Jawbone's UP Wristband Tracks Activity, Movement and Sleep

[MacRumors]

Bluetooth headset manufacturer Jawbone has released the UP wristband to track users activity, sleep, and food intake to "encourage healthier living". The water-resistant wristband, which is designed to be worn constantly, has a built-in motion sensor that tracks movement (steps, distance, calories burned, pace, intensity level and active vs inactive time) and sleep (hours slept, time to fall asleep, light vs. deep sleep and sleep quality).

The UP connects to an iOS device (iPhone 3GS or higher, iPad, or iPod Touch 4th generation or newer) via the headphone jack to transfer data. There is no Bluetooth connectivity, curious from Jawbone which specializes in Bluetooth devices, but the UP skimps on wireless to save on battery life. Jawbone claims the UP's battery should last up to 10 days.

The wristband is "made of a spring steel frame encased in durable, sweat-proof, water-resistant, hypoallergenic rubber" and is water-resistant up to 1 meter -- basically, it can be worn 24/7, even during workouts or taking a shower, but don't go swimming with it.

The wristband's companion app, UP by Jawbone, tracks activity, sleep and meals with elaborate and polished charts -- the UP's internal vibrating-motor can even wake users up with a gentle vibration at the ideal time:

Within 30 minutes of your desired wake up time, the band will intelligently interpret your sleep graph identify the best moment in your natural sleep cycle so that you feel as refreshed as possible. For example, if you were to set your wake up alarm for 7:30am, the band would vibrate at the best time between 7:00am and 7:30am based on your sleep cycle.

The wristband tracks jogging runs as well and, when paired with an iPhone, displays users running routes on a map. There are also "challenges", health goals and competitions that UP users can join on their own or with friends. Challenges include walking 100,000 steps in 10 days, climbing 1,665 steps (the same number as in the Eiffel Tower), or sleeping for 10 straight hours to get a good night's sleep.

Finally, the app allows users to create a "photo journal" of what they eat and it sends a push notification a few hours after a meal to ask how they feel. The goal is to help users discover which foods make them feel best.

The UP by Jawbone is $99.99 and goes on sale in the US on November 6, the UK on November 17th for £79.99, and worldwide by the end of 2011. It's available from Jawbone's online store, the Apple Store, Best Buy, AT&T and others.

The UP by Jawbone app is a free download, available for the iPhone or iPad. However, it doesn't do anything without the wristband itself.

Article Link: Jawbone's UP Wristband Tracks Activity, Movement and Sleep

 

[docwisdom]

'bout time

Ive been excited for this release for a while. I was comparing it to Basis and FitBit and it looks like the least intrusive option to me. Just put my order in.


UPDATE
--------------------------
One week of using the UP, I'll be returning mine. Its just too young in development for me to justify the $99 spent.
#1. Realistically, I was only getting about 36 hours out of a charge, not 10 days as advertised. I did a reset as recommended by support, but it did not resolve the problem.
#2. I really cant believe this thing doesn't sync over bluetooth. When you think jawbone, you think bluetooth, right? Nope, not on this one. You have to pull the cap, and plug it into your headphone port to sync manually. On dozens of occasions it would not sync. One reason for not syncing is your headphone volume and over & over again it would reset my headset volume to 100% or 0% automatically when plugging it in.
#3. The photo meal tracking feature is a joke and doesn't really even deserve discussion.
#4. It fits awkwardly. When I'm at the computer (4-6 hours a day) it keeps slipping down and sits uncomfortably between my wrist and the desk. When im working out, it slips up & down my wrist due to the weight. Its also considerably wider than it is tall so I have a gap on each side of my wrist and it fits just right top & bottom.

Its not all bad though. I really do like the sleep tracking features and the vibrate to awake. I woke up most days fairly well rested and not jolted. I also like the UI of the app. I only wish they had a nice fluid website to match when browsing from my Mac or PC.

Jawbone: Slim it down a bit, with a more rounded fit. Give it bluetooth or wifi syncing and give me a real nutrition tracker like dailyburn or sparkpeople then Ill be happy to buy again in the future.

