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My toxic relationship with fitness wearables
Fitness gadgets were meant to make me a better man. Or at least a healthier (possibly more attractive) one. Over the course of my wrist-based romance, I've strapped on a Fitbit, a Jawbone Up, two types of Nike FuelBand and an Apple Watch. Surprisingly for me, it's the Apple Watch that got the most extended use, given that it wasn't defined by its fitness features. Yet, since November (midway through a fitness challenge at Engadget), I haven't worn anything when I'm working out, nor anything to monitor my activity during the day. I've had enough of the constant nagging.
Nike has a vending machine that lets you trade Fuel for gear
When we heard that Nike had put up a secret vending machine in New York City, we definitely wanted to go find it and see what all the fuss was about. But, unfortunately, we were a little bit late to the party -- the machine is now long gone, perhaps on its way to a new place (maybe Japan?). Nike's FuelBox, as the company has adequately dubbed it, is a vending machine which dispenses goods in exchange for your daily, not total, FuelBand points. As TechCrunch pointed out, Nike packed the FuelBox with a number of different stuff, including hats, shirts and socks (sorry, no kicks). It's certainly a fun incentive to drive people to rack up Fuel on their bands, and it shows that, despite the rumors of the FuelBand going away, Nike is still very heavily invested in doing things for that community. Stay on the lookout, because Nike says you never know where it could show up next.
Nike updates Training Club app to help you keep those New Year's resolutions
You know what always comes after pigging out during the holidays: a New Year's resolution to get fit, this time (you swear!) for sure. Well, Nike's hoping to kickstart your quest to fitness by updating its Nike Training Club (N+TC) apps for Android and iOS. New features include the ability to customize exercise routines, as well as earn reward content and sharable milestones whenever you reach a goal. Nike has also added six new exercise videos (of athletes and celeb trainers) to its archive of more than a hundred. Other than that, the app's now more tightly integrated with other Nike products: it's now possible to add minutes from each run on the separate Running app to your N+TC total, and you can tag N+TC sessions on the FuelBand app. The update will hit both platforms' app stores on December 31st -- just in time to make you feel less guilty about that third slice of cheesecake on New Year's Eve.
Nike FuelBand SE review: more social features, much longer battery life
Nike's new FuelBand is now out, and following a few weeks of running in parks, walking around exhibition halls and the occasional all-out exercise session, well, I'm pretty tired. Fortunately, I only needed to charge Nike's new wearable once in my first eight days of use. Indeed, that's the main benefit to Nike's Second Edition (SE) FuelBand: thanks to an energy-efficient Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) radio, it promises much-improved battery life over its predecessor. When it comes to the physical hardware, however, its appearance has barely changed since 2012, save for three new color options (and a highfalutin' Rose Gold one). Its fitness-tracking capabilities haven't changed either, although Nike has promised improvements in accuracy and a better ability to sense when you're attempting to game the FuelBand. Beneath the matte black surface, however, there's been more progress: Nike+, the FuelBand's companion app, is friendlier than ever, with the ability to group your buddies into separate categories. There are also new hourly reminders to stay active throughout the day and a Sessions feature to monitor activity in a set timeframe. More than ever, though, Nike's finding itself in a crowded wearables market. Though it was one of the early victors, has it done enough to maintain its lead? Grab your water bottle and we'll walk you through it.
Nike+ FuelBand SE unveiled with new colors, Bluetooth 4.0, priced at $149 (update: eyes-on)
The sportswear giant from Beaverton, Oregon has just unveiled its latest fitness-oriented wearable -- say hello to the Nike+ FuelBand SE. This refreshed edition looks nearly identical to its predecessor, but comes in black with total crimson (a mix of orange and red), pink foil or volt (a yellow and greenish neon) accents. Nike's hoping to get FuelBand users to move even more throughout the day with this edition, thanks to some "fine-tuning" to how your Fuel is tracked. Namely, the new unit can identify actual movement better, rather than counting things like ambiguous wrist flicks. You'll also get better flexibility and weather sealing, hourly reminders to move, Bluetooth 4.0 and a double-tap function for the home button that'll bring up the time. Nike's tweaked the FuelBand iOS app a bit as well, to help users get the most movement out of their day. Fuel Curve graphs your hourly movements, with five minutes per hour being the minimum to achieve an hourly goal (only two-percent of users reach this currently). You'll also find dynamic info for your daily and weekly activity. Flipping the app into landscape mode gives a new view for tracking your weekly goal, hours you've "won" and the intensity of your movements. Better yet, Sessions gives you the ability to tag specific workout activities and monitor your Fuel Rate in real time. All of this is easily shareable with your friends across social networks using a centralized Group feature. Nike's running app has also been updated to automatically pause when you rest, while also enabling a photo option. If you want in on the new band, you can snag one starting November 6th, for $159 $149. Also worth a mention, Nike's reinstated its Accelerator program as the Nike+ Fuel lab in San Francisco, with an aim to help 10 more companies build Fuel-related products over the course of 12 weeks.
