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Google Fit’s camera-based heart and breathing rate trackers arrive March 8th
Google will start rolling out the Fit app's camera-based heart and respiratory rate trackers on Monday, March 8th.
Google revamps Fit and adds three tiles to Wear OS
Wear OS is not dead. As we wait for Google to complete its acquisition of Fitbit, the smartwatch platform has languished without a new version in years. Wear OS is getting three new tiles — Workouts, Weather and Breathe.
Ultimate Ears' new earbuds use lightform tech for custom-contoured fit
Ultimate Ears' UE Fits true wireless earbuds use lightform tech to fit to each ear.
Replacing an Apple Watch Solo Loop could be a headache
Good luck replacing your new Apple Watch Solo Loop if it doesn't fit.
Soma’s smart bra helps women find the right size
Finding the right bra size can be an arduous process, and the vast majority of women aren't wearing the size they should. But Soma is looking to make it slightly less awful to track down the right bra. The company is debuting its Somainnofit technology this week at CES, which includes a Bluetooth-connected bra that can measure women for fit and an app that can then suggest which bra styles and sizes will fit best.
Nike's first self-lacing basketball shoes go on sale in 2019 for $350
If you've always wanted to play basketball in a pair of self-lacing shoes like Marty McFly's Nike Mags, you will get your chance next year. On the company's quarterly earnings call executives revealed plans for an "Adaptive" performance basketball shoe in 2019 that will cost around $350. Two years ago we got our first look at the HyperAdapt self-fitting technology in a $720 low-cut training shoe, but this technology will be cheaper and probably lighter, and obviously more athletically-inclined than the 2015 Nike Mag (shown above).
Google Fit gets a colorful redesign and improved goal setting
Google has rolled out a major Fit update with a complete visual redesign, new watch face and features for Android Wear, a new home screen widget, more detailed goal-setting and more. Version 1.57.50 is the company's biggest update to the app in quite awhile, and appears to be a big part of the Android Wear 2.0 overhaul Google promised at I/O last month. The changes are apparent from when you first open it, as the previous, rather sparse home screen now has images, charts and a lot more color.
Google Fit gets real-time stats and grabs data from more wearables
Just in time to outfit your holiday workout regimen, Google its updating its Fit app with a few new features. First, the activity-tracking software now provides real-time distance, steps, pace and calorie stats for your running, walking and riding workouts. When you come to a stop for some push-ups, sit-ups or squats, you can use your Android Wear device to keep a tally of your reps before adding the total to your daily activity log. Google Fit also pulls in sleep and nutrition info from other apps and fitness trackers. If you're using MyFitnessPal (and a host of others) to track meals or Sleep as Android, Xiaomi Mi Band, Mi Band 1S, Sony Smartband 2 or the Basis Peak to keep tabs on how well you're resting, you'll be able access those details for a more complete picture of your overall wellness. Looking to give it a shot? You can grab the latest version of the Android app from Google Play right here.
Google Fit finally estimates how many calories you've burned
No, you're not wrong: Google's activity tracking app, Fit, didn't have a means to estimate burned calories -- or kilojoules -- before today. As Mountain View tells it, all you need to do to activate it is add in your height and gender (weight monitoring already existed) and Fit'll project calories shed and distance traveled in addition to time spent active. How it displays activity history's gotten a bit of a refresh too in addition to a new widget for Android Wear and Android itself that keeps any fitness goal close at hand. The numbers still give a complete picture since heart rate isn't involved, but at least we know Google hasn't forgotten about the app, right?
Google Fit is Android's answer to exercise and health tracking
Google Fit is Google's new health initiative. It's a service that'll track all your health metrics -- sleep, steps, etc. -- and it's built into the next version of Android. But what does that mean? Well, it means that Google's Android platform is getting the same kind of life-metric tracking that Apple's iOS users are getting in iOS 8 with HealthKit. More importantly, it means that the health devices you're already using will play nice with the myriad Android devices out there. It also means that all your health data ends up in one place, in one app, rather than spread across a variety of software applications. Which app you use, however, is up to you.
