(Updated Nov 2014) Wearables competition heats up for the wrist space
Google Fit Available for Android — The Fit App provides a way for users to see an overview of their collected health and fitness data in one central location — Apple HealthKit vs Google Fit
November 2014
Jawbone Announces Up3, Up Move Fitness Trackers
(Nov 5) UP is getting an update in time for the holidays. Jawbone announces the arrival of its Up3 wristband, featuring new sensors, including a resting-heart-rate monitor, and the Up Move, a $50 fitness tracker that can be clipped to clothing or worn in a wristband.
October 2014
PC Mag review of “Activity Trackers”
From Tom’s Guide Top Fitness Band Trackers
From Verge Best Fitness Trackers
From the NY Times “Well” Column Activity Trackers
Engadget Best Fitness Devices
From ZDNet
The Microsoft Band is far superior to any other fitness band on the market. It has a built-in GPS tracker to better monitor your movements. It features a UV sensor so the wearer can keep track of their exposure to sunlight. It also features a skin temperature monitor and a heart rate sensor that uses an optical sensor rather than the less accurate audio sensors fitted to many bands.
And then there’s the fact that the Microsoft Band is much more than just a fitness band. It brings a whole raft of features that you’d expect from a smartwatch and builds them right into the band. Features such as Twitter and Facebook integration, calendar, weather, and stock tracking. And for users connecting it to a Windows 8.1 smartphone, they get Cortana integration.
On the subject of connectivity to other devices, Microsoft has taken the bold step of making it platform agnostic, with the Band being compatible with Android 4.3 and 4.4, iOS 7.1 and later, and Windows Phone 8.1.
— Microsoft Band will integrate with HealthKit
— Hands on with the Band (video)
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August 2014
Jawbone UP says “feed me” and adds food-tracking/calorie counting, diet & health
- Healthy Food Score
- Water Logging
- Popular Restaurant Menus
- Enhanced Calorie Tracking
May – Fitbit out in front in #digifitness devices
April – DigiBody: On the other hand (wrist), consider the fast-growth-by-acquisition strategy of Jawbone which started in fitness monitoring by moving from wireless headsets into competition w/ Fitbit products.
Fitbit continues pushing boundaries of personal fitness and digital devices with ‘edginess’ while Jawbone snaps up new product extensions.
A recent stumble by Fitbit is its recall of their Force product, producing a shake-up within the company as well as consumers considering wearable activity trackers to replace their Fitbit Force.
Jawbone’s acquisition of Nutrivise, a data-driven nutrition app, is in line with the company’s other acquisitions this year. In February, Jawbone acquired Massive Health, a startup with a nutrition app. Massive’s app, The Eatery, is more social-focused, allowing users to take pictures of their food and crowdsource its relative nutritional value. Jawbone also is showing a strong focus on data analytics, acquiring biometric tracker BodyMedia in a high-profile deal in April and hiring prominent LinkedIn data scientist Monica Rogati. It seems clear that Jawbone is developing a major data-driven food tracking engine for its UP bracelet.
March
The Next Wave of ‘Wrist Hub’ Wearables’ will look to the #InternetofThings, a fast extending network of mini-chips talking, sensors at work, communication among devices, interoperable standards in development with shared data, and growing realizations of the need for personal privacy and security…
The personal health data privacy issue will become a larger issue as the use of the Cloud grows and larger companies — Apple, Google, Microsoft — enter the wearable tech sector…
As one of myriad examples of #digibands in development, view this slideshow of ‘agile’ wristbands
Feb
** and Apple
and the little Pebble while you wait for the new Apple Watch in 2015
** and Garmin
** and HTC
** and MOOV
Move It, Get Active!
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DigiBody
Published February 2014