The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is currently ongoing, and we’ve already seen really interesting products being released. As it’s the case every year, we have not only seen interesting smartphones, TVs and what not, but a ton of innovative, never seen before products as well. That being said, wearables are huge this year, a number of companies announced their fitness trackers and other smart wearables already, and New Balance is one of them, read on.
New Balance is a US-based footwear manufacturer which you might, or might not be familiar with, but they sure are not a tech company. They did just enter the tech sector though, thanks to their partnership with Intel. New Balance has created a Digital Sport division which will develop various tech sport devices, like various sensors for shoes and what not. New Balance has announced, during CES, that they will release an Android Wear-powered smartwatch (powered by Intel), which will essentially be their first tech gadget. All we know at this point is that the company will start selling this smartwatch during the holiday season, which means the release is still far away at this point. They’ve also mentioned that the watch will be ‘designed for runners’.
“New Balance has a 110-year heritage of product development and innovation in the running category, and, our new Digital Sport division represents our newest commitment to invest in athletes and runners around the world in their pursuit of extraordinary physical feats. Digital technology has truly revolutionized, very quickly, this industry and New Balance wants to continue to be a brand on the forefront, arming our athletes with the cutting-edge products that will help them reach peak performance,” said Rob DeMartini, President and CEO of New Balance.
What about their partnership with Intel? Well, Intel will provide chips for New Balance’s smart shoes, and we presume that other New Balance products will also going to be fueled by Intel’s chips. During the conference, the companies actually showcased glowing wristbands powered by Intel Curie, a chip that the company announced during CES 2015. This is a low-power chip created to fit and power small wearables. That is pretty much it, we’ll see what comes out of this partnership, and New Balance’s Android Wear-powered smartwatch sure sounds exciting, even though we don’t know much about it at the moment. Either way, stay tuned, we’ll report back as soon as New Balance decides to share more details.