Somewhere along the line, Samsung decided that people are health fanatics, that most of us exercise every day and we love to monitor everything that we do – number of steps we take, how far we walked/ran, how fast we were going, our pulse rate, the number of calories burned, etc. Samsung made it known at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that they would collaborate with BMW, Kidobot and Trek Bikes to use both companies’ products to enhance the user experience. Today, Samsung and Trek Bikes made it official and Samsung’s Global Marketing, IT & Mobile Communications executive vice president Younghee Lee said in a statement on Samsung’s official blog:
“Fitness and wellness are important parts of people’s lives, and Samsung is continuously focused on integrating meaningful features into our smart mobile devices. Through our collaboration with Trek, we will be able to better understand the needs of cyclists to enhance their interaction with mobile devices and enable athletes and fans to stay connected and active in their daily lives.”
This global partnership will not just include cyclists that race, but also the casual rider – helping to support a healthy lifestyle, but also simply to add enjoyment to the sport. Samsung will work with the Trek Factory Racing Team, as they will integrate Samsung mobile devices to try to improve their overall efficiency and in turn, incorporate that information into future Samsung product development. Samsung will provide the Trek team, coaches and staff with its mobile devices, including the Galaxy S5 smartphone and the Gear products – Gear, Gear 2, Gear Fit – and even tablets to help with Trek’s training. Joe Vadeboncoeur, Vice President of Product Development and Marketing at Trek says:
“Trek shares the vision of bringing new technology to sport, and we are excited to join forces with Samsung on this strategic alliance. We believe the innovation of Samsung’s mobile technology will transform the riding experience for professional cycling teams and consumers around the world.”
Samsung is certainly taking a keen interest in the health of their users and incorporating it into our mobile experience – whether we want them to or not – the new Galaxy S5 included a Heart Rate Monitor and they have a robust S Health 3.0 application, along with HRM capabilities to use in conjunction with their mobile device’s fitness features. I am not one of the ‘fitness junkies’ and do not want bloatware (to me) or unnecessary expenses for health monitoring electronics on my smartphone…please hook up with us on our Google+ Page and let us know how you feel about Samsung’s ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ obsession with our fitness…as always, we would love to hear from you.