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Spire's health tracker sticks on clothes and never needs charging
Wearable fitness monitors promise a lot but research shows that nearly a third are abandoned in junk drawers because they're too fiddly, require too much maintenance or users are simply forgetting to put them on. Health monitoring company Spire thinks it's found the answer to these woes with the Spire Health Tag, the smallest ever fitness tracker that doesn't need to be charged and never has to be taken off.
Matrix PowerWatch hands-on: The promise of a world without chargers
When Matrix co-founder Douglas Tham handed me my review unit of the PowerWatch, I had to fight the instinct to ask for a charger. This thermal-powered wearable doesn't need one -- it gets energy by converting your body heat into electricity. It's been a year since I saw an early prototype of the PowerWatch -- a smart(ish) watch that tracks basic fitness metrics. Now, the self-proclaimed energy-harvesting company is finally ready to ship PowerWatches to the early adopters who backed its Indiegogo campaign. I spent some time with this first-generation watch in all its chunky, rugged glory and, while I still wish it were smaller and did more, I find its potential compelling.
Sweetgreen's iOS app logs calories directly to Apple Health
To this day, Apple Health still lacks a food database, leaving health-conscious iPhone owners with few options. Most people just end up relying on an Apple Health-integrated app, like MyFitnessPal, to tally all their meals. But, let's face it, that can be a pain, especially when it comes to searching for stuff you eat on the fly. However, Sweetgreen has come up with a nifty idea to make life easier for calorie-counters. In what seems to be a first, the restaurant chain's iPhone app lets you send your order's dietary data to Apple Health from your cart.
Fitbit now gives you credit for VR bike rides
Fitbit will soon log your biking miles even when you're on a virtual road stuck in your living room. The company has partnered with VirZoom, a company that turns dull old stationary cycling into a tank, sports car or Pegasus ride via VR. We thought that gamifying fitness was a nice idea when we tried it back in 2015, but Fitbit makes it possible to incorporate it into your regular routine. The device will not only capture and log your workout duration, distance pedaled and calories, but sync it to your Fitbit account and give you credit toward your goals.
Smartphone accessory 3D-scans your food to count calories
Visual calorie-counting apps have appeared on smartphones before, but typically involved object identification through the camera (or barcode scanning, which isn't quite the same). Other apps, with more expensive subscription costs, would direct your photos to people hired to work out what you were putting in your mouth.While this route would probably offer the most precise answers, it's also not an instant one, and learning that delicious meat pie you ate for dinner goes over your calorie count for the day is no use once it's already long gone. The NutriRay3D adds some hardware to your existing smartphone, scanning the contents of your plate with lasers for high-precision calorie and nutrient estimates -- it's looking to crowdfunding to make it all happen.
Google displays the nutritional values of fast food meals
Google wants to count calories in your food photos someday, but until that happens, it can at least help you speed-search popular fast food meals. Say, you want to know what exactly you're consuming when you eat a Big Mac -- just type "calories in a Big Mac" or say it out loud after "OK, Google" using voice search on your mobile app. A box containing the food's complete nutritional information (calories, carbs, fats, etc.), similar to what you see on calorie-counting apps like MyFitnessPal, will then show up on the results page. You can also search for a fast food chain's full menu and click on each item to show its nutritional values. For instance, you can type in "Burger King calories" for a quick check before you order. That way, you won't end up buying a Triple Whopper if you're not ready to consume a whopping 1,160 calories in one sitting.
Google hopes to count the calories in your food photos
Be careful about snapping pictures of your obscenely tasty meals -- one day, your phone might judge you for them. Google recently took the wraps off Im2Calories, a research project that uses deep learning algorithms to count the calories in food photos. The software spots the individual items on your plate and creates a final tally based on the calorie info available for those dishes. If it doesn't properly guess what you're eating, you can correct it yourself and improve the system over time. Ideally, Google will also draw from the collective wisdom of foodies to create a truly smart dietary tool -- enough experience and it could give you a solid estimate of how much energy you'll have to burn off at the gym.
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?
Microwaves of the future count calories so you don't have to
If you're into the whole quantified-self movement, or you just fancy watching what you eat, GE is working on new microwave tech that could make manual calorie counting obsolete. The company's R&D department developed a prototype that directly measures the caloric amounts for the foods that it heats. For now, the device only works with blended foods, and requires a uniform mixture to provide accurate values; however, a new gadget is in the works that that will tally stats for a full plate. This means that the essential info for a chicken breast and two vegetables can be sent to a smartphone app while you wait. The folks at GE are using fat and water content to calculate calories as low-energy microwaves pass through weighed portions. It's too early to tell when (or if) the system will make it to consumers, but you may want to ditch those Hungry-Man dinners before your microwave has a chance to provide its own guilt trip.
