A firmware update from Withings will enable the Activite and Activite Pop series of fitness tracking watches to automatically detect swimming as an activity. The auto-detection feature is a first on the market. Users can now access  their tracked stats from the Withings Healthmate app after swimming.

The Withings Activite series of watches are water resistant to 50m and readable in bright sunlight due to the analog watch face; there’s no screen. Unfortunately it does not track distance swum or strokes used. Got to leave that to dedicated swim trackers like the Garmin Swim Watch.

The Withings Activite series of fitness watches have been on the market for a while now and the focus is really on activity tracking with none of the smartphone notification features. A feature like automatic swimming detection will no doubt extend the life span of this product in a crowded market and seperate the Withings Activite line from other fitness tracking companies like Fitbit and Jawbone where the trackers are more focused on land-based activities.

List of features of the Withings Activite fitness watches:

• An advanced accelerometer that tracks your walks, runs and even swims
• Automatic sleep monitoring, including time to sleep, length or sleep and quality of sleep in terms of light and deep sleep.
• Smart vibration that alerts you to wake up gently.
• Automatic updating of time when you switch time zones
• CR2025 watch battery that powers the Withings Activité for at least 8 months
• Water resistant (5 ATM).
• Tapping  to change between modes on responsive glass

If you keen to purchase the Withings Activite or Activite Pop, head over to Amazon where there’s usually a discount compared to the recommend retail prices of $149.95 and $450.