The wearable technology market is heating up, thanks to the likes of Samsung’s new Gear 2 line and of course, the looming onslaught of Android Wear devices this summer. New players are entering the field all the time and crowdfunding – as seen with the Exetech XS-4 – seems to be the way a lot of these projects are going, after all that’s how the Pebble was bought to life. Industry stalwarts however, have mostly been biding their time, with the exception of Sony and Samsung of course. Acer, now known for producing budget Android tablets and Chromebooks, bizarrely chose not to join the Android Wear project. That isn’t going to stop them entering the wearable arena however, as reports are that their first piece of wearable tech is to launch later this year.
According to China Post, Acer is readying a smartband of sorts to be launched later this year. As you might expect, the device is pegged to work with your smartphone or tablet as any other fitness tracker type device would, but Acer appears to have other plans for the device as well. According to the reports, Acer is to partner with fitness centers and hospitals to launch the smartband as part of a larger ecosystem. There’s no telling what Acer is up to right now, but we have a feeling that the company has their eye on launching some sort of overall health program that users can tap into to work on their fitness and be evaluated at local centers that have joined the program.
It all sounds pretty interesting, but with no word on exactly what the device is, and when it’ll launch we’ll just have to wait and see. We’re sure that Acer is aware that going it alone without Google’s new Android Wear initiative will take some doing, so we’re hoping the company has something pretty special up their sleeve.