Samsung partners with Trek to bring smart tech to cycling

Tech firm hopes to bring the benefit of its fitness trackers to cyclists

Samsung has signed a deal with bicycle maker Trek to take its fitness gadgets to a whole other level.

The deal will see Samsung's Gear range of fitness trackers integrated with Trek's range of bikes. Samsung announced the partnership with Trek yesterday (Wednesday).

Cyclists have traditionally coped the short end of the straw when it comes to fitness trackers (well, apart from swimmers). Many rely on locomotive movement to track exertion – something that doesn't translate that well to cycling.

The deal will see Samsung test some of its mobile products, as well as its Gear range, on the Trek Factory Racing Team as they train for this year's race calendar.

Samsung's goal is to track various statistics and work out what the most important things to track in cycling are. The Korean company will then go away and work out how to integrate them into its upcoming products.

“Fitness and wellness are important parts of people's lives, and Samsung is continuously focused on integrating meaningful features into our smart mobile devices,” Samsung's global marketing, IT and mobile communications executive vice president Younghee Lee said in a statement.

“Through our collaboration with Trek, we will be able to better understand the needs of cyclists to enhance their interaction with mobile devices and enable athletes and fans to stay connected and active in their daily lives.”

Source: CNET

Ben Furfie is a former freelance writer for T3.com who produced daily news stories for the site on tech and gadgets. He also live-managed the T3 Award websites during the 2013 and 2014 T3 Awards. Ben later moved into web development and is now a Technical Development Manager leading a team of developers.