Fitbit
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Fitbit Ultra review
Oh, hey, Fitbit. Nice to see you again. Although we thought the original fitness tracker did too little for a $100 gadget, enough people apparently begged to differ, as the the outfit just trotted out a second-gen model, dubbed the Fitbit Ultra. Like its predecessor, this little guy analyzes eating, exercise and sleep patterns (largely with the help of an accompanying website). If you've been following along, you know that design hasn't changed much, while that website and hundred-buck price should be mighty familiar, too. This time around the company is adding a few new features, including Foursquare-esque badges and an altimeter for counting how many steps you've climbed. But does this series of minor enhancements add up to a significant improvement? Time to lace up your running shoes, kids, and meet us after the break. %Gallery-135129% %Gallery-135381%
Fitbit review
It wasn't that long ago that a bathroom scale was the only gadget you needed to track weight loss. Today even videogame consoles, once the bane of the fitness industry, are trying to help you recycle that spare tire, and of course there's no shortage of specialty doo-dads getting in on the action. The Fitbit is one of those, a little accelerometer that pledges to keep an eye on what you do so that you can just go ahead and do it, reporting back at the end of the day on how well you did at staying active. It sounds nice, but it's not quite that self-sufficient. Read on to see if it's worth the commitment. %Gallery-75475%
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]
Wearable Fitbit automatically tracks your exercise routines
Although the world already has a set of headphones that encourages you to work out, the newly announced Fitbit is just a hair more sophisticated. Designed to be worn or carried around in a spare pocket, the personal tracker is about the size of a standard flash drive and includes a built-in motion sensor to keep tabs on "exercise intensity levels, calories burned, sleep quality, steps and distance traveled." When it ships in late December / early January for $99, the unit will reportedly boast a fancy OLED display for quick readouts, and hey, it should even arrive just in time to complement your entirely meaningless New Year's Resolution.[Via Gearlog]
