Forget Fitbit — Peloton could be developing a smartwatch

News
By published

The exercise bike company recently acquired a fitness band maker

peloton
(Image credit: Peloton)

Only time will tell, but a recent spate of acquisitions by Peloton could mean that the maker of stationary bikes and other exercise equipment has plans to develop its own fitness-focused smartwatch. 

As reported by Bloomberg and Wareable, Peloton late last year picked up three companies — Atlas Wearables, Aiqudo, and Otari — whose technologies could be used to create a watch that complements Peloton's burgeoning fitness equipment empire. 

Atlas Wearables specializes in tracking movements when lifting weights as well as other isometric exercises; Otari makes an interactive training mat, and Aiqudo helps integrate digital assistants into devices.

Despite their bulkiness, Atlas Wearables' devices offer tracking that is more precise than other smartwatches; For instance, Atlas' watches track your movement while weightlifting, and compare them to their algorithms to more accurately measure your activity. Other smartwatches with activity tracking for weightlifting often rely on more basic metrics, such as heart rate.

As intriguing as a Peloton smartwatch sounds, this technology could also be incorporated into a something like a smart workout mirror, along the lines of the Tonal or Mirror. It would more closely follow Peloton's current line of fitness equipment, and its high-tech nature would certainly reflect Peloton's pedigree.

It's far too early to speculate when we might see something from the fruits of these acquisitions — the deals were only completed in December — but it could represent a strong diversification of Peloton's offerings, especially for those who want to add weight training to their workout routine. 

TOPICS
Mike Prospero
Mike Prospero
U.S. Editor-in-Chief, Tom's Guide

Michael A. Prospero is the U.S. Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide. He oversees all evergreen content and oversees the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories for the site. In his spare time, he also tests out the latest drones, electric scooters, and smart home gadgets, such as video doorbells. Before his tenure at Tom's Guide, he was the Reviews Editor for Laptop Magazine, a reporter at Fast Company, the Times of Trenton, and, many eons back, an intern at George magazine. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College, where he worked on the campus newspaper The Heights, and then attended the Columbia University school of Journalism. When he’s not testing out the latest running watch, electric scooter, or skiing or training for a marathon, he’s probably using the latest sous vide machine, smoker, or pizza oven, to the delight — or chagrin — of his family.