Fitbit founders launch Luffu Link, an LTE health and safety band
Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman have launched Luffu Link, an LTE-enabled wearable band designed to track users' physical and mental health while also acting as a safety device for families managing care for loved ones. The band, from their new startup Luffu, combines all-day health monitoring, voice logging, location tracking and emergency assistance features in a single device that works even without a nearby phone, extending the company's existing AI-driven family health app launched earlier this year.
The $250 device is available for pre-order in three colours—halo gold, onyx black and sterling blue—with shipping expected in early 2027. It tracks standard metrics such as activity, sleep, resting heart rate, heart-rate variability and breathing rate to spot changes over time, while GPS lets trusted contacts see the wearer's location, and built-in LTE (included at no extra cost) allows help requests without a phone. Park said the product stems from personal experience as family caregivers, noting research shows carers spend over 27 hours a week on the role, and that Luffu aims to flag meaningful health changes rather than simply present raw data.
- Fitbit founders launch $250 Luffu Link health and safety wearable
- Device offers GPS tracking, voice logging and built-in LTE
- Ships early 2027, complements existing Luffu family health app
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Luffu is a new health-and-safety startup founded by James Park and Eric Friedman, the co-founders of Fitbit, the fitness-tracking pioneer they later sold to Google. Their new venture focuses specifically on carers and the people they look after, building on an AI-powered family health app the company released earlier this year.
Luffu Link is the company's first hardware product, a wristband that monitors things like sleep, heart rate and activity, but also includes its own mobile signal so it can share location and send alerts for help even when no phone is nearby. This makes it different from typical fitness trackers, which usually rely on a paired smartphone and are aimed mainly at individual users rather than families coordinating care for a relative.
The launch matters because it signals renewed interest from the people behind one of the best-known names in wearable technology, at a time when demand for tools to support ageing relatives and long-distance caregiving is growing. It also raises the familiar questions that come with any connected health device, such as cost, reliability of emergency features, and how personal health and location data are handled.