Jawbone Up detailed: tracks activity, food intake and sleep cycles, available November 6 for $100 (video)

Back in July, Jawbone did something puzzling. The company, best known for its Bluetooth headsets, teased a photo of a colorful wristband called the Up -- a deceptively simple thing that could purportedly track your eating, sleeping and exercise habits. The outfit left out a few teensy details: the price, shipping date and, the biggest riddle of all, how it works.

At last, the company's ready to talk specifics. We just got word the Up will be available in the US November 6th for $100, and will continue its world tour on the 17th. With that price, it's well-matched against the clip-on Fitbit Ultra tracker, and indeed, they have some key features in common -- namely, a step counter and a few requisite social networking features. But with a sensor that knows when you're in deep sleep and a mobile app that can identify photos of food, it has a few unexpected tricks that could give devices like Fitbit a run for their money. We'll be getting one to test very soon, but in the meantime, join us past the break to learn more.
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Like Fitbit, Up sports a step tracker that keeps tabs on distance, pace, calories burned and active time versus hours logged in front of the computer sedentary periods. The band, available in seven colors, is also sweatproof and water-resistant, though the jury's out on how comfy it'll be during an hour-long run.

But its killer feature could well be a sensor that detects what stage of sleep you're in, and uses a vibration motor to wake you up when you're in a light sleep state. So, if you set your alarm for 7:30, it might rouse you slightly earlier if it knows your brain isn't availing itself of some sweet REM. Like Fitbit, it also knows how many hours you slept and how long it took you to nod off. Once you're ready to upload this treasure trove of data, just pull off the end of the wristband to reveal a 3.5mm plug. It charges via USB, and you should be able to squeeze out seven ten days of use on a charge, according to Jawbone.

Tying it all together is an iOS app that lets you snap photos of the food you're about as part of a kind of photo diary. (What? Ignoring weird looks while you're photographing your fries builds character.) Of course, it also has a requisite social networking component, in which you can challenge friends to contests -- say, "Who can do the most walking today?" -- and view stats on a leader board. (Fitbit's web app offers a good deal of community features too, for what it's worth.) The bad news: it's only available on iOS, and no, you can't access this data via a website. What's more, it's unclear when an Android version will follow, except that it'll arrive eventually. Fitbit, while lacking in apps, at least has a mobile website that will load on any device.

Again, we'll be testing this quite soon and publishing a full review, but in the meantime, have a gander at the walk-through video up there, along with a (pithy) gallery of glossy press shots.

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UP™ by Jawbone® with MotionX® Technology Empowers You to Live a Healthier Life
An innovative first step in a mission to help people live better

SAN FRANCISCO – Nov. 3, 2011 – Jawbone®, a leading innovator of products and services for the mobile lifestyle, today unveiled UP™, a revolutionary system that consists of a small wristband and an engaging App for iPhone and iPod touch that work together to track your daily activity, sleep patterns, and eating habits helping you live a healthier life. UP, originally previewed at TED Global, also integrates a social experience and open content platform to motivate you with personal and team challenges tailored to help you achieve your goals.

Global health is on a disturbing and rapid decline: chronic lifestyle induced conditions such as heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and diabetes are now the leading cause of death in the US and many other parts of the world. The World Economic Forum predicts the global costs of these non-communicable diseases will reach a staggering $47 trillion over the next 20 years. Research shows that simply moving more, improving sleep quality and eating healthier can
help prevent most of these lifestyle diseases, yet lasting behavior change is often difficult to achieve. Further studies have however shown that when people are aware of and engaged in their health and can stay consistently involved, they are indeed able to become healthier.

"As the global health crisis mounted, we felt a strong sense of responsibility to see if we could leverage our resources, talents, and ecosystem to try and help make a difference," said Hosain Rahman, Jawbone CEO and Founder. "UP is Jawbone's first step in giving people tools to become engaged as consumers of their own health. It's a complete system designed to integrate seamlessly into one's total lifestyle, 24 hours a day, not just the few times a week people may work out. We integrated MotionX® with our expertise in building sophisticated technology into small packages, which enabled us to craft a wearable and power- efficient band that beautifully disappears onto your body. And thanks to the success and adoption of the iPhone, millions of users already have beautiful displays and robust computing platforms in their pocket. We harness that amazing display with a fun, engaging iPhone app to bring the band to life. The result is a product experience that you will actually wear and love to keep using."

UP by Jawbone empowers people to live a healthier life in three key ways: Measure, Engage, and Act.

MEASURE YOUR DAILY PROGRESS

One of the most basic problems in accurately tracking activity is that the sensing device must be on you 24/7 in a form factor that you won't forget, lose, or dislike wearing. The UP wristband features a sophisticated motion-tracking engine in an attractive, durable, and water-resistant design that seamlessly and unobtrusively integrates into all your daily activities and errands - in the gym, on the trail, with a cocktail dress or business suit, and even in the shower.

