Fitbit, a wireless-enabled, fitness and calorie tracking device became commercially available this week. The device, which is small enough to clip on to the user’s clothing, uses an internal motion detector to track the wearer’s movement, sleep and calorie burn during both the day and night. The device costs $99.
Fitbit provides users with metrics like: Amount of steps you took today, miles traveled, calories burned, calories consumed, time you went to bed, time it took to actually fall asleep, number of times you woke up during the night, total time in bed, actual time sleeping. It’s certainly a tool for those seeking to live a “quantified” life.
The device’s blue LED screen alternately displays steps taken, calories burned, distance travelled and presents a gauge of how high or low the wearer’s activity level has been overall. This gauge is currently represented in the form of a small flower that grows as the wearer becomes more active — Fitbit plans to introduce other icons so that users can pick one that suits them better, according to a report from TechCrunch.
Interestingly, Fitbit comes with a wireless base station, or docking unit, that can synch to the device when it comes within 10 feet. The device comes with synching software that the user needs to install on their Mac or PC to get the wireless updating to work. Once set-up, the device ports the data to Fitbit’s online portal, which includes a dashboard to help users better understand their activity levels and calories burned. The site also includes the typical database of foods and their estimated calories, so for users looking to track calorie intake vs. burn, Fitbit can roughly calculate that, too.
For more information about Fitbit, visit the company’s site here