September 5, 2014 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Garmin new activity tracking wristband adds features."