Fitness Devices

Amiigo. Amiigo: Fitness Bracelet for iPhone and Android. BodyMedia Core 2 personal fitness and health monitor hands-on. We're at CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, and just had a chance to take a look at BodyMedia's new Core 2 health and fitness monitor.

The company is hailing the device's sleek form factor — it's much smaller than its older Link and Core monitors — and its new size allows it to quickly change appearance with snap-on faceplates, armbands, and cuffs. The smaller size alsop BodyMedia says the Core 2, like its existing devices, can capture over 5,000 data points per minute with a variety of sensors that can detect a user's temperature, heart rate, and other biometric data. The Core 2 will release in August, and while the company doesn't have a firm price yet, it says it should be comparable to its Link and Core devices, which top out at $119. Take small strides to become more active. Fitbug Orb tries to take down activity tracker rivals with Bluetooth scale and blood pressure monitor.

We're sure to see plenty of activity trackers here at CES, and tonight one smaller company here is releasing a new line of equipment to try and win over a few users.

The company's called Fitbug — yes, they compete with Fitbit — and it has a new Bluetooth tracker called the Orb. If you've used a Fitbit One or a Jawbone Up you'll be familiar with what's on offer with the Orb, though Fitbug does change it up by offering three different syncing modes — one for real-time updates for use during workouts, another for syncing in 30-minute intervals, and a last that updates on demand. The Orb offers many of the same features that we've seen on other devices, like like keeping track of how many steps you've taken, how far you've traveled, how many calories you've burnt, and how you've slept.

Withings challenges Fitbit with Bluetooth Activity Tracker and Star Trek-inspired scale. Withings is at CES to announce its Smart Activity Tracker — the company's first wearable fitness tracker — with either Bluetooth or Bluetooth Smart (aka, 4.0) sync depending upon your iOS or Android device's capabilities.

The thumb-sized device measures steps walked, strides ran, stairs climbed, distances covered, calories burned, and even quality of sleep. Uniquely, it also measures pulse readings when placing a finger on the heart-rate sensor on the back of the device. Smartphone iPhone Weight Scale Balance by Wahoo Fitness. The Wahoo Balance Smartphone Scale tracks your weight over time to help you achieve your weight goals.

Wahoo Bluetooth Scale Keeps Track of All Your Weigh-Ins. A Bluetooth-enabled scale is one of those gadgets you think you don't really need until you have one. With a wireless scale you can have your weight (and in some cases BMI and body fat percentage) sent to a private account associated with the scale where you can track your weight overtime. I had a few days to test out the newly released Wahoo Fitness Balance Smartphone Scale. And as an owner of a wireless scale, the Fitbit Aria, I knew what I'd be looking for — seamless and quick syncing, data about BMI and body fat, and a easy to navigate UI once you get to the app or site. The Wahoo scale sends your weight data to its Wahoo Wellness app. Misfit Wearables launches Shine, an elegant but rugged activity tracker.

Ever since AgaMatrix Co-founder and Chairman Sonny Vu left the iBGStar-maker last July, industry watchers have kept a close eye on his new startup, Misfit Wearables.

After bringing on former Apple CEO John Sculley as an investor and co-founder, raising a $7.6 million initial round of funding with participation by high-profile investors like Vinod Khosla, and building a team of about two dozen people working in San Francisco, Wales, and Vietnam, Misfit Wearables has finally revealed its first offering. The trouble with health-tracking gadgets - health - 07 August 2012.

Pedometers

Workout Gadgets Will Soon Be Battery-Free and Powered by You. Lightweight, wearable gadgets have changed our workout routines. Some of us consider it an integral part of every workout to monitor our heart rates, activity and calories burned in real time. Future devices may become even more enmeshed in our fitness routines. Enter battery-free gadgets powered by body heat. If you run hard, bike for miles or work up a daily sweat, TEGwear technology will reward you with power. Perpetua, a company that specializes in renewable energy solutions for wireless sensors, is marketing an insertable chip that converts body heat into electric energy.

