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Fitness Tracker

Business, Wearable Technology

Jawbone Selling Off Wearable Inventory, Speaker Business

May 31, 2016

Jawbone Selling Business UP Exiting Wearable Speakers Activity Tracker

Jawbone, one of the first companies to market a wearable, app-connected fitness tracker, looks to be exiting the consumer wearables market. Tech Insider reports that Jawbone has ceased all production of their fitness trackers and has sold the remaining inventory to a 3rd party. The move isn’t completely surprising as activity trackers appear to be waining in populating while simultaneously in a price race to the bottom. Last November Jawbone closed their NY office and laid off 15% of the company’s workforce. Originally introduced in 2011, the Jawbone UP was a first of its kind device. Heralded as introducing a revolutionary new way to lose weight and get fit, the UP synced with a dedicated app on your smartphone by connecting through the headphone port. It measured steps, distance, calories, overall activity, and sleep. The wearable was screen-less and designed to look like a small bracelet. The 2011 launch was a bit rough, with widespread claims that it didn’t track correctly, didn’t sync reliably, and had charging issues. Jawbone stopped production later that year, offering to buy back any of the devices, and completely redesigned the internals of the UP. It relaunched in late 2012 where it entered a much more competitive market, squaring off against the Nike Fuelband and Fitbit One (Fitbit’s first wrist-worn tracker launched in 2013), both of which offered superior wireless syncing.  

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by Doug Parker
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Pebble 2 Time Smartwatch Core Fitness Wearable GPS 3G Kickstarter
Watches, Wearable Technology

Pebble Turns To Kickstarter For New Watches & Wearable

May 26, 2016

Pebble 2 Time Smartwatch Core Fitness Wearable GPS 3G Kickstarter

Pebble has announce a new Kickstarter campaign that includes refreshes to almost all of the company’s product lineup and a brand new wearable device. Both the 2012 Pebble smartwatch and 2015 Pebble Time are being updated to version “2.” The biggest headline feature for both: a heart rate monitor; both the Pebble and Pebble Time now include an integrated optical heart rate sensor. The inclusion of the sensor also means an improved Health App. Similar to Google Calendar’s new Goal feature, the Pebble app will look for available pockets of time in your schedule and encourage you to work out during those breaks. The watch will also monitor your activity and customize activity goals to fit you – not too challenging but not too easy. The heart rate data is also being integrated into activity tracking (which also is tracking steps, calories, distance, and sleep) and graphs (which shows heart rate zones, average wake up times, and more with daily, weekly, and monthly breakdowns). All of this health data, including heart rate, can also be fed to Apple HealthKit or Google Fit.  

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by Doug Parker
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Business, Editorial, Wearable Technology

Wearables Were Mostly Absent from MWC 2016, Why?

March 4, 2016

Wearables Missing MWC 2016 Why Fail category dead mobile world conference fitness trackers smartwatches

Mobile World Conference in Barcelona is typically a showplace of the newest and best cell phones that companies have to offer. At the 2015 MWC though, you could have easily have thought it was a wearables trade show. Practically every company had a fitness tracker, a smartwatch, or another form of wearable technology on display. But at MWC 2016, there were barely any wearables to be found. What happened? And is this the writing on the wall, showing consumer and company interest in wearables is just not that high?  Or are there other factors at hand?

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by Doug Parker
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Fitbit Alta Public School New York City PSNY NYFW
Fashion, Wearable Technology

Fitbit Partnering With Public School On Line Of Accessories

February 18, 2016

Fitbit Alta Public School New York City PSNY NYFW

When Fitbit unveiled their new Alta fitness tracker a few weeks ago, it was clear that the company was beginning to take design and fashionability more seriously. Trading out the brand’s iconic rubber band featuring a barely noticeable screen, the Alta predominately features a monochrome touch screen which connects at either end to interchangeable bands. Even though the wearable ships with a rubber wrist band, you can purchase leather or metal bands. At NYFW, buzz worthy NYC fashion brand Public School New York included several “designed for the runway” Fitbit accessories among the looks walking the runway. All of the accessories were created by the designers specifically for the Alta. The idea was to show that tech doesn’t have to be this odd thing which is tacked on top of your outfit; wearables can be integrated into a seamless look for any occasion. Don’t camp out on the Fitbit or PSNY websites though waiting for these accessories to go on sale. Fitbit has stated that they were created specifically for NYFW to provide a feel of what the final products would be like when released later this year.  

