Posts tagged "Wristband"

Lark Wristband Reveals the Best Lifestyle Choices For a Good Night’s Sleep

The Lark wristband and its accompanying iPhone app. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired

Julia Hu is a bubbly, 26-year-old Stanford alum and CEO of a Bay Area start-up. She’s got the passion and product pitch you’d expect from a practiced entrepreneur, but demonstrates a curious quirk you don’t find in a lot of CEOs: She seems well rested.

One would hope so. Hu is in charge of Lark, a silent alarm clock, sleep monitor, and personal sleep coach, all rolled into one. The device itself looks a bit like a watch ensconced inside a lightweight, breathable, perforated band. The band’s hardware interacts with an iPhone app, sharing your nightly sleep habits with the app via Bluetooth when you wake each day.

The Lark isn’t the first wearable device to track one’s sleep patterns, but the system adds a clever coaching element that other sleep trackers don’t include. It’s an important addition, as competing devices tend to smother the user in sleep data, but don’t provide many tools to make sense of the data in an actionable way.

Hu considers the Lark a member of a growing class of “appcessories,” physical devices that interact with mobile apps to provide useful information or enhanced entertainment. Some of these devices track things like heart health. Other trackers similar to the Lark — such as the Jawbone UP and Fitbit — monitor a user’s activity 24/7, from daytime exercise to nighttime slumber, using motion sensors.

The Lark employs what it calls a “micromotion sleep pattern sensor” and, like the Jawbone UP and Fitbit, uses a data-tracking method called actigraphy to measure one’s sleep stages at about 85 to 95 percent accuracy.

All these activity-monitoring devices can provide helpful data in the quest for a better night’s sleep. The conventional wisdom says that once we begin mapping sleep data against the lifestyle decisions we make during our wakeful hours — for example, how much coffee we consume and how hard we exercise — we can begin adjusting bad habits to improve our sleep.

And the same applies to monitoring one’s daytime activity, like how many potato chips we eat, and how many stairs we climb. Personal data analysis can identify potential problems before they get serious, and hopefully save time and money on doctor’s visits and pharmacy bills in the long run.

“What’s exciting about this new category of appcessories is that the hardware can stay the same, but the software is always innovating,” Hu says. In the past, she says, you “had to be a Sony,” anticipating your audience’s desires and delivering a flawless finished product to consumers from the get-go. However, “by having a mobile-connected product, your product can really solve needs so much better,” Hu says. “You can really listen to what the users want and build it for them as software and upgrade continuously.”

Julia Hu, CEO of Lark, proponent of healthy sleep habits. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired

The Lark debuted in late June, but its app has been revised a number of times, adding greater utility to the system as a whole. In addition to tracking your sleep patterns and gently waking you up with a light vibration on your wrist, you can now provide the app with various data points to begin connecting the dots on which environmental factors affect your sleep.

For example, the Lark can enter the noise and brightness levels of your surroundings, or whether you had caffeine or alcohol before hitting the hay. When you wake up in the morning, you launch the app, and define how well rested you are. From there, Lark uses all its information to figure out what stimuli you should try to avoid.

Hu says the Lark system can also provide information as to why you may wake up in the middle of the night.

“A lot of people don’t realize it’s not always stress that infringes on sleep. It’s actually a little bit of a noise that wakes you up, then your brain can’t shut off,” Hu says. Women, in particular, are susceptible to this: High-pitched noises will wake them up, and leave them unable to get back to sleep.

Women also suffer more insomnia than men, Hu says, though men are far more likely to suffer from sleep apnea, waking up more times than they think they do during the night, and then not remembering the disturbances.

The latest version of the Lark app also includes a feature that was once limited to the $60 “pro” version of the software: an assessment to determine what type of sleeper you are based on the data and information you provide (Lu refers to the data as your “sleep hygiene”). The system pinpoints 12 different types of sleepers. Hu, for example, started out as a “rookie-erratic” sleeper when she first used the system.

It may sound like a gimmicky, Meyers-Briggs-esque personality assessment, but it lets the app provide you with personalized recommendations. Unfortunately, the assessment is an ongoing process, and the free app performs just one week of evaluation.

“I used to sleep at different times all throughout the night, and it gave me really fragmented sleep,” Hu says. She also had a hard time falling asleep. But by following the app’s coaching techniques, she says, she’s now progressed to a “rookie night lark.” A lark, like its avian namesake, wants to be early to bed, early to rise.

Hu still has trouble getting to sleep as early as her body would like, but at least she now falls asleep at a regular time each night. And the iPhone helps in this effort: If you try to stay up past your recommended bed time, the app will prompt you through push notifications to begin winding down.