The magic behind the chip is based on thermoelectric energy. Fitbit Ultra, Aria WiFi Scale Make Getting in Shape Social [REVIEW] There's no such thing as a miracle solution to get fit, but there are numerous healthy-savvy companies utilizing technology to make the average non-techie consumer a bit more health conscious.

Take Fitbit's Aria WiFi scale and Ultra pedometer, for instance. Based in San Francisco and started by technologist Eric Friedman and entrepreneur James Park in 2007, Fitbit offers products that place existing tech into gadgets we thought were beginning to get outdated (such the pedometer) or devices that seem ho-hum (your average scale, for example). Then it turns these products into fitness tech must-haves. Fitbit Ultra Wireless Activity Tracker. LUMOback shows the potential of crowdfunding for health tech startups. Crowdfunding is the new black in the startup community, and with the growth and success of sites such as KickStarter combined with the new JOBS Act recently enacted into law, its reasonable to assume we are only scratching the surface.

Despite this success, there are only a few health tech projects to point to as evidence that crowdfunding is an attractive option for startups in this highly specialized sector. One is LUMOback (@lumoback), which has emerged in the last couple weeks as the poster child for health tech crowdfunding by raising more than $100K on Kickstarter, thus validating the promise of crowdfunding for developers of body sensor network technology.

LUMOback won the Body Slam competition hosted by the USC Body Computing Lab last year. Strapless, Touchless Heart Rate Monitor Asks For Funding. No chest strap needed.

That's the main selling point of this new heart rate monitor called Alpha, which you wear like a watch. Alpha creator Liz Dickinson explains how the device works in a video posted on her Kickstarter page, calling it the "holy grail" of EKG monitors. Dickinson says up until now there have been only two ways to monitor your heart rate while running and neither are ideal. Devices with chest straps are uncomfortable, she says, and other watches require users to press buttons to activate them, like the MIO watch, which Dickinson also created 11 years ago. A simple device that would require no strap or even button pressing would be the "holy grail" of heart rate monitors, she says in the video. Ace Your Workout With This Bluetooth Wristband [REVIEW] In addition to Nike's ever-popular "+" system, numerous accessories are available for iOS and Android device owners who want to monitor their exercise.

Specifically, Scosche Industries' myTREK offers a particularly interesting feature set. The myTREK is a Bluetooth-enabled wireless, real-time pulse monitor, so its main focus is your heart rate. With A Cross Platform Deal With xBox, Nike Is Rebranding The Calorie. This week, Nike revealed Nike+ Kinect Training, an exercise game for the Xbox 360.

But it’s an announcement that’s bigger than it may look. With Nike+ Kinect, Nike will begin counting what you do in a video game toward our Nike+ Fuel pool in the cloud, syncing all Nike+ services, including the new Fuelband, into a single measurable value of activity. Health - Esther Entin - Want the Simplest Way to Exercise More? Count Your Steps. Australian researchers found that pedometer-wearing seniors exercised more than twice as much as a control group given identical counseling and instructions. Giorgos Michalogiorgakis/Flickr The benefits of exercise for seniors have been well described. They include improvements in physical, emotional and cognitive health, as well as better quality of life. We know exercise positively influences the course of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, and even some cancers. Yet as seniors age, their exercise routines often suffer and they engage in less physical activity.

By the end of three months, the pedometer group had increased their exercise time by 63.0 minutes per week compared to the reported time-only group whose exercise time expanded less than half as much, 30.9 minutes. The 330 seniors (over the age of 65) recruited were each enrolled in a program which included training, motivational counseling and follow up. Can Digital Peer Pressure Power Your Workout? In order to get you off of the couch and into your gym shoes, a new wave of fitness apps has turned to an age-old force: peer pressure. Whether by means of competitions, social features, bragging rights or goals, these digital tools are keeping tabs on your workouts — and letting your friends do the same.

