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Fitbit faces ill-timed lawsuits over haptic feedback
Fitbit is facing hard times between slowing fitness tracker sales and a reportedly floundering smartwatch project. Unfortunately, there's more bad news to add to the pile. Immersion is suing Fitbit in China and the US for allegedly violating multiple patents (three in each country) for haptic feedback. Supposedly, devices ranging from the original Flex to the Blaze all borrow Immersion's approach to vibrating a device in response to commands and for alerts. Fitbit rebuffed "numerous attempts" to strike a licensing deal, Immersion claims, so this is considered a last resort.
The best fitness tracker
By Amy Roberts This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer's guide to the best technology. Read the full article here. Over the course of 60 hours, we surveyed readers, interviewed industry and exercise-physiology experts, walked, ran (and ran some more), slept, grocery-shopped, jumping-jacked, swung kettlebells, and analyzed user experience to determine that the Garmin vívosmart HR is the best fitness tracker. It effectively collects the same data as top competitors from Fitbit and Jawbone but offers a larger, more legible touchscreen and more useful smartphone-notification options, as well as full waterproofing to 50 meters (other models are merely splash-resistant).
The best stuff we bought in 2015
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-410140{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-410140, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-410140{width:570px;display:block;}When you write about technology for a living, a lot of folks ask you for buying advice. And, while we get to test the latest and greatest gear on the planet, telling others what to spend their money on is often easier than shopping for ourselves. Only a select few devices are deemed worthy of our dollars. These are the best gadgets we bought in 2015.
Fitbit Surge and Charge HR automatically detect and log exercises
Just in time to entice holiday shoppers, Fibit is updating its Surge and Charge HR fitness trackers with a handful of new features. First, a SmartTrack feature automatically recognizes exercises during your workouts and records them in the Fitbit app along with details on duration, calories burned and heart rate. SmartTrack can determine if you're on the elliptical, outdoor biking, running, walking or doing one of a few aerobic workouts (Zumba, cardio-kickboxing , dance, etc.). It can also detect if you're playing sports like tennis, basketball and soccer. You can personalize the activity recognition too, telling the tech which movements you want logged as exercise and how long you want to be moving before it starts to track them. By default, you'll need to be in motion at least 15 minutes before the recording starts. When it comes to heart-rate tracking, the two wearables are getting improved PurePulse performance for those more intense workout sessions. By using Exercise Mode on the Charge HR and multi-sport modes on the Surge, the gadgets will provide a better "experience" during and after those high-energy activities like Zumba.
Fitbit: skin irritations were allergies, new wristbands have a warning
Fitbit recalled its Force wearable back in February after owners reported skin irritation, but after an investigation, says it will not do the same for the Fitbit Flex. The New York Times reports that the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission decided a recall was not necessary, as long as the company makes a few changes. New wristbands will ship with a warning that it contains nickel, a common allergy, as well as a sizing guide to keep users from making it too tight. In a just-posted (at such a convenient time) letter to customers, CEO & co-founder James Park said "we are now confident that our users who experienced allergic contact dermatitis likely reacted either to very small levels of methacrylates...or, to a lesser degree, nickel in the stainless steel casing." He goes on to say that Fitbit is taking this experience into account in the design for its next-generation trackers, which should include the new Charge and ChargeHR devices that recently surfaced.
Meet Fitbit's new Charge activity trackers (update)
Nearly a year after Fitbit revealed its last fitness gadget, it looks like its next devices will be called Charge. The wearables passed through the FCC revealing the moniker and designation as a "wireless activity tracker." Thanks to a USPTO filing, we can glean that it'll carry the usual waterproofing alongside pedometer and altimeter for tracking steps, sleep and calories burned. On top of those expected features, the paperwork also indicates that a heart rate sensor, navigation info, weather forecast, call notifications and volume control will also be lumped in for syncing up with your phone.