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by Doug Parker
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Oral Roberts University Tulsa Oklahoma Christian Physical Fitness Requirement Fitbit Charge Activity Tracker
Wearable Technology

University Monitoring Students’ Activity With Fitbits

February 5, 2016

Oral Roberts University Tulsa Oklahoma Christian Physical Fitness Requirement Fitbit Charge Activity Tracker

Activity trackers are a great way to quantify your life and motivate you to move more, but how would you feel if you were graded based off of that information? Freshman at Oklahoma’s Oral Roberts University are about to find out; they will be among the first to have their fitness data tracked by a school – that information will then contribute directly towards their grades. Fitbit fitness trackers will be issued to first year students as part of the school’s required physical fitness course. Besides classroom teachings, the class has a weekly activity minimum that students must meet or exceed. Up until now students were held by the honor code to accurately manually monitor aerobic activities. Using a hand-logged journal not only was that likely tedious, but we would guess students were often a bit “generous” in what they recorded. Using a monitored account, the school will collect information on daily movement, weekly activity, and heart rate (but not weight). The requirements will be 10,000 steps a day and 150 minutes of activity per week at 60 to 80 percent of their range for heart rate. If a student doesn’t accomplish these minimums it will directly influence their grade.  

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by Doug Parker
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Fitbit Alta Connected Fitness Activity Tracker Notifications smartwatch
Wearable Technology

Fitbit Alta Is Company’s Most Connected Activity Tracker

February 3, 2016

Fitbit Alta Connected Fitness Activity Tracker Notifications smartwatch

Fitbit has had a huge past year; not only has the company gone public but it also has reached a point of popularity that counterfeits are being smuggled into the US. Last month at CES the wearable producer expanded their lineup with their first true smartwatch-like device, the Blaze. Now the company is revealing their most connected fitness tracker ever, the Fitbit Alta. While Fitbit makes compelling fitness trackers, anyone looking for smartwatch-like connectivity in a tracker needed to look at other brands. The new Alta model should solve that; if you have been in the market for a Fitbit, this is probably the device you have been waiting for!

The most notable change with the Fitbit Alta is the screen. Gone is the microscopic display that has almost become iconic for the brand. It has been replaced with a touch sensitive monochrome OLED display that is almost as large as the front of the wearable. This large screen finally enables Fitbit to have true push notifications including calls, texts, and calendar events. The are also multiple watch faces baked into the tracker which can be displayed either landscape or vertically. The watch face isn’t the only way Fitbit is allowing you to customize the device. The Alta promises to be the company’s most fashionable device to date. Despite a few notable partnerships, such as with designer Tory Burch, most Fitbits are relegated to the company’s rather unsightly rubber bands. The Alta has been designed to be easily swappable between bands with connectors on either end which allow interchangeable bands to slide on. While the Fitbit Alta will initially ship with the company’s traditional elastomer band, it has already announced both leather and metal bands are forthcoming and that there will be a line of gold and Tory Burch accessories for the Alta.

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by Doug Parker
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Samsung Fitness Tracker Gear S2 SM-R150 Triathlon S-Patch Fitbit
Watches

Samsung Preparing New Fitness Oriented Wearable

January 29, 2016

Samsung Fitness Tracker Gear S2 SM-R150 Triathlon S-Patch Fitbit

Two years ago at the Mobile World Congress, Samsung introduced a bevy of new wearables. Among those was a fitness tracker called the Samsung Fit. The Microsoft Band-like device was mediocrely reviewed and didn’t make a big splash in the market place. But if a rumor from Tizen Cafe is to be believed, Samsung is ready to tackle the fitness market again. The new device appears to be based on the Gear S2; it has the same shape and seems to sport the signature rotating bezel. Code named SM-R150, SamMobile is reporting the device is being called Triathlon internally. Besides that, little is known about the device. We can infer it is possible that the new wearable will integrate Samsung’s new S-Patch bio processor, which the company showed at CES this year. Based on images from Tizen Cafe, the SM-R150 seems to have a component that attaches to one’s shirt but the purpose of it is not clear. The images also show a “Body Equalizer” view with the ability to select things such as body fat and weight, a rep counter for the gym, and a way to track hydration. In one image you can also see a screen that appears to feature Airplane Mode, music playback, and a Settings option. We expect to find out more about the device in a few weeks, when the Mobile World Conference kicks off on February 22nd.  

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by Doug Parker
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