Fitbit Sticks With Microsoft, Adopts Cortana on New Fitbit Surge
While the Microsoft Band has been taking the headlines of most tech sites with positive reviews, Fitbit has been waging war against Apple over the last couple of weeks. Fitbit had first shied away from Apple's Healtkit platform, which the Cupertino company responded by pulling away Fitbit devices from its Apple stores.
Snubbing Apple's HealthKit platform was a move Fitbit could afford since the company is by far the top fitness band manufacturer with a 69 percent market share. Teaming with Apple using the HealthKit platform would only hurt its market share as their devices could potentially only be usable with the iOS ecosystem.
Only recently, Fitbit had officially revealed a new watch called the Surge alongside two new fitness trackers, the Charge and the Charge HR. The Surge will sell for $249.99 and fatures a built-in GPS, motion sensors, a heart rate monitor, and battery life of up to seven days. Much like most smartwatches in the market, the Surge can also act as a smartphone remote control and notifications hub.
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Adding to the new line of Fitbit wearables, the company has also announced its integration of the Windows Phone app with Cortana, Microsoft's voice assistant. The move is to be used for tracking daily activities and food intake.
While Fitbit is currently watching out over rivals like Jawbone, the release of the Microsoft Band and the integration of Cortana with the Fitbit line of bands could be the thing that could threaten Apple's position on the wearables market, especially since the Apple Watch is still months away from release.
