Mio, which was one of the first companies to make a watch that could accurately measure your heart rate without an additional chest strap, has decided to downsize. They’ve taken the brains of the Mio Alpha, then they shrunk it and got rid of its face. What we’ve got left is a pulse reading wristband called the Mio Link. Good idea! Kind of.
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The Mio Alpha made a bit of a splash on Kickstarter earlier this year when it promised a heart rate-sensing watch that didn’t use chest straps or similar encumbrances to measure your exertion. They went $200,000 over their goal of $100,000 and just started shipping in time for pre-marathon season.
The watch offers two basic functions. You can tell the time, obviously (but not the date) and you press the right button to toggle heart rate mode. You can set a target heart rate by holding down the left button. You end your workout by holding down the right button again.
The real trick is how the device senses your heart rate. Rather than sensing using EKG technology, the watch uses a pair of LEDs to sense blood volume under the skin. The green LEDs light up and another LED begins pulsing when it grabs a reading. Compared to a Polar EKG watch I’ve used, the heart rate reading was accurate. The Alpha is rechargeable and includes an oddly-shaped USB dongle that snaps into the bottom of the watch. The battery lasted about two weeks of semi-regular use but your mileage may vary.
The watch also transmits data via Bluetooth so you can connect the Mio to a smartphone for more precise recording. Users of EKG watches will immediately see the benefits: you get a continuous readout without having to wear anything around your chest and the watch itself is light and comfortable so you will barely notice it. Could it have more features? Sure, a timer and stopwatch would be nice, but as it stands at $199 you’re getting a very solid heart rate monitor. The Nike+ GPS watch, for example, costs $169 and tracks distance but the monitor is $70 extra. Better heart rate watches from Suunto and Polar can hit the $300 and higher range, so this very basic watch is just about all you need if you’re only looking for accurate heart rate measurements without much fuss.
The Alpha is surprisingly light and simple to use which makes it great for folks who don’t want a huge watch strapped to their wrist while running. While there is something to be said for a wrist computer that can tell you pace, distance, age, weight, number of mailboxes passed on your run, and lucky lotto numbers, something like the Mio is refreshing in its simplicity.
If you’ve ever used a heart rate monitor to track your fitness level while running or cycling, you’ll know that these usually aren’t compact devices. Most of them involve strapping a harness around your body so that the monitor can get a decent reading from your heart. This latest watch from MIO plans on getting rid of the bulk.
The MIO Alpha watch uses a sophisticated sensor that has an electro-optical cell and a pair of light beams to track the volume of blood under your wrist, and also compensates for the jostling of the sensor.
Data collected by the watch can be sent to your mobile device via Bluetooth 4.0. While it can continuously monitor your heart rate and activity times, the watch has no built-in GPS, so you’ll have to rely on a separate device or your smartphone for that.
The MIO Alpha was funded via Kickstarter earlier this year, and will go on sale for $199(USD) and will be available early next year at retail.
The new MIO Active Connect Fitness Weigh Loss Watch is designed to accurately measure and records heart rate and motion (steps, speed,distance). This wearable gadget provides a complete record of the calories you burn all day, not just during exercise. You can also plug it into your PC to upload your personal stats or sync with Facebook, Twitter or MyFitnessPal. The MIO Active Connect Fitness Weigh Loss Watch retails for $129.99 each. [Product Page]
Device makers are bent on bringing us inductive charging, and Redmond has joined the fray with a recently allotted patent that describes all kinds of tech that could make it work better. For the charging itself, a trick is proposed that’s similar to one we’ve seen before — careful matching of the resonant frequency of charger and device. That would amplify efficiency and allow more than one device to be charged at a time. To make it easier to use, a pressure sensor could detect if a device was on the pad, with different parts of the pad allocated for smartphones or tablets, for instance. The patent also proposes a display placed opposite the charger to give it another use when it’s not juicing, which would be determined by a gyro to sense which side was facing up. Of course, a lot of patents are whimsical things, which never amount to anything — but judging by the detail in this one, Microsoft may have something more concrete in mind.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals
Microsoft earns patent for claimed wireless charging improvement, pad with info screen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mio made some fairly cool heart-rate watches a few years ago but they required you to place a finger on two little pads while running in order to take the measurements. It was interesting, and when you consider that most other heart-rate watches require a chest strap, fairly unique. However, nobody wanted to touch a little thinger just to get their heart rate.
Enter the Mio Alpha. This new product uses a precise light sensor to sense your heart rate on the go. No straps, no muss, no fuss. It’s pretty ingenious.
I got a chance to sit down with the watch a few days ago and I was really impressed. They’re tooling up right now to start manufacturing them and they will cost $99 when you pre-order through Kickstarter. The watches work by sensing changes in blood volume moving through the skin. It takes a moment to begin sensing but once it’s figured out your heart rate it’s ready to go. A small LED on the top tells you if you’re in the proper heart-rate zone and you can program it for various activity levels.
They’re looking for $100,000 and they’ve already hit $30K so things look good for an on-time arrival. Given that this watch does away with annoying straps and futzing, I’m pretty excited.
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