“Until now, no one had a computer within three feet of themselves at all times,” Hu says of smartphones like the iPhone. “You can track real-time behavior and get feedback that happens the moment you’re making a decision. This allows for real behavior change.”

Notwithstanding a simple volume mute, of course.

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Jawbone Explains UP Wristband Failures and Offers Full Refunds

Jawbone explained Thursday what’s troubling its lifestyle-monitoring wristband. (Photo courtesy Jawbone)

As we reported in last week’s Gadget Lab Podcast, Jawbone’s UP activity-monitoring wristbands have been failing at an alarming rate. Three review units have failed during Gadget Lab testing, numerous complaints of “bricked” units riddle Jawbone’s user forums, and the clever health and fitness product currently receives just two out of five stars on Amazon.com reviews — 41 different user reviews were complaining of 23 bricked devices as of press time.

Today, Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman issued a statement on Jawbone’s website explaining the cause of the failures, and offered a comprehensive, perhaps unprecedented, refund program for anyone unhappy with his or her purchase.

Apparently, problems with circuit board capacitors are to blame for the litany of units that have trouble keeping a charge, exhibit erratic data-recording behavior, or just plain stop working. Rahman’s message to customers reports the following:

“We’ve found an issue with two specific capacitors in the power system that affects the ability to hold a charge in some of our bands. We’re also fixing an issue with syncing related to the band hardware. Typically, these issues surface within the first seven to ten days of use. The glitches are purely performance related and do not pose any safety risk.”

When the wristband works properly, it records all your daytime footsteps, and later provides a visual report of your walking, running or hiking activity via a nifty iOS app interface. You can also set the band to give you “Activity Reminders” — gentle vibrations on your wrist that compel you to get out of your seat and take a few steps. The UP system also offers nighttime sleep monitoring, providing rich visual graphs detailing periods of deep and light sleep.

Well, that’s how the UP system operates when working. In our experience with three different failed bands, problems ran a frustrating gamut. One band issued random vibrations (even though no reminders were set) and consistently dropped data before failing to keep a charge, and then dying completely. The other two bands simply exhibited syncing failures before bricking for good.

In his statement, Rahman says that Jawbone has “temporarily paused production” of the bands, and will once again begin taking orders after the hardware’s technical issues have been resolved. Jawbone’s VP of Product Management and Strategy Travis Bogard old Wired.com, “We will bring it back as fast as we can.”

Jawbone is also offering a “no questions asked” refund program for anyone who’s purchased an UP. Starting tomorrow and running through Dec. 31, 2012, consumers who bought their UP bands from authorized retailers will be granted full refunds, and — here’s the big news — be allowed to keep their bands.

Consumers experiencing hardware problems can also continue to receive replacement bands through Jawbone’s existing warranty program. In fact, someone can collect a full refund, as well as receive a replacement band as long as the band qualifies under warranty.

Look for Gadget Lab’s full review of the Jawbone UP first thing tomorrow morning.

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Gadget Lab Podcast: Jawbone Up Wristband, Freaky Robotic Vacuums

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This week on the Gadget Lab Podcast, the gang talks about wellness tech, funky robotic vacuums, and a stylish smart thermostat.

Reviews editor Michael Calore and Gadget Lab editor Jon Phillips start out the podcast demonstrating the Jawbone Up, a wristband that monitors its wearer’s various health stats. It records all sorts of health-related data, such as the number of steps you take during the day, and how long — and well — you slept during the night. This $100 high-tech bracelet pairs with a free iPhone app for checking out and analyzing your healthy (or unhealthy) habits.

Next, Gadget Lab intern Alexander George pits four robotic floor cleaners head to head: the iRobot Roomba, the Neato Robotics Home Vacuum Cleaner, the LG Homebot and the Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner. The winner of this epic battle? Hard to say, as it mostly depends on your needs. Still, it’s pretty entertaining to watch these robots duke it out.

To close up the show, Michael and Jon talk about the Nest Thermostat, which is kind of like the Prius of thermostats. It’s an energy-saving, “smart” thermostat that learns your behaviors via artificial intelligence. It’s not all brains though: It’s a looker too, and designed by the guy behind the iPod, Tony Fadell.

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds.

Or listen to the audio below:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #131

http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0131.mp3

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Jawbone Unveils “Up,” A Health Monitoring Wristband for Data Fiends

Finally, something to wear to the gym that isn’t spandex or sweatpants.

Wireless accessory makers Jawbone pulled back the curtain on its “Up” wristband on Thursday, marking the company’s first foray into the fast growing industry of wearable health and wellness technology.

