JAWBONE BANDS

The Up life monitoring wristband from Jawbone helps keep your health in check.

As a species, we humans are surprisingly bad about taking care of ourselves. Luckily, some 21st Century technology has come to rescue us from our self-detrimental ineptitude.

Jawbone, a company known for its head-turning Bluetooth headsets, has created something new to help keep your life on track: the Up life monitoring bracelet.

Durable, water-resistant and designed to be worn 24-7, this colorful wristband keeps track of your sleeping habits, how much you exercise, and even what you eat, with the help of a free iOS app that serves as the user interface for the UP.

With the help of Jawbone’s MotionX engine, Up tracks every step you make, your distance, pace and calories burned. It even keeps tabs on how long you remain inactive throughout the day, and can be set to vibrate as a reminder to get up and move, if you’ve been sitting still for a certain period of time, which you can adjust using the app.

Up’s motion detection system also can tell when you’ve fallen asleep, and the bracelet monitors how long you sleep, what time of day you sleep, and even the quality of your sleep. Another subtle vibration alarm can be set to go off when you are at the optimum point in your sleep cycle.

Users can keep track of their diet by taking photos of meals through the Up app, which keeps track of meal times and locations, and also allows users to record how they feel after each meal.

Jawbone has even built in social features into Up, giving users the ability to create health plans with friends who have the Up, and monitor each other’s progress – just to make sure you aren’t slacking on your diet and exercise routine.

While Up seems like a great idea in concept, it also seems a bit of a burden to wear day in and day out. Then again, people seem to love those pointless magnet “therapy” bracelets, so maybe we’re underestimating the desire to improve your health by wearing something around your writs at all times. We hope to give Up a try, and then we’ll know for sure how practical this device really is.

Up is available for pre-order now, and will go on sale at Apple, Best Buy, AT&T and Target retail locations in the US on November 6 for $100. International customers will be able to purchase Up on November 17.

Showing 4 comments

  1. graupma at 12:06pm 3rd November 2011 I just DID NOT jump on the bandwagon.!!! Too much to do with something that could be doing a lot more than it's telling you. BIG BROTHER is watching you. NO THANKS, alg
  2. tdaloisio at 10:31am 3rd November 2011 I just jumped on the fitbit bandwagon and like the idea of a small clip that fits easily in my pocket or on a wrist strap for sleep measurement better than a fashion accessory. I think the ultimate winner here will be the product that best builds an ecosystem around it for mobile (iOS/Android) apps and web apps. I think fitbit's open API is a potential differentiator -- not sure of Jawbone's plans there -- for third party integration and development off of their data sets. Jawbone is a leg up for swimmers as it it waterproof where the fitbit Ultra is not. Not sure about Jawbone's plans around subscription for advanced reporting or services, but would love them to push fitbit's premium content into the free universe with a little pressure. I don't have any buyer's remorse yet for my fitbit -- but.....
  3. Timothy Daloisio at 5:30pm 3rd November 2011 I just jumped on the fitbit bandwagon and like the idea of a small clip that fits easily in my pocket or on a wrist strap for sleep measurement better than a fashion accessory. I think the ultimate winner here will be the product that best builds an ecosystem around it for mobile (iOS/Android) apps and web apps. I think fitbit's open API is a potential differentiator -- not sure of Jawbone's plans there -- for third party integration and development off of their data sets. Jawbone is a leg up for swimmers as it it waterproof where the fitbit Ultra is not. Not sure about Jawbone's plans around subscription for advanced reporting or services, but would love them to push fitbit's premium content into the free universe with a little pressure. I don't have any buyer's remorse yet for my fitbit -- but.....
  4. Timothy Daloisio at 5:30pm 3rd November 2011 I just jumped on the fitbit bandwagon and like the idea of a small clip that fits easily in my pocket or on a wrist strap for sleep measurement better than a fashion accessory. I think the ultimate winner here will be the product that best builds an ecosystem around it for mobile (iOS/Android) apps and web apps. I think fitbit's open API is a potential differentiator -- not sure of Jawbone's plans there -- for third party integration and development off of their data sets. Jawbone is a leg up for swimmers as it it waterproof where the fitbit Ultra is not. Not sure about Jawbone's plans around subscription for advanced reporting or services, but would love them to push fitbit's premium content into the free universe with a little pressure. I don't have any buyer's remorse yet for my fitbit -- but.....
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