Withings has updated its Activité and Activité Pop smart watches with automatic swim detection, making them the first such products on the market, the company claims. Now, Withings’ watches will be able to automatically recognize movements as a swim workout, and then show users calories burned and total time spent swimming, after the workout.
What makes Withings’ products special is that they look like regular watches, featuring standard quartz mechanism along with a built-in sensors to track one’s activities. Both the Activité and Activité Pop don’t have big displays that typically make smart watches unappealing to the wider audience.
To entice folks to swim more often, the company has started a competition, inviting users to post their swim photos on Instagram or Twitter using the #SwimWithings hashtag. On July 21st, they will be choosing favorite photos, and select a couple of winners who will receive a “special summer gift.” We’re clueless what that gift is all about, though we’re happy to see Withings expanding the capabilities of its wearable devices.