The Fitbit Versa Smartwatch

Interestingly the feature is available on a more expensive Fitbit Versa special edition and overseas version of the device.

The company announced two new products on Tuesday: Fitbit Versa, a smartwatch that is strikingly similar to the Apple Watch, and its first fitness tracker for kids, Fitbit Ace. This is double what you’ll see from an Apple Watch and most Android Wear wearables.

Chase said Fitbit wants these reminders and guidance to feel like the company is having a conversation with you about your health and fitness, rather than it nagging you to hit your step goal.

The new Fitbit Ace is a fitness tracker meant for children eight and older.

Ace is also shower and splash-proof, though it’s not fully waterproof and doesn’t feature swim tracking. It intends to encourage children to stay active. Like the Alta, the Ace is showerproof and advertises a battery life of up to five days.

Fitbit has put in several safe guards in place for young users.

The Fibit Ace is an activity tracker that’s created to make fitness fun for kids eight-years-old and up.

Fitbit is adding to its smartwatch offering with the Fitbit Versa, a lighter more affordable tracker with new additions including a female health tracker, Fitbit OS 2.0 and a new personalised dashboard.

As for price, the Versa is set to cost £199.99 ($199, about AU$350) in the United Kingdom, which is much cheaper than the Fitbit Ionic, as that started off at £299.95 / $299.95 / AU$449.95. You can also start personalized workouts on your wrist & get coached through every move. It will come with both a small and large standard wristband, but leather, metal, and mesh alternatives can also be purchased starting at $49.95.

Back in August of previous year, Fitbit officially unveiled its new Ionic smarwtach, which turned out to be pretty good. It was designed specifically for runners who want a built-in Global Positioning System option. This focus on bringing in more women to their product family may give the Fitbit Versa the edge it needs to compete with the Apple Watch Series 3. The gadget received mixed reviews.

If you want to make payments while you’re out and about you can use Fitbit Pay and connect up your bank account and card for contactless payments. And last year’s Ionic attempted to slim things down but was still an enormous watch that looked too much like a modified fitness band. It will ship this April.

“As childhood obesity rates continue to rise, it’s more important than ever to empower the entire family to embrace a healthy and more active lifestyle”, James Park, CEO and cofounder of Fitbit, said in a statement.

Some schools have already been using regular Fitbits.

For Fitbit, the feature has the dual appeal of embracing a huge demographic often overlooked by wearables and helping the company as it works to broaden its appeal to healthcare providers.

The Ace launch is part of Fitbit’s broader goal of branching out to new audiences.