Apple hires Nike FuelBand designer Ben Shaffer; Cupertino's wearable can't be far behind
A month after after poaching fitness expert and Nike FuelBand consultant Jay Blahnik, Apple has added another former Nike employee to its ranks. Cupertino has reportedly hired Ben Shaffer, who served the sneaker brand as Studio Director of the Innovation Kitchen. In this role, Shaffer helped develop the FuelBand and the Flyknit shoe, and it serves to reason that his position at Apple will involve wearables as well. It's also not a stretch to assume that the company's upcoming wearable will incorporate some of Nike's fitness-tracking tech -- here's hoping we won't be waiting too long to see the fruits of this partnership.
Moves: fitness tracking without a pedometer in your pocket
Since blogging is a rather sedentary profession, many of us at TUAW try to find another way to stay in shape. Walking and running provide a good aerobic workout, so a lot of us have picked up one of the popular fitness metrics devices to help track our daily mileage. Whether that device is a Fitbit, a Nike FuelBand or some other connected activity tracker, it's usually stuck to a belt loop or shirt so we can track every step. Features vary from brand to brand, but the core functionality is almost always a pedometer that tracks strides and extrapolates your activity level from the number of steps you take in a day. Moves (free) is a new app based on a simple premise -- why do you need a separate activity tracker gadget that you can lose, forget or damage when you already have your iPhone with you almost all the time? Moves tracks your activity simply by running in the background on your phone, using the phone's accelerometer to estimate your step count and Location Services to keep track of where you are. Of course, for iPhone owners, the words "background" and "Location Services" bring up a mental alert about the times that you've used other location-aware apps -- and watched your iPhone charge level drop like an Acme anvil from the sky. The developers at ProtoGeo Oy admit right up front that "continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life." The developers say that their goal "was to create an app that will keep your phone running fine if you charge it nightly." In actual day-to-day use, I'd say they've met their goal. I've been using the app for five days on an iPhone 5 and have never completely run out of juice prior to plugging in the device at night. It's been close, though -- and without Moves running I usually have about half of my charge left every night. With that acknowledged, and knowing that the Lightning-equipped iPhone 5 battery cases that could extend your power profile aren't quite shipping yet, does Moves actually work? Like the Fitbit and Nike FuelBand, it records your daily walking and running as well as other movement-based exercise. Like Runkeeper and similar apps, you can use Moves to track the amount of distance you cycle. Moves recognizes those different activities and displays a pulsing circle for each. Walking is measured in steps taken, while cycling and running are totaled in miles or kilometers. %Gallery-177535% That's where the similarity to a connected fitness tracker like the Fitbit ends. Since Moves shares the iPhone's awareness of where you are and where you go, it can tell how long you've spent at a specific location, show you the paths you took, and create a "storyline" of your day. The storyline is something totally unique to Moves; a timeline that is automatically constructed during the day as you move from place to place. Through integration with Foursquare, you can identify places that you go to and see how long it may have taken you to walk from one location to another. A tap on a walk or run displays a map showing the exact path you took between locations, as well as the number of steps and your average speed. One of my few gripes about Moves at this point is that it doesn't integrate with any other fitness services. For example, when I use Runkeeper to track walks, that information is immediately sent to a number of services including the Withings Health Mate app that tracks my weight and blood pressure. Once Moves starts creating those connections with other fitness apps or services, it will be much more useful. Another issue is accuracy. I was able to adjust my stride length for the Fitbit, and I know that both the step count and distances are quite accurate. If I take a look at my recorded step count for last Saturday from the Fitbit, it shows that I walked 4,839 steps and about 2.22 miles. For the same day, Moves shows that I took 4,055 steps and doesn't tally the total distance -- only how far I walked during those bursts of energy between bars and restaurants on Saturday night. I'm not sure what happened to those other 784 steps, but perhaps having the phone in my pants pocket kept the accelerometer-based step-tracking from working correctly if I didn't take a fast stride. I have to admit that I like being able to track my motion without a Fitbit, since I always have my iPhone in my pocket. My Fitbit (an original Ultra) occasionally has issues syncing with my Mac, and the older tracker model still needs a small base station plugged into a USB port to receive the sync data. Fitbit no longer sells the Ultra, and the new Fitbit One, Zip and Flex, all of which synchronize wirelessly with no additional dangly bits. I'll continue to give Moves a try, although not while I'm at Macworld/iWorld this week. I need my iPhone to have a decent amount of charge at all times, so I'll pause Moves tracking during the trip.
