Fitbit Flex finally finds a fit with wrist design
The Fitbit is no longer fiddly.
Its San Francisco-based maker has removed my chief problem with this useful health tracker – launching a Fitbit Flex version today that straps to my wrist rather than the USB-stick shaped predecessor that was always getting lost in one of my pockets. Read more
Jawbone Up bands with BodyMedia
The hearts of two health-tracking leaders are to beat as one, with Jawbone announcing this morning it has acquired BodyMedia, in a deal reportedly worth $110m.
Taking the best elements from both’s products would represent a combination only seen thus far in the sleep-monitored dreams of fitness fanatics. Jawbone’s Up bracelet and its app’s interface are beautifully designed but relatively light on meaningful information, while BodyMedia’s armband is ugly, but packing data-rich sensors. Read more
Jawbone back up with UP
Jawbone is reintroducing UP almost a year after users’ complaints, about the health-monitoring wristband dying on them, forced it to halt production.
The new UP, costing $30 more than the original, has been rigorously tested and its components improved to prevent a repeat of the public relations and financial fiasco for the company. Read more
Big Jambox offers larger wireless sound
Jawbone, which has the best-selling speaker in the US in the Jambox, has come up with an even bigger seller – at least in size – Big Jambox.
As the name suggests, this is a big brother to the original Bluetooth wireless speaker, with a much larger frame and sound, plus added features, as I discovered in a few days of testing. Read more
The CES survival gadgets
Surviving the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas requires comfortable shoes, plenty of liquids and some indispensable and inspirational gadgets to get you through the day – my Jawbone Up band tells me I walked more than 30 miles over 4 days.
Yomping through the show floors can be made bearable with a rechargeable rucksack, an all-over massage chair and the uplifting sight of an ultimate command and control centre that can make you emperor of all you survey. Read more
Jawbone pulls UP, offers refunds
Jawbone says it has stopped production of its latest product – a health wristband called UP- and will offer refunds, after numerous devices failed.
The San Francisco company made the unusual offer that customers could both have their money back and keep the product, even if they had no reason to request a refund. Read more
Eat, Play, Sleep with tech health support
After extensive testing of the latest fitness gadgets, I have discovered one major problem common to all of them – me.
Sticking to fitness regimes and weight-loss programmes requires a degree of rigour I seem to lack and this carried over into the discipline of having to record my activity on the new Jawbone UP and updated versions of the Fitbit widget and the BodyMedia FIT armband. Read more
Jawbone launches $100 UP health band
Brace yourselves for a health-embracing bracelet from Jawbone, maker of cool Bluetooth headsets and the Jambox wireless speaker.
UP is the name of the wristband and its associated iPhone app and Jawbone is pricing it at $99.99, with availability from Sunday in the US and November 17 in the UK. Read more
Jawbone, the maker of stylish Bluetooth headsets, has announced an expansion of its wearable computing devices to a wristband that monitors your health.
Named “Up”, the new gadget was unveiled by Hosain Rahman, Jawbone chief executive, at the Ted Global conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Jawbone adds Up wearable health gadget
Jawbone, the maker of stylish Bluetooth headsets, has announced an expansion of its wearable computing devices to a wristband that monitors your health. Named “Up”, the new gadget was unveiled by Hosein Rahman, Jawbone chief executive, at the Ted Global conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
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