"The MotionX® engine inside the UP band is the result of years of technology development and innovation. MotionX is both extremely accurate and power-efficient, which is critical in delivering a 24/7 product experience small enough to wear," said Philippe Kahn, CEO and founder of Fullpower, developer of the MotionX technology.

The UP App for iPhone ties the experience together by presenting a complete, holistic view of your health.With the "Me" screen, you can get a quick snapshot of your daily activity, how you are sleeping, and what you are eating, while the "Lifeline" feature reveals all of your prior activities (eat, sleep, move) on a continuous timeline. This unique and powerful interface allows you to see your health activity as it relates to each other over time with a simple swipe of your
finger.

UP by Jawbone (wristband + App) helps you measure:
• Activity – The band automatically measures and stores all aspects of your activity: steps, calories burned, distance, pace, and active versus inactive time throughout the day;
• Sleep – The UP band's sophisticated motion engine automatically tracks all aspects of your sleep including hours slept, time to fall asleep, phases of sleep (deep versus light) and overall sleep quality.
• Eat – Capturing your meals in a photo journal is as easy as taking a photo with your iPhone or iPod touch. UP tracks where you're eating, when you've eaten, and even asks how you feel after you've had time to digest your meal making it an easy way to identify how different foods affect your body.

ENGAGE WITH YOUR FRIENDS

UP helps you stay engaged in reaching your health goals through a collection of friends and people you choose known as your "Team". Based on the concept of reciprocal motivation, the Team structure creates an environment where individual achievements can be shared with all members so they can cheer on, motivate or compete against their Team. The Team view gives you a snapshot of how each member is progressing towards their personal goals.

The UP App also features a unique Feed screen which gives you an up to date stream of information about all the things you and your friends are doing with respect to your health.

With respect to sharing information and privacy, UP gives you easy-to-use and complete control over the data you want to share with your Team and others. You choose whether or not you want to share at all, if you want to share some things and not others or if you want to share everything – it is totally up to you.

NUDGED INTO ACTION

Throughout your day, UP subtly nudges you into action. It starts with the silent vibration alarm built into the UP band, that wakes you at the best moment in your natural sleep cycle so that you get up feeling as refreshed as possible. Similarly, you can set Get Up and Move reminders that subtly vibrates the UP band to alert you when you've been inactive after a time period you specify – it's an easy way to remember to keep moving.

Another unique feature of the UP system is the notion of health challenges. Challenges are a simple way to discover and learn about health activities. They help you create a personalized plan of action to start living healthier by giving you a number of options to stay engaged and motivated to action. Challenges can be individual, competitive, or collaborative across any combination of the three categories: eat, sleep, and move. Built on an open platform, any member in the UP community can create a challenge for their team. Additionally, UP members can join challenges from an ever-growing list of health professionals and organizations through the UP community.

"We think the magnitude of this health epidemic requires an entire community to affect real change and we are delighted to partner with leading innovators. There are so many great folks working on so many great ideas that we created our system as an open platform enabling health experts to connect with individuals in fun, engaging ways that have never been possible before," continued Rahman. "We want users to find programs and challenges created by experts
that are just right for them."

Jawbone has teamed up with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, DailyFeats, GE Healthymagination, and 24 Hour Fitness, to create a variety of challenges UP users can sign up for at launch.

AVAILABLE ON NOVEMBER 6

The UP band comes in three sizes (small, medium, large) and seven colors (Dark Black, Dark Brown, Dark Red, Bright White, Bright Silver, Bright Red, Bright Blue) and will be available for $99.99 at Jawbone.com, Apple, AT&T, Best Buy and Target nationwide beginning November 6. Additionally, UP will be available at 24 Hour Fitness and other major global retailers and carriers later this year.

The UP by Jawbone App is available today for free from the App Store on your iPhone or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. The UP wristband is required for the app.

For more information, images and product demos, please visit: http://www.jawbone.com/PR or follow @Jawbone on Twitter.

About Jawbone®
For more than a decade, Jawbone has developed products and services for the
mobile lifestyle unparalleled in their innovation, ease-of-use and sophistication
of design. The company is the creator of several wireless products including the
award-winning and best-selling premium Jawbone ERA and ICON Bluetooth®
headsets; the inventor of NoiseAssassin® technology, the world's first and only
military-grade noise-eliminating technology; and JAMBOX, the first intelligent
wireless speaker and speakerphone. A 2010 IDSA Design of the Decade winner,
Jawbone is committed to delivering innovative products that improve the mobile
lifestyle through ever-changing software and wearability. Jawbone is privately-
held and headquartered in San Francisco.

About Fullpower-MotionX
Fullpower-MotionX leads the mobile sensing revolution with a broad IP portfolio.
The MotionX sensing platform powers leading solutions such as Nike+ GPS, the
Jawbone UP wristband, and the Pioneer AppRadio. With continual innovation,
MotionX is the leader for Health & Fitness and Navigation on the iPhone and the
iPad.