Galaxy Gear Integrates Fitness Apps, Competes With Trackers

The fitness applications available on today's announced Galaxy Gear can turn the smartwatch into a fitness tracker. See also With Its Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, Samsung Formally Enters The 'Arm Race' The Galaxy Gear, a smartwatch that connects with Samsung's Galaxy devices, will feature over 70 compatible applications, including some popular fitness apps. MyFitnessPal, an application that tracks nutrition and exercise to help users achieve fitness goals, comes pre-loaded on the Galaxy Gear. Many of the features smartphone users are accustomed to will also be available on the smartwatch, including monitoring calories; diet and exercise; tracking activity and scanning a food item’s barcode to automatically log the nutritional information. RunKeeper tracks your workouts by monitoring your distance, speed and calories burned and will be available for the Galaxy Gear. While the application displays activity, it can be inconvenient to reach for a smartphone to check progress while on a jog. Integration with smartwatches will make it easier for runners to check progress hands free in real-time. RunKeeper is already available on Pebble, one of Samsung’s competitors in the smartwatch market. The fitness tracker Runtastic Pro will also be ready for the Galaxy Gear. The application keeps track of all aspects of your workout like heart rate, types of exercise, time and training plans. For users who prefer to use native technology, the Galaxy Gear has a built-in accelerometer and pedometer, according to T3. By integrating some of the smartphone's most popular fitness applications, the Galaxy Gear positions itself as a competitor to wearable fitness trackers like Jawbone Up and Nike Fuel Band. It eliminates the need for an additional wearable devices and combines the function of a smartphone and the convenience of a fitness tracker. See also Galaxy Gear Gets Social With Integrated Apps However, with the hefty price of $299, users might not be inclined to replace their existing wearables with a smartwatch. New users, however, may be attracted to the multi-function capabilities of the Gear, such as social apps, enough to make the leap.