Taiwan-based smartphone maker HTC is teaming up with Under Armour, an athletic equipment company, to empower athletes with cutting-edge technology.
Part of the collaboration would see the mobile maker designing a number of products that would work hand in hand with Under Armour's fitness apps and website.
The UA Record website and some of the company's related apps were unveiled on Jan. 6 at CES 2015. With 31 million members in its online community, the site offers mobile device owners health and fitness tracking options. According to the company, apps such as MapMyRide, MapMyRun and MapMyFitness keep the users always on track with their fitness goals 24/7.
A joint statement from the two companies said that UA's team of athletes, sports scientists and designers will be collaborating with the engineers and designers from HTC's Connected Products business unit in order to come up with future products that incorporate UA Record.
"We want our products to meet the needs of every individual -- whether you're training for a personal best in your next half-marathon, or a professional athlete honing your performance with a full training staff behind you," said HTC CEO Peter Chou.
For several years now, there is no denying that fitness apps, trackers and gadgets have increased in popularity. In 2014 alone, health apps, compared with other apps that have mushroomed in the market, grew at a faster rate of 87 percent. The booming market in tech and fitness saw a number of companies launch their own apps and accessories. These include Samsung's Gear Fit band, Google's Google Fit and Apple's iOS 8 HealthKit.
In 2013, Under Armour released the Armour 39 fitness tracker that caters to hardcore fitness fanatics. At CES 2015, it unveiled a new app dubbed Record, which is designed to send "just-in-time" updates from UA's roster of athletes who have endorsement deals with the company.
"One of the things I realized when I got to Under Armour is there wasn't one place where you could get information about all these athletes," said Robin Thurston, UA's senior vice president of Connected Fitness. "They had an e-commerce site but they didn't have a content site. All of that content will live on Record. If we do an in-the-gym training plan, that athlete will have a profile on Record."
The two partnering companies are yet to announce a specific date for the launch of the initial product that will run UA Record. Thurston promised that the wait would be worthwhile.
