The Fitbit for Windows Phone app has received another minor update today aimed at addressing some bug fixes with the app. The latest build is version 1.5.178.11521 for those keeping score and there are no new features in the release but is one that all users should update to via the Store app on your Windows Phone.
The Fitbit for Windows Phone app received an update yesterday that brings support for the newest Fitbit tracker, the Surge, along with some visual improvements and performance enhancements. The update is available now and it does require that your device be running Lumia Cyan to work properly and do the background synchronization between the tracker and your Windows Phone.
Today’s 12 Days of Deals promotion at your local Microsoft store or online features the new Fitbit Charge, a pair of Yurbuds earbuds and a $50 Microsoft gift card for $129.95. Essentially you are getting the $39.99 Yurbuds and $50 gift card for free. It’s a great deal on the latest personal activity tracker from Fitbit, who also happens to have an awesome Windows Phone app to go along with it.
For those who don’t have a Microsoft store locally, you can get the deal online for the same price, just without the gift card. The Yurbuds are still including for $129.95.
If you follow the link below you can actually chose which Fitbit you want in this promotion. So if you want the Fitbit Flex for example, it is just $99.95 and you get the Yurbuds free as well.
Fitbit Charge with Yurbuds earbuds – $129.95 – Microsoft Store online
A few weeks ago Fitbit updated their Windows Phone app and at the time indicated that a new and improved Windows 8.1 version was in the works. That update has now been released and it is impressive. Fitbit for Windows 8.1 is to a large extent a complete overhaul of the app’s user experience but equally as important, it finally brings proper background syncing of your Fitbit to your PC.
Today was a busy day for San Francisco based Fitbit. The company announced three new fitness activity trackers – the Charge, Charge HR and Surge – all of which will be their next generation of activity trackers. All three look really impressive and will offer different levels of tracking based on your needs as a user and all three have multiple days of activity between charges which, particularly in the case of the Smartwatch-esque Surge, is important.
Along with this was the announcement from Fitbit and Microsoft of the new Windows Phone app which I highlighted earlier in a post. That update brings a lot of improvements and enhancements, particularly around SensorCore and Cortana support. It is the first one of those that is interesting in light of the recent decisions that Fitbit has made around iOS. It also makes me think that Fitbit is making a bet that Windows Phone, as a platform, is going to take off.
Let me lay a little bit of foundation for those who haven’t kept up with the state of affairs in iOS from Apple. With the release of iOS 8, Apple introduced Health Kit, an aggregation app if you will that allows you to pull information from the M7/8 motion processor built into the iPhone 5s/6/6 Plus. It also allows for integration of information from 3rd party apps such as MyFitnessPal and Jawbone’s Up. It’s this last part that is interesting as Fitbit stated multiple times in their user forums that they have no plans to integrate into Health Kit. Why is that interesting? Because during the keynote introducing Health Kit, Fitbit was the first shown. It seemed, by association, that Fitbit would be tied to Health Kit. In fact, the link to the user forums above were updated on October 8th with additional confirmation Health Kit integration, for now, won’t be happening.
So that makes the integration with Windows Phone and SensorCore very interesting because it effectively is saying no to iOS and yes to Windows Phone.