Thursday, August 1, 2013

PEAR Takes On Fitness Tracking, Workouts

Irvine-based PEAR Sports announced this morning that it has launched a new product that uses a heart rate monitor and your smartphone to provide customized coaching and fitness training. The firm announced a system which uses heart rate-based training to customize workouts for users, via their smartphone. The company explains that it lets users "download workouts"--ranging from yoga, to strength training or running--similar to how you download music or movies from iTunes. The combination of app and heart rate monitor ties into a user's heart rate to optimize the intensity of workouts for users. PEAR's founders are Kristian Rauhala (formerly the CEO and co-founder of H2O Audio) and Bob Allison (founder of Innovate Partners, General Partner at Edgewater Private Equity).