Fitbit and Amazon bring health capabilities to Alexa
This post was originally published on the Fitbit press site. It has been adapted from its original format.
Fitbit, the leader in the connected health and fitness market, today announced that users can add the new Fitbit skill for Alexa and use the prompt “Alexa, ask Fitbit how I’m doing today,” along with several other supported health and fitness prompts. As the first wearable company to make stats available via Alexa, the brain behind Amazon Echo, this Fitbit integration adds convenience and fun to the daily routines of Fitbit users in the U.S., letting them incorporate activity tracking even more seamlessly into their busy, on-the-go lifestyles.
“Working with Amazon and Alexa to create this new skill provides a completely new and fun way for Fitbit users to stay on top of their health and fitness goals,” said Tim Roberts, Executive Vice President, Interactive at Fitbit. “Our integration with Alexa gives you hands-free access to your data, so you can find out when you walk in the door at the end of the day what your step count is in seconds, and know if you need to go on a quick walk before dinner. As we look at how this integration could evolve in the future, there is an endless world of possibilities from fitness coaching and nutrition tips, to guidance before bedtime to help you get a more restful night’s sleep.”
Alexa recognizes a wide range of voice-enabled requests about your Fitbit activities for any day within the previous week, including how you slept last night, how many active minutes you’ve logged, or the number of calories you’ve burned – all without needing to check your tracker or Fitbit app. This new Alexa skill will also offer words of encouragement to inspire users to meet their daily and weekly goals, and responses will even be tailored to the specific time of day. For example, if you inquire about your step count at 9 a.m., you might be reminded that “you’ve got to start somewhere,” or encouraged to “try to take a walk today, but don't forget to stop and smell the roses.”
“We’re thrilled to add the Fitbit skill to our Alexa-enabled devices—this skill brings a whole new level of convenience for customers who are looking for new ways to keep track of their health and fitness goals,” said Rob Pulciani, Director Amazon Alexa. “With the recent launches of Amazon Tap and Echo Dot, even more customers will have access to unique and helpful Alexa skills such as this integration with Fitbit. More experiences are moving to voice, and it’s only going to get better for our customers.”
As the first wearable company to feature voice activated food and activity logging via Microsoft Cortana, Fitbit is continuing to expand its voice control capabilities with Alexa. Today users of the Fitbit App, paired with all Fitbit trackers, including the recently launched Fitbit Blaze and Fitbit Alta, can activate the new skill via the Alexa app for all of Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices, including Amazon Echo, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Echo Dot and Amazon Tap. With this launch, Amazon is added to the growing list of brands that are part of the Works with Fitbit program, which lets developers, brands and users seamlessly connect the Fitbit platform to popular health and wellness apps, services and hardware products, making it easier for consumers to achieve their wellness objectives.