Daily Roundup: Galaxy S5, Samsung's new smartwatches, Nokia's Android phones, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Sony VAIO Fit 15 review (2013): Sony's mainstream notebooks get a makeover
And it begins: back-to-school season. Even though some students are still embroiled in finals, and even though Intel has yet to formally launch Haswell, the next few weeks will see multiple PC makers unveiling their summer lineups. First up: Sony. The company just introduced some new mainstream notebooks, dubbed the "Fit" family. These laptops, which replace the current E series and most of the T line, include the lower-end Fit 14E / Fit 15E, which are made of plastic, and the Fit 14 / Fit 15, which step up to a thinner aluminum chassis and optional SSDs. Either way, Sony is standardizing on certain specs across its entire summer lineup, including 1080p displays, backlit keyboards, NFC and Exmor R webcams for better low-light images. We've just spent a week testing the Fit 15, which will be available later this month for $700 and up. (The rest of the Fit line starts as low as $550.) Head past the break to see if it's worth a closer look once it hits store shelves.%Gallery-187504%
Sony's mainstream laptops now named 'Fit,' arrive ahead of back-to-school season
At some point -- we're not sure when -- Sony's naming scheme for laptops got confusing. There was the C series and the E series. The S, T, Z and even the F (RIP). Fortunately, Sony's been working to clear things up: its first Windows 8 products all had descriptive names like "Duo" or "Tap." Now, it's streamlining its mainstream notebooks too. The company just unveiled some redesigned models for back-to-school season, and they're all named 'Fit.' As the replacement to the entry-level E series and most of the T line, the Fit family includes both lower-end models (the Fit 14E / Fit 15E) and premium ones (the Fit 14 / Fit 15). They'll be available this month, starting at $550 and going all the way up to $2,210, depending on how many upgrades you check off during the configuration process. Regardless, there are certain specs you'll find across the board - not just on the Fit machines, mind you, but on every Sony PC announced this season. These include NFC, backlit keyboards and webcams with Sony's Exmor R imaging tech for better low-light performance. They'll all have 1080p screens, too, with the exception of the 14-inch Fits, which start at 1,600 x 900. Both the Fit and Fit E will be offered with optional NVIDIA GT 740M GPUs (1GB or 2GB), touchscreens, optical drives and a choice of Core i3, i5 and i7 processors (Ivy Bridge for now). Ultimately, then, the difference between the two comes down to build quality: the Fit E is made of plastic, whereas the Fit has a thinner aluminum chassis, with the fans hidden above the keyboard, and a lid that covers the hinge. Also, the Fit will be offered with SSDs, with hybrid drives being the base option; the Fit E comes standard with a regular HDD and can be upgraded to a hybrid drive. And in any event, all of these laptops will be available later this month. For now, check out the press shots below for a closer look.%Gallery-186996%
Sony launches a trio of VAIO Fit laptops in Japan
Spring is here, which means it's high time that Sony refreshed its laptop line for the cool kids in Japan. The company is talking up a quartet of new VAIOs including the previously-reviewed Duo 11 as well as the unfamiliar trio of the VAIO Fit 15E, Fit 14 and Fit 15. Delving deep into that last model, the 22.5mm-thick unit comes with a 1,920 x 1,080 touchscreen display and runs the 64-bit version of Windows 8 on a 2GHz Intel Core i7-3537U CPU. Look deeper and you'll find 8GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 1TB of hybrid storage as well as 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, NFC and an Exmor R webcam. The various models will filter into Japanese stores between May 18th and June 1st, with the stock Fit 15 setting you back 180,000 yen ($1,818).
Honda sells its millionth hybrid, sits in Toyota's rear-view mirror for now
Honda's hybrid cars just haven't achieved the same cachet as Toyota's without a poster child like the Prius to drive demand. Nonetheless, the automaker has something to crow about with word that it has sold over a million hybrids worldwide as of the end of September. The milestone comes almost 13 years after the first Japan-bound Insight changed hands in November 1999, and after a significant expansion that includes more specialized cars like the CR-Z coupe you see here. Americans represent almost a third of the total at 318,000 vehicles that are split mostly between the Insight and the Civic Hybrid. Hitting seven digits gives Honda some eco-friendly credibility in a crowded field, although the firm might not want to brag too loudly: Toyota has sold four times as many to date and expects to sell one million hybrids just in 2012.
