Intel has announced a second wearable device in as many weeks, with the first smartwatch to emerge from its purchase of Basis back in March.
Update: Intel Basis Peak now official
Intel's been going hell for leather at the wearable market since CES, and its latest project is the Basis Peak, which was outed at the Intel Developer’s Forum in San Francisco. Basis has led the way in biometric sensing, and the B1 Band is one of the best wrist-worn sleep trackers money can buy – and the Basis Peak wraps all that tech together into the body of a smartwatch.
The competition: Best smartwatches in the world
The futuristic looking heart rate sensor on the back is designed to monitor sleep and activity, and it looks as if Intel is going toe-to-toe with the Apple Watch based on the quality of data this wearable can collect.
Intel exec Mike Bell (who spent 16 years on the board at Apple) told developers gathered at IDF that Intel would be opening up the Basis Peak’s technology to encourage third parties to use the data captured by the band’s sensors.
“We want to provide a common way to use these devices and for developers to take these common building blocks and turn them into reality," Bell said, before joking that "the back of our device looks even better than the front of others."
For all Intel’s previous failures in terms of trend spotting, the silicon giant has quickly realized that looks define the wearable market.
The company has just announced a collaboration with Fossil, and last week revealed the $1,000 Intel MICA which is made of snakeskin and precious stones.
The Basis Peak looks to have been given a serious makeover from the previous Basis band, which had all the design chic of a Sanyo microwave.
While Apple's entry into the wearable market is likely to cause headaches for the likes of Intel, the Apple Watch doesn't look as if it's going to be best suited to serious fitness types; this hands an opportunity to the likes of Basis to get things right.
Don’t forget to read our round ups of the best smartwatch and the best fitness trackers.
Source: PC Pro
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.