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Wearable tech brand Misfit has revealed its plans to dramatically scale up its retail presence across Europe and the Middle East over the coming months.
The firm merged with Fossil Group at the end of 2015 and will expand its European presence under regional management.
Misfit products, including Misfit Ray Fitness and Sleep Monitor, the newest product in the company’s line of trackers, will now be widely available in consumer electronics, fashion and jewellery retailers including John Lewis, Dixons and Amazon.
Niels van der Valk, Regional Director for CE in EMEA, commented: “We think consumers want technological functionality, as well as fashionable design.
“Thanks to our merger with Fossil Group, Misfit now has additional resources to support its unique product positioning worldwide, fusing style and technology to make the fast growing market of connected technology also attractive to the fashionable consumer.”
Activity trackers have until recently been regarded as mainly technological accessories, marketed around functionality. “Retailers of consumer electronics can now considerably expand their market by offering consumers connected accessories that are not only useful and functional, but that you’ll want to be seen wearing,” Van der Valk said. “We fill the gap in existing elegant, conscientiously designed wearable technology.”
Representative of this convergence of fashion and technology is the Misfit Ray Fitness and Sleep Monitor, announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2016. Only 12mm in diameter and 38mm long, Ray can be worn with Misfit accessories or custom accessories on the wrist or as a necklace.
Ray tracks activity and sleep with a 3-axis accelerometer and, like Misfit Shine 2, incorporates a vibration motor that allows for nuanced user feedback. Combined with a single multicolour LED eye, Ray provides inactivity nudges, text and call notifications and a silent alarm.
Like other wearables by Misfit, Ray never requires charging (the user-replaceable batteries last up to six months) and is water resistant to 50 metres.
Misfit Ray is compatible with Misfit Link – software that turns the wearable into a remote so the user can communicate with friends, turn on lights, change music, take a selfie and more.