"It really changes the dynamic because it's almost like you're on stage or in a race," says Jason Jacobs, the founder of fitness tracking app RunKeeper. "If you stop and walk halfway, people will know. If you finish strong, people will know. Cyber exercise partners help you go the distance. Public release date: 24-May-2012 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Jason Codycodyja@msu.edu 517-432-0924Michigan State University EAST LANSING, Mich. — A new study testing the benefits of a virtual exercise partner shows the presence of a moderately more capable cycling partner can significantly boost the motivation – by as much as 100 percent – to stick to an exercise program. The research out of Michigan State University's Department of Kinesiology shows women taking part in cycling exercises exercised twice as long when working with a virtual partner, results the authors said can be used to help people meet physical activity recommendations.

The work by Brandon Irwin and colleagues is published online in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Pebble Watch's First App: Runkeeper. The startup behind the Pebble smart watch, which interacts with your iPhone or Android device, raised almost $8 million on Kickstarter with weeks to go in its fundraising period. Withings Body Scale enters into partnership with BodyMedia FitBit. Withings (@withings) has entered into a partnership with BodyMedia to export data from their popular Wi-Fi Body Scale to the BodyMedia (@BodyMedia) FIT Activity Manager (@BodyMediaFIT) online portal and mobile app. BodyMedia’s FIT armbands capture over 5,000 data points per minute to track every relevant metric of physical activity, including calories burned, steps taken, the level of intensity of physical activity, as well as sleep duration and efficiency.

Patients Like Active Video Games As Fitness Tools - Healthcare - The Patient. Most consumers believe that video games that force them to get up and move around can improve their health, says study from UnitedHealth Group. Jawbone UP Review: A budget-friendlier alternative – with compromises. Continuing our series on activity trackers and their role in the gamification of health (see reviews on the Fitbit Ultra and Nike FuelBand), the Jawbone UP was released last fall to quite a bit of fanfare.

Clever Game Turns Taking The Stairs Into A Hiking Competition With Co-Workers. Nike+ FuelBand review. Nike to unveil FuelBand developer API at SXSW hackathon. Health and wellness dominates 2011 Bluetooth Innovation World Cup. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) has announced the finalists in the 2011 Innovation World Cup. Out of nine finalists, five of which were health and fitness related products. The Innovation World Cup is an annual developer contest in which teams develop new products using Bluetooth technology.

This year there were 330 submissions. FIrst up: CoreMD, image on the left. Developed by Guilherme de Paula of Pancreum, CoreMD is a wireless communication and power infrastructure for replaceable wearable medical devices. It pays to be healthier. Wi-Fi Smart Scale Records Fitness Goals Over Time. Nike FuelBand Review: An Exciting Entry into the Gamification of Health. We’ve been closely following the gamification trend in mobile health, and Nike has taken it to the masses by recently releasing the Nike FuelBand ($149) to immense demand and sold-out inventory. The FuelBand joins the other two current players in the fitness tracking market released in the fall: the Jawbone UP (currently not on the market after being recalled; $99) and the Fitbit Ultra ($99). Gamification Boosts Employee Health Behavior, Blue Shield Argues - Healthcare - The Patient.

Smart Pedometer Striiv Takes Fitness to Social Level. Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi scale review. UP by Jawbone. Jawbone UP: My new addiction. Jawbone UP Bracelet - Jawbone Accessories - from AT. Jawbone UP Health and Fitness Tracker coming to Android. The Jawbone UP Fails, But Teaches 3 Golden Rules For Experience Design. Jawbone offers full refund for UP exercise tracker after widespread failure. Online virtual coach improves activity levels in controlled trial for overweight adults. Nike's Nike+ FuelBand wristband tracks your every movement. With Fuelband, Nike Aims To Crush Jawbone Up And Overhaul Nike+ Nike announces Nike+ Fuelband to measure everything.

Nike Unveils FuelBand for Tracking All Physical Activity. New Nike+ FuelBand measures movement and encourages active lifestyle. BodyMedia FIT LINK Armband Weight Management System: Health & Personal Care. Zeo Sleep Manager. Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale adds weight to your Ultra fitness data.