Linking older Ambits to Suunto App - that could actually be done.
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There are third party apps, at least for Android, that allow to connect older Ambits via phone’s USB port via an adapter and download activities. Look up Ambit Connect and AmbitSync apps. Both are based on reverse engineered Open Ambit library. So if Suunto really wanted they could provide support to older watches with relatively little effort. But they probably want owners of older watches to upgrade instead.
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Well if I’m forced to upgrade a perfectly functional watch that meets all my needs, I certainly won’t invest in another SUUNTO. What if that were to become obsolete in two years time?
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@quest
The problem is that Suunto really made some top quality watches in the past. They were meant to last. Take that away. What remains? Half baked toy mobile app which still lacks some basic staff. That means people will start to compare Suunto watches to much cheaper alternatives who offer the same if not better experience and even more reliable data.I understand that Suunto’s new owner sees opportunity in far east market where most users prefer the mobile app. But it seems to me that it’s really tragedy to waste such a respected brand and make it compete with new kids in this business who don’t have quality, durability, reliability, great mature platform for analysis etc. Only lower prices. That’s their advantage. You just cannot beat them in that fight. You’d have to significantly lower your production costs, probably move your production facilities to Asia, use cheaper materials, drop your rigorous quality control… I sincerely hope that is not the way you chose Suunto! That would in my opinion most certainly be the way kill this great brand.
I still don’t get it how they mean to convince people who’s watches they are going to brick by destroying the old web/mobile platform to buy their new watches when they and the new app still haven’t reached the point where they offer at least the same set of features old watches had. It’s ridiculous to expect that those users will, angry as they are, go for just more colors, touchscreen etc, but less functionality, higher prices…
It’s obvious that they are changing strategy, their focus will move away from small niche of pro sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts to much broader public. That’s most certainly larger group and potentially much larger profit, but they are losing the very thing that made them different and kept them in first tier of manufacturers and enabled them to keep prices so high.
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@Emir-Karisik My thoughts exactly after reading Coros Apex review from the5krunner. It looks like Suunto is posed to compete with second tier brands like Coros, and from the review it looks like it may already be losing. Coros offers very similar features for half the price. Their app seems more polished and their pace of development seems to be higher. They’ve got a good momentum, and started to generate some buzz among the typical Suunto crowd. At the same time Suunto seems to be determined to lose all advantages that it initially had - very solid and mature Movescount platform, strong outdoor features, and best in class GPS accuracy.
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I do not follow the Suunto news that much and was only aware of these developments the e-mail sent out by Suunto end of April.
My father was an avid Ambit user. Hiking, Climbing, Trekking, Running, Alpinism - Winter & Summer.
After a while I got jealous and bought my Ambit 2 late 2014.
The first Ambit 3 was already out by then, but as I didn’t need the wireless connectivity for tracking heart rate while swimming, or connectivity to a smart phone and was on a budget, I purchased the Ambit 2.I think now, I would still chose Ambit 3 over Spartan or Suunto 9: I do not need a colored tough screen on my watch that I take in to the outdoors, where it is likely to be bashed by rock and ice…
And I can’t operate a touch screen with gloves…It had everything I needed and still checks all the boxes today.
For me it looked better than a Garmin or Polar, because I felt I could do more with it then just go running or cycling (for example by having the many different sport modes, which I could even customise).So my vote goes to a platform that can be accessed on a pc, where I can upload data, download routes I create, create sport modes, … and connect with my cable.
Any replacement should have the same capabilities as Movescount.
But for me movescount is perfect, so in my opinion “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”.What is the best way to follow the news on this subject and where can we show Suunto that we would not like movescount to disappear?
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I think this all can be done with no costs at Suunto side. All the need to do is to open the USB communication protocol for Ambits and I am sure people will come up with the code in few weeks!!! Suunto seems to be struggling with software development for years! This will be win win for all.
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I am sure this is not an excluded scenario nor it is too hard for Suunto todo.
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@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos
A sincerely hope the first part is true. The sooner they do it the better. They are loosing valuable customers ever week.I disagree with the second part. It is not hard for Suunto to do it - it is impossible for them to do it. The last few years of Suunt software development proves that.
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@petmic said in Linking older Ambits to Suunto App - that could actually be done.:
I think this all can be done with no costs at Suunto side. All the need to do is to open the USB communication protocol for Ambits and I am sure people will come up with the code in few weeks!!! Suunto seems to be struggling with software development for years! This will be win win for all.
Completely agree with this. It would be a smart move, and it would cost the company nothing. Probably they don’t do it for copyright reasons? espionage?
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@Fiox89 Copyright reasons? One would think Suunto own their own copyrights. Or did they outsource the software development? This could explain the lack of interest in bug fixing.