Following on from its acquisition by Intel earlier in 2014, BASIS has launched the Peak fitness and sleep tracker. Peak will be available in November, in the selected markets of the US, Canada, and the UK, for a retail price of US$199/£199. 

The Peak is positioned as a premium fitness band with smartwatch features, such as text message and call notifications. The device is able to monitor the wearer’s heart rate without the need for a separate chest strap, and can automatically detect whether the wearer is walking, running, cycling, as well as sleep phases and sleep quality. Peak requires no interaction with a PC, as initial set-up and activity tracking stats and analysis can all be accessed through the companion smartphone app (for Android and iOS).

With a US retail price of $199 the Peak sits at the upper end of fitness band pricing, and is therefore more likely to appeal to the hard-core fitness enthusiast than the mainstream market.

Fitness Bands are a key category in the emerging wearable devices market, with leading brands including Fitbit, Jawbone, and Nike according to Strategy Analytics most recent Fitness Band vendor marketshare, as featured in the Wearable Device Ecosystems (WDE) service.