Garmin's fitness trackers now help you master your calorie balance
There are plenty of apps and gadgets that track the calories you burn during exercise. But comparing those figures with the calories you're taking in? That's harder, which is why Garmin has teamed up with MyFitnessPal to provide a clearer picture of your energy balance. The collaboration melds the calorie consumption data from Garmin devices with MyFitnessPal's activity and nutrition info to create a Calorie In/Out section on Garmin's Connect page. You'll quickly find out if a long run was enough to offset that big dessert, or if you need to eat more to keep up with your workouts. The MyFitnessPal integration is currently limited to the Forerunner 15 GPS watch and the Vivofit tracker, but all Forerunners and Edge bike computers should support the feature this summer.
The Vessyl smart cup knows how many calories are in your favorite Pinot
"How many calories are in this mojito?" you ask yourself three drinks in. Or maybe you don't -- but you should. (Those cocktails really add up.) If you want to get a handle on your beverage habit and make sure you're adequately hydrated, a sleek, 13-ounce container designed by Yves Béhar can help. Called Vessyl, the smart cup recognizes whatever liquid you pour into it. What's more, it can tell you just how much caffeine is in your coffee and send nutritional content to your smartphone.You can pre-order the device now for $99, which is a hundred bucks cheaper than the retail price. That's no bargain, but Vessyl's ability to recognize thousands of drinks is pretty impressive.
TellSpec identifies food ingredients and calories using science, magic
Some of us can't eat gluten, while others need to stay away from certain fats. Mealtime can be incredibly stressful for people with dietary restrictions -- especially when dining out -- since manufacturers aren't always required to report all ingredients, specifically when dealing with trace amounts. With frequent inaccuracies, counting calories is a whole 'nother ball game. A pocketable device called TellSpec may be an affordable solution for breaking down the ingredients in our meals consistently, and wherever we eat. The device is essentially a miniature spectrometer -- a device that can analyze materials (ingredients, in this case) by measuring properties of light. The gadget sends a list of ingredients and nutrition info to a companion smartphone app, making it easy to evaluate food quickly and efficiently. If you live to eat, you might not want TellSpec complicating the experience, but if you eat to live, this gadget seems like a fit. It's set to ship next August, with pre-orders at Indiegogo available for $150 beginning today.
Fitbit for Android helps track your I/O
The fitness fanatics from Fitbit are looking to aid and abet the Android-loving, calorie-counting masses. The company has announced the release of its self-titled Android application, which will assist users in tracking their health and dietary goals. Through manual entry, or with the assistance of a wireless sensor, Fitbit tracks your daily activity and creates a dynamic nutrition plan to help you achieve your weight loss and fitness goals. What's more, the app and service keep a log of your progress allowing users to feel shame track their progress. The app is available via Google Play for the always attractive price of $0. Have yourself a download... and a quick jog.
Bite Counter knows how many donuts you devoured, shames you into eating less
Because all you ever really wanted was an $800 bracelet that counts calories... enter the Bite Counter. It's the retro-lookin' lovechild of two Clemson University researchers that helps its hosts approximate caloric consumption by counting how many bites they take. Color us skeptical, as the meatbag wearing the gizmo has to -- gasp! -- actually remember to both start and stop the device each time they feast. The duo is hopeful it'll glean useful data for future research, as the contraption can be used "anywhere, such as at restaurants or while working" -- you know, places where scribbling how much you eat in a secret diary is frowned upon. Best of luck fellas, but until it hits a sub-century price point, we'll just stick to eating salads. PR after the jump.
NutriSmart prototype embeds RFID tags directly within food, traces your lunch from start to finish (video)
RFID tags are already used to trace everything from poker chips to hotel towels, but what if these little pellets were embedded directly within your lunch, providing everything you'd ever wanna know about that ham sandwich you're about to beast? That's the idea behind NutriSmart -- a food tracking system that revolves around edible RFID tags. Developed by Hannes Harms, a design engineering student at the Royal College of Art in London, these little markers would allow consumers to trace the entire supply chain behind every item in their cupboard, while feeding valuable nutritional information to dieters or people with particularly dangerous food allergies. Kodak, as you may recall, came up with a similar idea a few years ago, though Harms' prototype extends beyond the realm of medical monitoring. Properly equipped refrigerators, for example, would be able to alert users whenever their stock's about to expire, simply by scanning the tags. The NutriSmart concept also calls for a smart plate, which Harms describes as an "invisible diet management system." Just put your meal on the plate and an embedded reader will analyze your grub, tell you how many miles it traveled before arriving at your kitchen and transmit all of its history and caloric data to your phone, via Bluetooth. No word yet on what would happen to these tags post-digestion, though our inner 13-year-olds are giggling at the possibilities. Video after the break.
