Tag: BodyMedia

Fitness Technology Looks to be Big Business

According to a recent survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association, fitness technology – the stuff we like to cover at KineticShift – is big business. The sports and fitness category now represents a $70 billion annual business in the United States, with hot product categories including activity-tracking armbands, waterproof mp3 players, GPS-enabled HD cameras, high-tech heart monitors, gesture recognition and full-body tracking user interfaces for games and sports simulators, high-tech sport goggles with GPS locators and many others.

“Technology has changed the game for everyone from professional athletes to weekend warriors,” said Robin Raskin, founder of Living in Digital Times, and organizer of the FitnessTech Expo and Summit at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show.

The upcoming CES in January will also continue to see the marriage of tech and fitness as TV personality and fitness guru Jillian Michaels will discuss the impact of digital innovation along with her recent partnership with Pittsburgh-based BodyMedia. Continue reading Fitness Technology Looks to be Big Business

FIT CORE Armband Tracks Your Every Move

Losing weight is easy. It’s keeping yourself motivated that’s hard. Fortunately, there are plenty of gadgets that can help with the latter. Among them is BodyMedia’s FIT CORE Armband, a device that straps onto your arm and tracks your every activity from workouts to sleep.

The new model is 33% smaller than its predecessor and yet it packs all the same features. Just strap it around your arm and the band’s four sensors gather data on the amount of calories you’ve burned, the number of steps you’ve taken, your heart rate, and all other physical activity you’ve performed throughout the day.

Stats are then uploaded to an online Activity Manager where you can track your performance and input your meals using the food log. The revamped Activity Manager now features a FITcoach, which provides personalized feedback based on your stats and goals. The device will even analyze your sleep intake and tell you if you’re getting enough shut eye. If you prefer to receive minute-by-minute updates on your stats, there’s an optional $99 Display, which provides you with a tiny monochrome LCD to view your activity level.

(Video after the jump) Continue reading FIT CORE Armband Tracks Your Every Move

BodyMedia Announces new API

BodyMedia, the maker of body monitoring devices, has announced a developer API (Application Programming Interface), which should encourage developers to explore and discover new applications to help people know their bodies and improve their lives.

To meet these goals BodyMeida has partnered with Mashery, an API management and strategic services company, to create new apps, either within the existing lifestyle management platform or to apply the unique BodyMedia technology into new spaces, which could include gaming, fitness, entertainment or social networking.

“We want to take our unique data right from the Armbands of our consumers and put it directly into the hands of developers to discover new uses and markets,” stated Ivo Stivoric, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, BodyMedia, Inc. “Our goal is to enable more people to leverage the powerful BodyMedia tools to expand the positive impact of body monitoring.” Continue reading BodyMedia Announces new API