Honda serves up first Fit EV to California couple, no gasoline aftertaste
Honda has handed over the keys for its first 118 MPGe Fit EV to Californians Matt and Becky Walton -- although they'll have to hand 'em back in a few years. The delivery kicks off a rollout starting in California and Oregon that will eventually reach the east coast by 2013. You can't call the couple owners, as Honda is leasing the EV for $389 per month, but should it ever go on sale, it would cost around $37,000. Packing a 20-kWh lithium-ion battery, the Fit has a range of 123 miles in the city or 76 miles combined city/highway and takes as little as three hours to re-juice with a sufficiently capable charger. Only 1,100 will be leased stateside, so if you've been dreaming of an electric Honda in your garage, you may want to check the PR quickly -- if it's not already too late.
Fitter, Happier: an eight-week exercise in using technology to help lose weight
For 27 years he ate what he wanted and avoided exercise like the plague. Can an arsenal of fitness gadgets make this human healthier in just eight weeks? From the snake oil salesman to the Thighmaster(TM), science and technology have promised the end of obesity, ill health and lethargy for centuries. Today, weight loss gadgetry is all around us, with affordable commercial systems available from Nintendo, Nike, Adidas and countless other manufacturers, all promising their technology will turn us into paragons of healthy virtue. How is it then, that for all of this, we live in an age where a quarter of the American population is obese? Do any of these seemingly endless health aids actually work? Will a $200 wristband or a $100 pedometer cause you to banish microwave dinners and saturated fats, take up regular exercise at the gym at least three days a week and sleep well with no bad dreams? Or has the health industry made technology another ineffective distraction that only provides you with a vague sense that you're doing something positive? Is the real answer what it's always been: go for a walk in the trees and eat your greens?
Honda Fit EV rated at 118 MPGe, will get you 82 of those on one charge (update)
Honda's perky little Fit EV has just been marked and measured by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has rated the dinky 'lectro-wagon at 118 MPGe, which Honda claims is the best ever score. Our friends over at Autoblog aren't so sure, noting that the Tesla Roadster eked out 119 MPGe in its testing. That said, the Fit does best the Roadster on its city rating (132 over 124 MPGe) so perhaps there's some gentle number massaging going on. With performance like that, however, we won't hold it against them. In fact we're off to buy one now. Oh wait. Update: Honda has been in contact to clarify that its rating of 118 is an official EPA score. The Tesla's 119 was based on internal testing, meaning the Fit does indeed have the top EPA rating.
Jawbone's Up wristband warms up at AT&T store, wants you faster, stronger
Jawbone's fitness-obsessed wristband appears to be closing in on the retail finish line. The Up pairs with what appears to be an iOS app, (no news on whether an Android version is in the pipeline), and will pile on the guilt about your disgustingly sedentary lifestyle. You can have the luxury of feeling like a weight loss reality show contestant by scheduling "get up and move" reminders when you've succumbed to watching back-to-back mediocre sitcoms with a Doritos family bag chaser. There's also a sleep tracker and a challenge tab to plot your amazing weight loss journey (or descent to an early demise) against friends and family. It'll monitor what you eat, and even tell you which foods "help you feel your best." (We think it's cake.) No word on price or arrival date just yet, so you'll just have to put up with Autom until we hear more. [Thanks, Luke]
Jawbone branches out from audio products, teases "Up" wristband that keeps tabs on your bad habits
According to our calendar, this is one of the least timely days of the year for us to harp on New Year's Resolutions, but that's no matter to Jawbone. The company, best-known for crafting those high-end headsets, is at TED talking up its first non-audio product: a wristband dubbed "Up" that tracks and analyzes your eating, sleeping, and exercise habits -- kind of like a bare-bones Fitbit or Nike+. As you can see in that photo up there, it's about the size of those ubiquitous rubber Livestrong bands and lacks a display (not to mention, wireless radios) -- all concessions made in the name of keeping the cost down, says Travis Bogard, VP of product marketing and strategy. So, this is a good 'ol wired product, with a bundled adapter connecting the band to your phone via the 3.5mm jack. Once you connect, you can view all your data on a website or through a mobile app. Or, if you thrive on public shaming, you can challenge people to fitness duels to the death (our phrasing, not Jawbone's). All told, this falls outside the outfit's comfort zone, but then again, it does know a thing or two about wearable tech. For now, the company's keeping mum on pricing and availability, though it says Up will be available in the states later this year. As for compatibility, well, Bogard tells us it's going to work with "all the relevant" mobile platforms. Make of that what you will, folks.
