Jawbone are best known for their barely-there Bluetooth headsets – but their new product, the Up wristband, has much loftier goals.
The £80 wristband tracks your eating habits, sleep and exercise – syncing with an app in your phone to offer advice about how to be healthier.
From the moment it gets you up – by vibrating at the ‘best’ possible moment according to your sleep patterns – the machine monitors everything you do, prompting you to get up and move if you’ve been sat still, and even to ‘log’ everything you eat.
It’s like having a nagging personal trainer who never goes away, and never shut up.
It’s by no means the first health gadget to link with an app – there’s fitness monitors, sleep monitors, and even Bluetooth-enabled bathroom scales – but it’s the first one designed to live with you full-time.
We’re not sure HOW well the Up wristband goes with a cocktail dress – but the app it syncs with offers advice not only on exercise and sleep, but on what and how often you eat
We’re not sure HOW well the Up wristband goes with a cocktail dress – but the app it syncs with offers advice not only on exercise and sleep, but on what and how often you eat
Jawbone describe the Up as ‘attractive, durable, water-resistant and unobtrusive’ and suggests it can be worn with a cocktail dress as easily as with gym kit.
Inside is a motion sensor which stores steps, calories burned, distance, and active versus inactive time – the machine even nags you for sitting down too long.
The motion sensor even tracks you while you sleep – tracking your movement to gauge when you fall asleep, how long it takes you, and how much deep sleep you’re getting.
If that wasn’t enough, the iPhone app then prompts you to take a photo of every meal, and tracks where, when and what you’ve eaten.
A ‘Feed’ screen on your phone then offers an up-to-date stream of information about what you’re doing with respect to your health.
The wristband doesn’t just watch, though.
Once it’s decided your sleep patterns, it vibrates at the best possible moment in your sleep cycle so you can get up feeling as refreshed as possible.
It will also remind you to ‘get up and move’ if you’ve been inactive for too long – certain to make you popular with your boss.
It also links with online ‘health challenges’ to set you tasks to achieve during the week.
