When BlackRock invested $300 million in Jawbone to keep it afloat, Bloomberg News called it "a loan and a leash". Now, according to a new report in Fortune, the beleaguered tech company is tugging on that leash. Fortune reported this week that Blackrock is pressuring the company to sell, but CEO Hossain Rahman believes the company has the funds to stay afloat.
"I believe everyone knows one of...
Jawbone is selling its speaker business and may also be halting sales of its wearable tracker line, according to various reports. Another report says these efforts will be followed up by the launch of a device in a new category: a clinical-grade health wearable. (Updated below with a statement from Jawbone.)
Fortune reported on the sale of the speaker business on Friday. According to Fortune,...
Jawbone has unveiled a new Yves Behar-designed band design for its UP2 tracking device and announced a new firmware update for a few of its fitness tracking devices that will enable new heart rate and sleep tracking features. The company confirmed to CNET that it would replace existing UP2 users' devices with the new one if requested because of an issue with the legacy device's clasp.
For devices...
Jawbone UP2
It's been a busy week for Jawbone. First news came that the long-delayed UP3 would finally launch in the coming days, but it would not be waterproof enough for swimming, as previously promised. Then the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Jawbone had partnered with American Express to add payments to a future wearable.
That future wearable was just unveiled by the company --...
Apple has stopped selling a number of fitness tracking devices in its stores recently, including Withings Pulse O2 Activity Tracker, and, as Re/Code reported this morning, Jawbone Up24, Nike FuelBand SE, and Mio's wristworn heart rate tracker. Apple pulled the devices just about a month before it plans to launch its own activity tracker, the Apple Watch.
Apple also no longer carries Misfit's...
Weight loss company NutriSystem stressed that its weight loss app was a key part of its strategy moving forward, according to the company's Q4 earnings call. The company's core offering is an end-to-end weight loss system: The company sends users ingredients and food preparation instructions via snail mail.
But the NuMi app, soft launched in March 2014 and officially launched in December, can...
The five trackers used in the study.
A new study from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) looked at five popular consumer activity trackers and evaluated them for accuracy. The study found that five devices -- Nike+ FuelBand, Fitbit Ultra, Jawbone UP, BodyMedia FitCore and Adidas MiCoach -- all tracked steps relatively accurately, but many were less accurate when it comes to tracking...
Jawbone, maker of the Jawbone UP activity tracker, has launched an online marketplace for some of the apps and devices that connect to the company's UP tracker. None of the devices require an UP for use, however.
At launch the marketplace is selling six devices and five apps.
"Members of the UP community are currently able to connect their UP accounts to dozens of devices and partner apps that...
It's that time of year again when all the major activity tracking device makers are announcing their next generation devices. And with the specter of the Apple Watch on the horizon, the battle for activity tracking is more frenzied than ever. Basis announced its Basis Peak at the end of September and Fitbit announced the Fitbit Charge, Charge HR, and Surge at the end of October. Now Jawbone has...
Two years after its first foray into the hardware space, Austrian fitness company Runtastic is launching a new $119.99 wearable activity tracker, the Runtastic Orbit. The company aims to differentiate itself from the crowded activity tracker market by closely integrating the device with Runtastic's existing ecosystem of fitness apps, and also by targeting the European market, which is not yet as...