Think of it as a Livestrong bracelet that keeps track of your body’s inner goings-on while you wear it. Working in conjunction with your iPhone, Up tracks your daily physical activity, monitors your sleep habits and quality, and also acts as a meal tracking aide. All of the data is stored within the app on your phone, synced by plugging Up’s 3.5mm jack into the iPhone earbud port.

Using a small, shock-resistant motion sensor, Up monitors multiple aspects of a user’s daily activity. It essentially acts as a pedometer, counts your number of calories burned, measures the distance you’ve traveled and separates your active vs. inactive time spent throughout the day. Sleep monitoring is similarly thorough, as the band accounts for the number of hours slept, how long it took you to nod off, even the quality of the sleep you’re getting.

Meal tracking is the least comprehensive, as the Up bracelet can’t interact with what’s on your plate directly. Instead, users are asked to create a visual meal journal, composed through taking pictures of what you’ve eaten throughout the day with your smartphone. After you’ve had enough time to digest your food, Up asks you how it all felt going down, correlating your overall physical feelings with your daily diet.

Jawbone’s Up is one of many gadgets focused on health to recently enter the market, combining wellness data measurement with a wearable technology line of products quickly becoming en vogue. Competitors like Nike, Fitbit and Lark tout similar offerings, though often either measure only one or two categories, or aren’t convenient to wear on the body for extended periods of time.

Here’s the thing: Any data collected from wellness devices are most accurate if you wear them all the time. Consider how many steps you take from the bedroom to the shower, from the bathroom to the living room. Even something as benign as pacing during a phone call could add up to more than a hundred steps. If I’m wearing a device only for certain parts of the day, I’ll be getting an incomplete picture of my overall physical well-being.

Jawbone took this into account, designing Up to hardly ever require removing it from your arm. The outer layer of the band is composed of medical-grade, hypo-allergenic rubber, keeping the bracelet sweat-proof and water resistant. In other words, it’s workout friendly, a must for a device that monitors all of your aerobic activity. The internal rechargeable battery lasts up to 10 days, and can be plugged in to a laptop via USB for charging.

It’s also easy on the eyes, a signature of Jawbone’s entire line of industrial product design (the company is best known for its line of stylish Bluetooth headsets). Instead of including a cumbersome LCD screen or an uncomfortable velcro strap, Up’s unadorned, minimalist aesthetic cuts down on bulk and conspicuousness. It’s a health device you actually won’t hate to wear.

Up launches in three sizes and seven different colors in the U.S. on November 6, with a modest asking price of $100. Find them at a number of major retailers, including Best Buy, Target and Apple stores nationwide.

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Ultra Durable Compact Car Mount Kit: Black Compatible Car Mount for LG Revolution VS910 or LG Tegra 2 4G Android Phone +a Black Silicone Skin + VanGoddy Live * Laugh * Love TM Wristband!!

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Product Description
**Guaranteed to fit** We guarantee that our car mount will hold your smart phone tightly and also that our window suction cup will STAY secure up to ten pounds if applied correctly to the window!!! You can fix the holder… More >>

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Jawbone’s App-Powered Wristband Encourages Health, Wellness

Accessory maker Jawbone on Wednesday unveiled "Up," a lifestyle gadget designed to encourage health and wellness. Photo courtesy of Jawbone

For about a month, Hosain Rotman has worn the same wristband 24 hours a day, even while he sleeps, exercises and showers. The wristband isn’t his favorite watch; it’s the lifestyle gadget his company has been developing for years.

Accessory company Jawbone on Wednesday revealed Up, a hardware and software system that tracks your eating, sleeping and movements to give you a reading on your general health. The wristband, which is about the same size as a Livestrong strap, contains sensors to track your activities, and a complementary smartphone app collects the data.

“[Up] is a total system that encompasses hardware and software to help attack this bigger problem that we see around health and wellness and utilizing all the things we’re good at and making really really good technology smaller…combining that with fashionable, wearable design and integrating that into a social, connected experience,” said Rotman, Jawbone’s CEO, in an interview with Wired.com

Jawbone’s Up joins the fray of smartphone accessories and software designed to help customers monitor their health. A smartphone’s wireless communications can enable accessories to deliver up-to-date, personalized data on a regular basis to track patterns and get feedback on improving workouts, eating habits and sleep patterns.

Silicon Valley startup Lark, for example, sells a similar wristband that you wear to sleep. The sensors inside the strap detect when you fall asleep and wake up, and Lark’s iPhone app collects all this data when the alarm goes off.

Looking forward, researchers also foresee that real-time health monitoring can potentially help prevent disease. University of Washington researchers have been developing a digital contact lens that collects data about blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels from the surface of the eye, to provide real-time feedback on your vital signs. This type of application could potentially inform people when they’re getting sick, so they can treat themselves before the illness settles in and avoid unnecessary trips to the doctor.

