Hexoskin, the smart clothing company that successfully funded its first connected fitness shirt through Indiegogo, is launching a new crowdfunding campaign. This time it's hawking a system called Hexoskin Smart, which uses a new Bluetooth connector to send activity data directly to fitness apps like Strava, RunKeeper, and Endomondo, on iPhone and Android.
This is basically an updated version of a smart shirt that came out before smart shirts were a thing, and it brings it up to speed with other products that have entered the market in the meantime. The Hexoskin Classic, which launched in 2013, was a sensor-filled biometric shirt that tracked your heart rate, breathing rate, activity intensity, and more, but the shirt's connector was equipped with Bluetooth 2.1 and the data could only be shared with Hexoskin's own app.
Hexoskin's new smart connector will work with old Hexoskin shirts
Now it the company is making shirts with a Bluetooth 4.1 connector, which will wirelessly connect with popular third-party apps, as well as smartwatches, bike computers, and GPS devices. The new Bluetooth Smart connector can still be used with older Hexoskin shirts. Hexoskin is also promising double the active battery life with the new system, from 15 hours to 30 hours.
As is the case with other connected clothing, Hexoskin isn't cheap. Hexoskin Smart starts at $299 for a full kit, and is expected to ship in the spring.