Hasta La Gadget!

The ever popular health and fitness tracking iPhone app RunKeeper has been updated to version 3.0 today. The update includes an all-new design that aims to make the user interface cleaner and simpler to use, it also comes with new features that make it easy to share your progress with friends and family.

Indeed, the user interface is a lot cleaner this time around. The team behind the app ended up cleaning up a lot of the code by scrapping the bold colors and text for a cleaner design that’s easier to read and navigate. They also wanted to design the app to showcase more of your personal fitness story, and they hope that the new look motivates its users even more.

One of the main selling points of RunKeeper is that the app makes it easy to set a goal and track your progress towards that goal, while also interacting and competing with friends right from the app. They’ve made it even easier by adding a few more features to the app, such as in-app photo features that allow you to take pictures before, during, and after workouts and share those with friends on Facebook or Twitter.

You now also enable live activity tracking, which allows friends and family to follow your progress in real-time and cheer you on as they do so. The company has more plans in the future for the app, including an update for the Android version of RunKeeper, but the company says they’ll have more features to come in 2013.

RunKeeper is a free download, and the update is available now in the iTunes App Store.

RunKeeper for iPhone updates with redesign and live activity tracking is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As regular Happy Hour readers know, there’s nothing we like more than finding new, innovative, and fun approaches to drinking. But there’s a darker side that must be acknowledged. Specifically, you can poison yourself and die. More »

The “Influsaber” Ultraviolet Light Wand from Japan’s ForceMedia was designed to destroy the nasty bacterial microbes infesting your smartphone, iPad, earbuds, pretty much any oft-used everyday electronic device. Set the timer, push the button and make like a germaphobic Jedi!

There are huge number of people in the United States and around the world who have medical conditions that make it difficult for their body to extract oxygen from the air we all breathe. For these people it’s often critical for their health to be able to accurately track how much oxygen is in their blood at any given time. This tracking of oxygen is typically done with a small instrument called a pulse oximeter.

The pulse oximeter is able to determine, without having to draw blood, exactly how much oxygen is dissolved in the blood. A company called Massimo has announced a new gadget for people who need to keep track of their blood oxygen levels that works in conjunction with the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch called the iSpo2. It requires a 30-pin connector.

That last caveat means that this device will not work with the iPhone 5 natively. It’s unclear whether the accessory will work using the Apple adapter for 30-pin to the new port. The hardware accessory plugs into the Apple gadget and works in conjunction with an app that is available as a free download.

The hardware accessory has a sensor that you slip over your finger and results from the reading are displayed on the iPhone screen. In addition to showing the oxygen saturation, the device will also show the heart rate. The device is available right now on Amazon.com for $249. The app can also export readings to a text file for use in other programs and to share with doctors. The hardware accessory gets its power from the iPhone and needs no external power source.

iSpO2 turns the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch into a medical instrument is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Second chances are rare in the tech world. Unless you’re one of the big boys — say a Samsung or an Apple — one spectacular failure is enough to doom a product line or even an entire company. Just ask Gizmondo, 3D Realms, Helio, Palm, Netscape, DivX, Sega… the list goes on and on. All it takes is one mistake and a hyped device or marquee company can end up as little more than a nostalgic Wikipedia entry. After last year’s debacle with the Up, we thought Jawbone might give up on the fitness market entirely. In case you missed the drama last holiday season, here’s a quick recap: within weeks of launching, the Yves Behar-designed motion-tracking bracelet simply stopped working for many customers. We even had two units fail during the course of writing our original review. It quickly became apparent that the problems were not just widespread, but near ubiquitous. Up was pulled from the shelves, customers were issued refunds and Jawbone went back to the drawing board.

We have to hand it to the company for quickly taking ownership of the problem and cutting checks to the unfortunate souls who ponied up $100 to buy one. But, while seeing a company readily admit failure was a pleasant surprise, we were even more shocked when Jawbone didn’t simply cancel Up entirely and cut its losses. Instead it tracked down the root issues — water permeability, flexibility and a barebones app — and redesigned the bracelet from the ground up. The basic functionality and aesthetic choices are the same, but the materials, the iOS data logger and actual internal assembly are all completely different. Unfortunately, all these upgrades mean last year’s $100 bust is this year’s $130 shot at redemption. And the real question is, even if it works, is the Up something you’ll want or need?

Continue reading Jawbone Up review (2012): a reboot and a shot at redemption

Filed under: Wearables, Mobile

Comments