Hasta La Gadget!

Jawbone is doing something a lot of developers will probably be interested in, by opening up the UP fitness tracking wristband as a platform play, with an open API coming soon. Jawbone’s new version 2.5 update for the iOS UP app allows you to integrate with IFTTT, MapMyFitness, Withings, Sleepio, Wello, RunKeeper, Notch.me, Maxwell Health, Lose It!, and MyFitnessPal.

The new integrations mean that data gathered from those apps and devices like the Withings Smart Body Analyzer can now be pulled into the UP app itself, and combined with information gathered from the Jawbone wristband to provide a more complete picture of a user’s health. The IFTTT integration can be used to help you create your own motivational alerts when you’ve been inactive for too long, or to brag when you’ve blown past your daily step count goal.

The information from the UP can also go out to some specific apps, providing them with data on your sleep patterns and daily movement activity. And this is just the start: Jawbone is starting things off with a few select partners, but after that it intends to open up the API for any developers interested in building Jawbone UP integration into their own apps.

“We are now unstoppable in terms of leadership in today’s market,” explained Hosain Rahman, Jawbone CEO. “The platform we see the API is the first step of that; a limited set of partners with unique experiences, but the whole experience is much deeper.”

Jawbone made its reputation on building Bluetooth products like stereo headsets and earpieces, but then moved into audio equipment like the Jawbone speakers and health monitoring devices like the UP. Other competitors in the space have already moved to open up third-party integrations, like the Nike+ Fuelband, which plugs into Path and Lose It! Jawbone’s platform plans are much broader and deeper than the ones of some of its competitors, however, according to Rahman.

“A lot of these platform announcements like API releases are more PR than they are actual real developers on a platform building value for users,” he said. “We spent a lot of time sitting with developers, looking at what they can enable, what their data structure was, how to pull their experience back into UP, how you really create robustness around them, how to build APIs that work dependably and how we can make sure users can get this stuff.”

This should open the door for a much more holistic picture of personal health, available across a wide range of devices. Individually, these devices have been doing well, but the real opportunity is when apps and hardware start working with one another. Jawbone is taking a great first step towards that end with this API release, but it’ll be interesting to see how the UP platform handles normalizing a huge volume of data from a wide variety of partners in a way that doesn’t overwhelm individual users.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has joined the board of portable gadget specialist Jawbone – known for its UP fitness monitor, headsets, and speakers – it’s reported, reigniting chatter that the search company might look to leveraging wearables along the lines of Google’s Glass. Mayer had apparently been in talks with Jawbone about a director’s position prior to joining Yahoo back in July 2012, so AllThingsD reports, and has already attended at least one board meeting sources at the company claim.

Mayer’s roles while at Google, where she climbed to the position of Vice President of Local, Maps, and Location Services before leaving to join Yahoo, included work on product design, usability, and engineering. That is likely to be a large part of her appeal to Jawbone, a privately-owned company which has raised more than $200m from venture capitalists and other firms.

However, Jawbone itself – and the company’s existing footprint in wearable technology, most recently the UP fitness monitoring band, but also including a range of Bluetooth headsets with voice-activated controls and limited app support – is likely to have been particularly appealing to Yahoo. The company has made it known that it is looking to raise its game in mobile, initially with redesigned smartphone apps for weather and email.

However, Yahoo’s senior director of product management, mobile communications, Lee Parry, also confirmed that the company was looking at the growing wearables market. “It would be crazy not to be looking at Google Glass or Apple’s watch” he conceded in an interview back in April 2013.

Whether Yahoo will aim quite so high as Google’s head-mounted computer is unclear, though the wearables market itself is predicted to surge with more simplistic gadgets – like UP – initially driving demand. However, increasingly complex devices such as wearable displays are tipped to play an increasing role in the market, as prices fall, capabilities increase, and battery life extends.

It’s likely early-days for any sort of Yahoo Glass rival, but there’s plenty of scope for Mayer to help guide the company through the growing marketplace, as well as ensure Yahoo itself gets a foot in the door. Neither Jawbone nor Yahoo have commented on the leak.

Mayer reportedly new Jawbone director as Yahoo eyes wearables is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

What a difference some firmware makes. Jawbone has released BIG JAMBOX 2.0, its new software for the portable Bluetooth speaker, and it squeezes an extra two hours of battery life when used with iOS 6.1 devices, along with better audio performance. The free update – released through Jawbone’s MyTALK system – also adds a number of new features along with PS Vita compatibility.

So, if you’ve been looking for better audio performance when you’re gaming on your Vita, but you don’t want to plug in a set of headphones, the BIG JAMBOX can step in. It’s also intended to play more readily with Apple’s iPhone, with new AAC support for iOS 6.1 along with a claimed reduction in audio dropouts at longer distances.

Elsewhere, there’s synchronized volume control, which means adjusting the volume on either the BIG JAMBOX or the gadget that’s streaming is matched. You’ll need something that supports AVRCP 1.4 for that to work, however.

A new Silent Mode cuts out any of the tones and voice prompts which would usually guide you through using the BIG JAMBOX, though it still lets through calls. Holding down the Talk and Minus buttons simultaneously switches it on; holding down Talk and Plus while powering on turns it off.

We were mighty impressed with version one of the BIG JAMBOX when we reviewed it last year, and anything that coaxes out better performance can only be a good thing. You can pick up the portable speaker online from around $240.

BIG JAMBOX gains battery life and audio quality with 2.0 update is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Comments

I am quite sure that fitness buffs who are not into all things iOS-powered and are happily rocking away to their Android-powered devices have been wondering for the longest time as to why the original Jawbone Up fitness tracker did not come with an Android app. Well, just like the adage that all good things come to those who wait, so too, will you soon be able to enjoy the Jawbone Up Android app that can be downloaded soon when it goes live over at the Google Play store.

Similar to the iOS version, this one will be free, and it can be used to key in vital information such as logging your daily meals, check out charts compiled by the app that shows your different sleep and activity patterns, although the Android version is unable to let you share information over on Twitter and Facebook. The Jawbone Up fitness band which now supports both iOS and Android platforms would allow an entire household, regardless of mobile operating system affiliation, share the same device at different times, now how about that?

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