Rotman noted that Jawbone’s Up is not a sickness disease, but a lifestyle gadget designed to encourage wellness. The device’s sensors monitor your activities, then transmits the data to a smartphone app, which “nudges” you to improve your health with some helpful tips.

Jawbone’s goal was to make the device fashionable and comfortable so a customer can slip it on and forget it’s even there, Rotman said.

“I’ve been wearing it 24/7,” he said. “That’s a big proposition. The more you wear it, the richer and more accurate everything becomes.”

Jawbone has been developing the accessory for about two years. The product will ship later this year for iOS and Android devices. The price has yet to be determined.

See Also:

• Digital Contacts Will Keep an Eye on Your Vital Signs
• Touch-Sensitive Jawbone Era Headset Has Serious Face Appeal …
• CES 2011: Jawbone Jambox Wireless Speaker – Video – Wired

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Smart Phone Rotatable Car Window Vent Mount Accessories Kit: Black Compatible with LG Revolution VS910 or LG Tegra 2 4G Android Phone + a Black Silicone Skin + Live * Laugh * Love VG Wristband!!

• Hands Free LG Thrill 4G or LG Tegra 2 4G Car Mount!!!
• Compact light weight design (25% smaller than other products)!!!
• Strong Flexible Windshield Mount that holds up to 10 pounds!!!
• Rotatable back end allows 360degree rotation into any orientation you like!!!
• Included car vent piece that securely locks onto back end to allow Vent Mount as well!!!

Product Description
**Guaranteed to fit** We guarantee that our car mount will hold your smart phone tightly and also that our window suction cup will STAY secure up to ten pounds if applied correctly to the window!!! You can fix the holder… More >>

Smart Phone Rotatable Car Window Vent Mount Accessories Kit: Black Compatible with LG Revolution VS910 or LG Tegra 2 4G Android Phone + a Black Silicone Skin + Live * Laugh * Love VG Wristband!!

Clear 2 Piece Crystal Hard Snap-On Protector Case for Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Android Mobile Phone + INCLUDES!!! Pink USB Car Charger + INCLUDES!!! SumacLife TM Wisdom Courage Wristband

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Product Description
Safely carry and protect you Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play with this form-fitting front and back hard-shell snap-on covers. This case has been made of high-grade plastic that provides your Sony Ericsson Xperia Play with prot… More >>

Clear 2 Piece Crystal Hard Snap-On Protector Case for Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Android Mobile Phone + INCLUDES!!! Pink USB Car Charger + INCLUDES!!! SumacLife TM Wisdom Courage Wristband

Clear Protective Crystal Case Cover for Playstation Phone Sony Ericsson Xperia Play + INCLUDES!!! SumacLife TM Wisdom Courage Wristband

• Form-fitting front and back hard-shell snap-on covers
• Protects your cell phone without adding a lot of bulk
• Allows access to all functions // Easy snap-on installation; no disassembly is needed
• Prevents damage to your phone from objects in your pockets or purse.
• INCLUDES!!! Clear, ultra thin, durable and dust repelling premium screen protector.

Product Description
Safely carry and protect you Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play with this form-fitting front and back hard-shell snap-on covers. This case has been made of high-grade plastic that provides your Sony Ericsson Xperia Play with prot… More >>

Clear Protective Crystal Case Cover for Playstation Phone Sony Ericsson Xperia Play + INCLUDES!!! SumacLife TM Wisdom Courage Wristband

Metallic Red 2 Piece Crystal Hard Snap-On Protector Case for Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Android Mobile Phone + INCLUDES!!! White Rapid Home Charger with IC Chip + INCLUDES!!! White Rapid Car Charger with IC Chip + INCLUDES!!! SumacLife TM Wisdom Courage Wristband

• Form-fitting front and back hard-shell snap-on covers
• Protects your cell phone without adding a lot of bulk
• Allows access to all functions // Easy snap-on installation; no disassembly is needed
• INCLUDES!!! Rapid Home Charger with IC Chip + Rapid Car Charger with IC
• INCLUDES!!! Clear, ultra thin, durable and dust repelling premium screen protector.

Product Description
Safely carry and protect you Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play with this form-fitting front and back hard-shell snap-on covers. This case has been made of high-grade plastic that provides your Sony Ericsson Xperia Play with prot… More >>

Metallic Red 2 Piece Crystal Hard Snap-On Protector Case for Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Android Mobile Phone + INCLUDES!!! White Rapid Home Charger with IC Chip + INCLUDES!!! White Rapid Car Charger with IC Chip + INCLUDES!!! SumacLife TM Wisdom Courage Wristband