sleep tracking
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Fitbit's Sleep Profile feature offers upgraded tracking for Premium subscribers
It'll aggregate data for 10 metrics on a monthly basis to help improve your sleep.
watchOS 9 will include improved sleep tracking and medication reminders
Apple Watch will also show how long you appear to be in a state of atrial fibrillation.
Sleep Number says its latest smart bed will adapt to your needs as you get older
The bed may eventually alert you to potential health conditions.
Amazon hopes to track your sleep habits with radar
Amazon now has FCC approval to use radar to track your sleeping habits, much like what you see in the Google Nest Hub.
Fitbit Luxe review: A tiny tracker that’s both easy and hard on the eyes
For $150, the Luxe is a tiny, capable fitness tracker that can track pretty much everything. But its size is also one of its drawbacks
Fitbit devices may soon track your snoring
Fitbit is working on a feature that will allow its users to track how much of the night they spend snoring.
OnePlus Watch review: Just get a Fitbit instead
OnePlus is promising a week’s worth of juice in just 20 minutes. And its $159 price tag is another pro. But with a brand new OS and little else unique, the OnePlus Watch struggles to hold its own against the competition.
Google Nest Hub (2nd gen) review: A great smart display and mediocre sleep tracker
For $100, the Nest Hub is already a compelling smart display that’s cheaper than the original, with the sleep tracking being an added bonus. But based on my testing, I’m not sure I can count on it to improve my sleeping patterns just yet.
Google's latest Nest Hub smart display detects motion to track your sleep
With the second Nest Hub, Google has added a surprise feature: a Soli radar sensor that detects motion and uses that data to determine if you're asleep.
Google offers improved sleep tracking tools for Android apps
Google is giving developers its low-power sleep tracking API in a bid to improve their apps.
Apple sponsors a three-year UCLA study on depression and anxiety
Apple's latest research project will see the company sponsor a study on depression from UCLA.
Apple Watch may get a kids mode and sleep tracking
Apple seems to be hard at work on new features for its wearable. Yesterday, news broke that the company is planning on integrating a feature that will detect low blood oxygen levels in a user, which could help prevent heart and lung complications. Further leaks obtained by 9to5Mac show that Apple could soon introduce a way for parents to use their iPhones to set usage limitations on their kids' Watches, as well as some frequently-requested sleep tracking features.
Apple Watch may get sleep tracking as soon as next week
The Apple Watch might include sleep tracking sooner than you think. Sources talking to 9to5Mac claim to have significant details as to how the health feature will work, with word that it might be announced "as early as next week" at the September 10th event. Some details aren't surprising, but they suggest this isn't just a throwaway addition.
Google Fit now tracks your sleep patterns
Google Fit should now be that much more helpful when you're ramping down for the night. The fitness app now tracks sleep patterns from apps that share their data, giving you better sense of whether or not you need more shut-eye. You can add to and edit your sleep history if companion apps aren't providing a complete picture of your downtime. Accordingly, there's a new dark theme (in keeping with Google's recent trends) that should be kinder to your eyes at night.
Your sleep tracker might make insomnia worse
Sleep tracking can help you determine if you're getting a good night's rest, but it might exacerbate your problems in some circumstances. Scientists talking to the New York Times have warned that sleep tracker apps and devices can worsen insomnia both through inaccurate data and by making your anxieties that much worse. In a study, for instance, it led to people both spending too much time in bed (to boost their sleep stats) and reporting non-existent conditions that resulted in wasted treatment.
The $70 Fitbit for kids is now available
Last summer, Fitbit introduced its kid-focussed fitness tracker, Ace. Now, the company is back with a new model, Ace 2, and it's dropped the price by $30. Fitbit teased Ace 2 in March, when it announced its Inspire and Inspire HR wearables, but the kid-friendly device is just now available and listed at $69.95.
Apple Watch might finally add sleep tracking next year
A future version of the Apple Watch will reportedly pack a sleep monitoring feature. The tech giant has been quietly testing the functionality at its Cupertino base, according to insiders who spoke to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, with plans to launch it on the sixth-gen Apple Watch next year. Aside from introducing a feature that the smartwatch has sorely lacked, its arrival could also kill off an entire cottage industry of third-party apps that have been doing the leg work in Apple's absence.
MIT uses radio waves and AI to more accurately study sleep
Sleep tracking has moved to the bedroom, with apps, peripherals and wearables that use movement or your device's microphone to figure out when you're sleeping or awake. Those with sleep disorders, however, are still stuck with large, disruptive arrays of physical sensors for sleep studies. Now, however, researchers at MIT have started using radio signals and artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze patients' sleep stages without physical sensors and they're reporting a high rate of accuracy. This could help people with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and epilepsy, all of whom can have sleep disruptions that are hard to detect. Eventually, it may help all of us.
Runtastic's Sleep Better app aims for a good night's rest
Runtastic, best known for its fitness apps and hardware, just unveiled its first sleep-tracking app: Sleep Better. The app, which is available for both iPhone and Android, offers most of the features you'd expect. You can track the overall quality of your sleep by laying your phone beside you (it relies on your phone's sensors to determine how much you toss and turn). And since it knows how you're sleeping, you can set up a smart alarm to wake you up when you're not in deep sleep, which typically leaves you feel more well-rested.
CES 2013: Fitbug launches the Orb, for tracking sleep and activity via iOS
Photo: Engadget Whatever you do, don't confuse the Fitbug with its similarly titled competitor, the Fitbit -- we accidentally did so at this week's CES Unveiled event, and the company's rep gave us a stern correction. In our defense, it's easy to mix the two up: They obviously sound similar, and they perform similar tasks, both tracking health and calorie consumption via a Bluetooth app. But Fitbug's new Orb unit hopes to do even more than the popular Fitbit -- not only will it track calories burned through the pedometer, but it will also measure sleep (presumably by noting when you're laying down and going inactive). The Fitbug will hook up with any iOS device, and can deliver data through a continuous stream, set data to be kicked out at certain times or follow your directions through a Push mode. The unit can be worn around the wrist, clipped on or connected to a necklace attachment. The Orb is available now from Fitbug directly, for a price of £45 (or US$73). The company has also introduced a line of Bluetooth enabled scales this week called the Fitbug Wow, that will also track your progress and share it across to a series of iPhone apps. That information can also be browsed through on the website, to mingle up with whatever data you've collected from the Orb. The scales will be out in March, and can be bought for either £70 or £100 ($114 or $163, respectively), depending on whether you buy the packaged Air activity tracker as well. Engadget has a gallery of each device here. There are already a number of solutions out there for activity tracking like this, but Fitbug is throwing its hat into the arena with a passion. We'll have to wait and see, as the year goes on, if one of these solutions can fight its way up to the top.
