The pentagon is clamping down on wearable fitness devices, following a discovery in January that troop’s secret or confidential locations were revealed by a fitness heat map.
The new restriction means that military personal deployed in operational areas will not be allowed to use wearable trackers or smartphone apps, government issued or otherwise, that can identify their location.
“The...
It was a bit of a bumpy start, but it’s beginning to look like Fitbit’s push into the smartwatch market is bearing fruit. While the company is still operating at a loss, yesterday’s Q2 earnings report revealed that the Fitbit’s downward revenue and device sales trend was lessened by the success of its Versa smartwatch, which the company said has outsold all Samsung, Garmin, and Fossil’s...
Fitbit plans on making waves this holiday season. That’s when the company's long-awaited smartwatch, which has faced production issues and delays, will finally be released, CEO James Park said in a second-quarter earnings call.
The smartwatch will offer features such as health and fitness tracking, GPS capability, water resistance up to 50 meters and compatibility across platforms, as well as a...
Smartwatch maker Pebble, one of the first companies to popularize the modern smartwatch concept, has launched a new device, called Pebble Core, that specifically targets runners. Unlike Pebble's other devices, Core is not a wristworn device, but a "a tiny little Android phone without a screen" that runners can clip-on or stick in their pocket, Pebble CEO and co-founder Eric Migicovsky told...
We tend to think of activity tracking devices and the companion apps that process their data as single product offerings. But a new report from Argus Insights suggests that perhaps the users of these devices don't see them that way.
Argus, which looks at consumer reviews and social data to analyze "mindshare", reports that the baseline level of consumer enjoyment (what Argus calls "delight') of...
Jawbone has added a new defendant to one of its cases against Fitbit. This case is the one in which Jawbone alleges Fitbit poached employees who stole Jawbone trade secrets, according to Fortune.
In the amended filing, Jawbone added Fitbit employee Jing Qi “Gee” Weiden, who was a former Jawbone employee, to the defendants. Weiden allegedly sent sensitive Jawbone company files to her Fitbit...
According to a new report from Parks Associates, ownership of digital health and wellness devices in the United States -- especially fitness trackers -- is steadily climbing. And, the report contends, reports of widespread abandonment of fitness trackers are greatly exaggerated.
Parks spoke with 5,000 US broadband households and found that 33 percent have adopted a digital health technology, up...
Heart rate-tracking wearable
Jawbone has laid off 60 employees, 15 percent of its workforce, according to a report in TechCrunch. The layoffs extend across the company, but the restructuring includes the closing down of the company's New York City office and downsizing operations in Sunnyvale and Pittsburgh. Jawbone told MobiHealthNews in an email that no further layoffs are planned and issued...
A new survey of 1,500 consumers from Apple Watch research service Wristly has found that 83 percent of the Apple Watch owners surveyed said the device at least somewhat contributes to their overall health and fitness.
Just under 60 percent of respondents said the watch contributes to some change in their health and fitness and 24 percent said the device contributed to a lot of change.
The survey...
The demand for wearable devices, which include fitness bands, smartwatches, smart glasses, and other sensor-enabled devices, has decreased after reaching a high point in January, according to an Argus Insights report compiled from approximately 328,000 consumer reviews since January 2014.
Argus explained that over the last 18 months, the wearable market has grown significantly. Demand was slow at...
