Hasta La Gadget!

I kind of like tracking all of my activities, especially since I tend to run alone so I need the motivation to stay on target. While apps like RunKeeper and others work well to track runs, a simple pedometer is something good to keep track of every single move you make in a day.

Moves is a simple app that works in the background of your phone’s OS. It will track your movements automatically. There’s no need for any external devices or plug-ins.

Unlike pedometers, or fitness tracker bands, the Moves app doesn’t require anything but a smartphone to make it work. The app will also track your movements in cars, motorcycles, and public transport. From time to time, it mislabels my movements on my motorcycle as cycling, but otherwise it’s been pretty awesome. Keep in mind that with Moves running in the background, it will consume some added battery, though its makers claim you can still get a full day of usage of your phone with the app enabled. Of course, your mileage may vary.

It can be quite motivating, at least in my experience, when you realize how much you can walk, run or cycle in a day.  I’ve found that I want to beat my previous day’s movements almost every single day, or at least keep it at the same level.

There’s an iOS version that’s been around a bit longer, and the Android version was released just a few weeks ago. The best part is that it’s free.

Polar has just announced their latest activity tracker that comes in a stylish form factor, where it is known as the Polar Loop. I guess you can call the Polar Loop to be a sort of “smart bracelet”, where it is capable of keeping track of your daily activity and exercise levels, all the while monitoring sleep patterns, so that you will be able to receive instant motivational feedback, all the while receiving the relevant alerts so that you can achieve your personalized daily activity goals. The Polar Loop was built with over 35 years of experience as the worldwide leader in heart rate and fitness assessment technology, delivering new levels of precision and unmatched expertise to the activity tracker market.

When the Polar Loop works in tandem with Polar Flow, a free online tracking service and app for the iPhone which is capable of synchronizing automatically using Bluetooth Smart, the Polar Loop will then deliver smart guidance on just how is able to improve health and wellbeing through making tiny changes in one’s daily activity. The Polar Loop is meant to be worn round the clock, being waterproof to ensure that it can keep up with your demanding lifestyle, while capturing all movement and exercise with the ability to tell the difference between different levels of activity.

Herb Baer, Polar USA president, said, “Polar is a trusted training partner for everyone from elite athletes to those looking to lose weight. Polar Loop brings our expertise and insights beyond time spent exercising, providing a complete and accurate picture of all daily activity and underlining the importance of every movement made throughout the day—from running, cycling and weight training to cooking, taking the stairs and walking the dog.”

Pressing a button would see the Polar Loop display show off a bunch of information concerning your user activity goal as well as how much more you need to do to achieve it, in addition to other nuggets like number of calories burned, steps taken and the time of day. The Polar Loop will retail for $109.95 a pop later this October in black, while there is a pink version that will feature white LEDs that is tipped to arrive next year.

Press Release
[ Polar Loop activity tracker turns on the style copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

After a couple years of gestation, Basis’s B1—watch-like activity tracker—has finally arrived. But unlike the FuelBands and Fitbits and UPs of the world, Basis offers a unique look into one’s health, however cursory as it might seem. Tracking steps and analyzing sleep isn’t new, but the B1’s analysis of both is rooted in biometrics and not some arbitrary process or made-up algorithm. More »

LG’s Smart Activity Watch is FuelBand look-alike—there’s no denying it. And, yes, there are already a lot of new wearable fitness trackers. Well, LG crams the features of all of its competitors into one. And by the time it comes out this summer, the watch might add something everybody wants: A heart rate monitor. More »

Withings’ assault on our paunchy bellies doesn’t look like it’s going to stop, now that the company has launched a portable sleep and activity tracker that’s clearly designed to go after the Fitbit Ultra. The Smart Activity Tracker makes some impressive claims, offering pulse monitoring if you push your finger onto the back of the device, calculating calorie consumption and monitoring the quality of your sleep. The 43.3-millimeter device has an OLED touchscreen display and will instantly upload your data to the Withings Health Mate app over Bluetooth Smart, and promises to go a full fortnight without needing a recharge. The company hasn’t made any statement as to when it plans to release the unit, or how much it’ll cost you, but we’re looking forward to putting it through its paces.

Continue reading Withings goes after Fitbit with its pulse-reading Smart Activity Tracker (update: hands-on video)

Filed under: Peripherals

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