Google’s Fitbit has announced the Ace LTE smartwatch for kids ages 7+ today. This device “transforms exercise into play, while also giving families peace of mind with reliable calling, messaging, and location sharing with parents”, Google says.
The Ace LTE comes with “fully immersive, interactive 3D games”, each of these being built specifically for the device, using haptics, sounds, and the accelerometer. The Fitbit Arcade will update with fresh new games “every few months”, the company promises.
The smartwatch recognizes and rewards “all sorts of physical activity”, including playing hide and seek, jumping on the bed, or “having a sibling dance-off”. All of this kid-specific movement will show up in the “Noodle” activity ring that lives on the home screen and “celebrates when kids reach their daily move goals”.
The device uses a new movement algorithm for kids developed by the Google Research team, which should better and more accurately measure kids’ physical activity throughout the day, while also encouraging and motivating “all types of movement”.
The Fitbit Ace LTE is “built with privacy in mind, front and center”, so it only shows parents a child’s location or activity data. Location data is deleted after 24 hours and activity data is deleted after a maximum of 35 days. There are no ads and no third-party apps, and only contacts that a parent adds can call or message the device.
The watch has “eejies”, customizable creatures that feed off daily activities, so the more kids reach their movement goals, the more healthy and happy their eejie is. Kids earn arcade tickets to customize their eejie’s look with new outfits or deck out its home by completing daily activities and moving through each game.
The Fitbit Ace LTE comes with six collectable bands, each of which unlocks different items, styles, rooms, and Noodles when attached for the first time to the watch. These bands are sold separately and new ones will be released regularly.
The Fitbit Ace LTE works with the new Fitbit Ace app, which gives parents a way to see their child’s real-time location, or call, send, and receive text and voice messages. They can also add trusted contacts and manage settings like School Time to eliminate distractions during class.
“In a couple of months”, the watch will gain support for Tap to Pay so “kids have safe and easy access to pocket money”. The Ace LTE is water resistant up to 50m and has a 328 mAh battery “that lasts more than 16 hours” and recharges from zero to full in 70 minutes, as well as a high-resolution display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top. The watch measures 41.04 x 44.89 x 13.35 mm and weighs 28g without a band.
The Fitbit Ace LTE comes with the Fitbit Ace Pass data plan, which is $9.99 per month or $119.99 for an annual subscription, but that’s half off if you get it by August 31. And if you do go the annual route you’ll also receive a collectable Ace Band valued at $34.99 for free. The watch itself costs $229.95 and will be available exclusively from the Google Store and Amazon on June 5.
