Basis by Intel launches the Peak fitness tracker

Basis has been regarded as one of the best OEMs for fitness trackers with the affordable Basis fitness band which could automatically detect when you were moving and could track sweat output, heat dissipation, blood flow and heart rate. A little over six months ago, Basis was acquired by Intel and has just announced the Peak fitness tracker, the first designed through a cooperative effort of Intel and Basis.

Intel has reinforced tech enthusiasts at the Intel Developers Forum that the company would be putting in more effort in the development of wearable devices like smartwatches and virtual reality headset, and the Basis fitness tracker seems to be the first such attempt from the company. Intel also has the MICA smart bracelet in development as well, but that is designed to be a luxury accessory for notifications, whilst the Basis fitness tracker is just that – a fitness tracker.

The Peak from Basis has a whole range of sensor that will work together with an Android or iOS app to help you keep track of your movement and fitness. The Basis Peak tracker can track movement, heat dissipation, sweat output, blood flow and heart rate, just like its predecessor, the B1 Basis fitness band. The Basis Peak fitness tracker makes use of an improved optical heart rate sensor, so that it wouldn’t make any signal noises while in motion. The Peak also offer sleep tracking, being able to distinguish between sleep cycles as well as monitor your movement throughout the night.

The Peak also features a Bluetooth LE radio, so that it can also show incoming calls and texts, and notifications from your fitness applications, making the tracker act like a smartwatch, too. Basis said that they would like to add even more apps to the fitness tracker so they will be opening up the API of the device to developers soon. This time around, Basis included a touchscreen and a better design for their wearable, as well as a $200 price tag.

The Basis Peak sports a 23 mm watchband made out of silicone, allowing you to swap it out with any 23 mm watchband of your preference. Basis says that the tracker will last for up to 4 days on a single charge and it is water resistant (5ATM). The Basis fitness tracker will be available starting in October, and will be widely available in November. The down-side of this endeavor is that the predecessor of the Basis Peak will not be able to access the redesigned app created for the Peak.