HTC Grip fitness band launch delayed

HTC – a Taiwanese multinational corporation announced the Grip, a fitness band, earlier this year in Barcelona. The Grip was being developed by HTC in collaboration with Under Armour, an American sports clothing, and accessories company. It was supposed to be launched this spring, but won’t be available until later this year.

As a step to expand beyond smartphones, towards connected lifestyle products including virtual reality, home, fitness and more, HTC is planning a larger portfolio of health and fitness products. These are expected to reveal later this year, and the Grip along with it, after extensive testing and experimenting.

“After extensive wear testing and user feedback, we have decided to align GRIP with the entire product portfolio for health and fitness launching later this year,” HTC announced in an official statement. “We are excited to launch this new comprehensive product suite and will share further details as we get closer to launch.”

The revealed images of HTC Grip suggests a similar appearance, feel and design to the Nike Fuelband, which primarily targets athletes. The fitness band lacked an onboard heart rate monitor, giving the upper hand to the Fuelband but does have a GPS though.

HTC made no further announcements related to the delay or details of the portfolio of health and fitness products. The company might release a heart rate tracker to be worn on the chest, to cope up with the lack of it in the Grip. The tracker would connect with the Grip and provide the pulse of the wearer.

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Grip tracks the regular step as well as sleep, and is also capable of monitoring cycling, workout, walking and running separately, all accessible within the band itself without having to go to a smartphone. It is merely the size of a bracelet and features a 1.8-inch PMOLED screen. The display is monochrome, and the interface can be controlled just by touching with a finger in a four-way swipe system.

The HTC Grip is expected to cost $199, and it marks the entry of the company in the field of health and fitness product range. This might be a turning point for the company, and they expect it to generate huge revenue as well. Loved by athletes or not, only the time will tell, but it is sure to make entry into the world of sexy new-gen watches.