Cameraphone app analyzes your meal, disgusts you with factual calorie counts
It's a hard truth that's easy to swallow: our cubicle-dwelling lifestyles often get the best of our waistlines. We try to diet, but without a never-ending pile of Cheetos and Chicken McNuggets next to our laptops, we feel so very, very, very....alone. Luckily a Japanese company has developed a software companion to keep us company on our slimming endeavors: it's an app that will analyze a photo of your meal and tell you how many calories you're about to consume. While it can't actually prevent the food from hopping down our throats (2.0, maybe?) it will allow your meal's calorie content to be socially networked with your friends' meals' calorie contents, creating a weird long-distance eating competition with other connected dieters. But hold the Pad See Ew -- while it's good at figuring out Japanese staples, it's "not so good on stuff like Thai food." [Photo courtesy tnarik's flickr]
Fitbit tracker starts shipping, ready to monitor your fitness, sleep, piety
Better (a year) late than never, eh Fitbit? This time last year, there was quite a bit of buzz stirred up by a little gadget promising to monitor exercise intensity, distances traveled, sleep patterns, and calorie consumption. This pedometer with a degree and a 3D motion sensor has been incubating a lot longer than initially projected, but the first few units have finally trickled out to their eager users today. The entire device is essentially one big clip, attaching to any bit of clothing you have on you, while its base station can wirelessly collect data and upload it, via a pc, to a free online tracking dashboard. Add in the OLED display and a quoted battery autonomy of 10+ days, and the $99 price starts to appear pretty reasonable.[Via medGadget]
Quantify the burn with the Wii Fit Calorie Meter
Why doesn't Wii Fit include an estimate of the calories you burn during exercises? That would be really useful. Nintendo seems to agree, at least -- it has created a Flash application that does just that. The Wii Fit Calorie Meter couldn't be easier to use, unless it were in English! Push the big green button in the middle to start, then enter your weight (in kilograms). You can then click on each exercise you've done (or plan to do) and tell the calculator the number of sets you've done of each. The app will add up your calories as you go!We suspect we'll see this thing in English soon enough, but the interface is so easy to figure out, there's no reason you can't augment your Wii Fit exercise routine now.[Via Famitsu]
First Look: Got Your BAC for iPhone/iPod touch
If you frequent the bar, or just like to have the occasional drink, then a new iPhone application has Got Your Back. As a matter of fact, that is the name of the application; except it is spelled BAC (as in Blood-Alcohol Concentration). With this application you will know exactly when you should call a taxi.When you first launch the application, you'll enter some personal information, like age, weight, and gender, so the application can calculate your BAC correctly. The main display shows four drinks on a table. You can change the type of beverage by double-tapping and selecting a different one -- the icon will also change. Each time you drink a beverage, you drag the icon off the table and onto the screen. The BAC, Carbs, Calories, and number of drinks will be updated in the top-left corner of the screen. As you add drinks, these numbers will increase. The red line across the screen indicates the legal limit -- when you're above this line, a new button will appear called "call a taxi." When tapped, this button will launch the Maps app and search for taxis. I love subtle UI features, and this application definitely has some: from the icon sets for beverages, to the sloshing liquid when you tilt the iPhone. The application is really great, and I would love to see the developer create a caffeine calculator that does the same thing. I would like to see the ability to input a number for a designated driver, that way you don't have to fumble through your contacts or call a taxi. Got Your BAC is available from the App Store for $2.99 (US). And, remember, the best thing to do is to not drink and drive. %Gallery-37758%
Be fit with BeFit for Mac
In case you're wondering why I've been writing about exercise and food applications lately, it's because I'm trying to lose a few pounds, OK? When I saw the press release for BeFit from Jon Brown Designs today, I jumped (well, would you believe moved slowly?) at the chance to post about this app.BeFit works like most food tracking applications in that it lets you count exactly how many calories you're taking in. If you take in fewer calories than you expend, then you'll lose weight over time. BeFit includes over 7,000 foods from the FDA/USDA food database. Spotlight search is built into the application to make it easy to search for foods, and when you find them they're displayed with a full Nutrition Facts panel like those on food packages.You can create a huge number of individual tracking lists, rename them, and sort them. If you're just looking for certain nutrients to track (e.g., carbs or saturated fats), you can hide other nutrients, then get a running total for those items you're interested in.BeFit 1.0 is US$15.95 and existing customers of Jon Brown Designs get a 50% discount. All purchasers of BeFit 1.0 receive free upgrades through version 3.0. There's a demo available from the BeFit website.