Daily Update for June 29, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Nike+ FuelBand adds support for Path app
Nike launched its FuelBand exercise assistant earlier this year and the device took off. Nike is releasing a significant update today that'll add support for the Path social network. This new Path feature will let users tie their FuelBand earnings with their status updates on Path. Users can view their daily timeline and see what they were doing when they earned their NikeFuel. It also lets users share their NikeFuel achievements with friends who are important to them. Another new feature is the ability to sync FuelBand data in the background by merely holding down the button on the Nike+ FuelBand for three seconds. The wristlet will then connect to the FuelBand app on the iPhone and send the workout data without any user intervention. The FuelBand costs $149 from Nike's website and the companion iOS app is available for free from the iOS App Store. [Via Engadget]
Nike+ FuelBand iOS app updated to run along your Path, sync in the background
If you decided to snag the latest Nike+ wristband earlier this year, you're about to get some added functionality thanks to an iOS application update. First, the outfit has added Path integration to the mobile software. Users can now keep track of the sights they've visited while out for a jog or bike ride and share said moments / achievements with their mates. When the day comes to a close, those points-of-interest along the trail will appear on the app's progress graph. You'll also encounter background syncing by holding down the FuelBand's button alongside the ability to check battery status, offline data access and setting the time with your iPhone or iPod touch. For a quick look at what you can expect to see with the refresh, sprint to the gallery below.
Nike+ FuelBand's internals get splayed at the FCC
All of these wrist-mounted fitness gizmos are pretty nifty, but we always wonder how they get those rigid circuit boards into such an unsuitable form-factor. Well, thanks to those scalpel-happy boffins at the FCC's underground bunker, wonder no more. Nike's FuelBand was wheeled in on a trolley and torn (quite literally) to pieces, and we felt we just had to share the pictures with you. A long peruse of the user manual revealed that the two metal extender links (for bigger-wristed enthusiasts) have to be swapped out using a sizing tool -- but the manual notes that if one isn't to hand, a bent paperclip will suffice. The documents also revealed that it's using a TI CC2564 Bluetooth radio and a stack provided by Stonestreet One. The monopole antenna is etched directly into the substrate of the flexible circuit board -- ensuring it'll bend around your bones and still operate. We also learned that once connected to your cellphone, it'll sit in a low-power "sniff mode," for two minutes and if there's no further activity it'll shut down. Of course, what's interesting to you (and us, honestly) is all the pictures in the second gallery, so get looking!
The Nike+ FuelBand measures activity in NikeFuel, ready for your NikeLife
While Nike might have beat competitors like the MotoACTV and Jawbone Up to the active bracelet market over two years ago, its original endeavor, the Nike+ SportBand, was getting long in the tooth. That changes today with the introduction of the far sleeker Nike+ FuelBand. It's much in the vein of the original, except boasts a more attractive 20 LED dot-matrix display and can measure activity in a new unit the company calls NikeFuel. That latter bit is a normalized score that unlike calories "awards equal points for the same activity regardless of physical makeup." We'll have to see about that, but we're definitively smitten with its design and that row of colorful LEDs that progressively fills as one gets closer to reaching their intended goal. The $149 pre-orders go live on the company's online store at 5PM ET, but those interested ought to peep the PR and video after the break.