 

[Koodauw]

This looks really awesome. I will this work on runs?

 

[twitter]

nice idea but it would be nice to have it smaller and not look like a shackle

 

[UnseenLlama]

Ive been excited for this release for a while. I was comparing it to Basis and FitBit and it looks like the least intrusive option to me. Just put my order in.

Exactly, that's the key. Wear it and forget about it.

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This looks really awesome. I will this work on runs?

According to Jawbone's site, you can create an activity with a GPS based route in the app on the iPhone. Then when you sync the Up, will add the activity data.

 

[ob81]

A little piece of the future.

This thing looks great. Wearing it and forgetting about it is the big selling point. I wish they would have came in at an initial price of $65-70 though. $100 bucks is kind of steep.

Time will tell if it is a game changer.

 

[medi.freak]

Is this not for iPad2 or why is it not in the list? They added all the other versions of iOS devices...

 

[amann76]

as a tech junkie i just found my next useless gadget

 

[jlgolson]

Is this not for iPad2 or why is it not in the list? They added all the other versions of iOS devices...

Yes, it works on the iPad 2.

 

[Diode]

Is this not for iPad2 or why is it not in the list? They added all the other versions of iOS devices...

It shows the iPad2 on their site as compatible.

http://www.jawbone.com/up/faqs#!show_faq_app_que10

Which devices will the UP by Jawbone app work with?

It’s currently available for following devices running iOS 4.1 and greater:

• iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S
• iPad and iPad 2
• iPod Touch 4th Generation and newer (GPS functions in the app may be limited)

 

[soco]

Jawbone's website says, "Ships 3 - 4 Weeks" but this comes out on the 6th?

Does that mean it'll be available in Apple stores and the like on the 6th but ship from the manufacturer weeks later?

Weird.

 

[GeekLawyer]

I've read that some Apple stores are already showing (and selling!) these - in NY and NJ.

Anyone seen them yet?

 

[chuckles:)]

This looks tempting. I've been meaning to get healthier.

 

[Locodice]

This looks amazing but the fact that you can't wirelessly sync to the iPhone is a major downer for me.

Makes no sense when a company like Jawbone who specialise in bluetooth don't incorporate it into it.

I'll no doubt end up getting one though

 

[Diveflo]

On the european (German) site it says "ships by end of november"...anyone got an accurate launch date for this?
My order is out as well, looking forward to this.

What color did you guys go with? I went with bright red...black was the only other option apparrently.

 

[UnseenLlama]

This looks amazing but the fact that you can't wirelessly sync to the iPhone is a major downer for me.

Makes no sense when a company like Jawbone who specialise in bluetooth don't incorporate it into it.

I'll no doubt end up getting one though

They will need something to get you to upgrade to Up 2...

 

[Locodice]

They will need something to get you to upgrade to Up 2...

True true, but many will just say "Up Yours" - see what I did der? hehe

 

[iphoneg33k]

So once you get it you sync it with your phone by taking it off ever day ?

Don't understand how it sync and keeps tracks of your stuff.

 

[Locodice]

So once you get it you sync it with your phone by taking it off ever day ?

Don't understand how it sync and keeps tracks of your stuff.

It has a 3.5mm attachment that goes into the headphone socket.

 

[soco]

Currently in queue to speak with a Jawbone agent via live chat. Will update when I get an answer about the sporatic dates.

Update: I got to the head of the queue and was promptly disconnected and told to try again later.

Update 2: Got an email back stating any orders through Jawbone.com will not ship for 3-6 weeks and they recommend to buy in a store instead if you want one on launch.

 

[igazza]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Looks good, how you charge it?

 

[matthewHUB]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

So once you get it you sync it with your phone by taking it off ever day ?

Don't understand how it sync and keeps tracks of your stuff.

Yes I'm not sure of this either. Can someone confirm? It tracks your moment while you sleep and wakes you up in the lightest cycle? In real-time? Or based on an average of data manipulated with their "complex algorithms"?

I don't understand how if it does track your movement/sync in real time durin sleep, it doesn't "sync" wirelessly!

 

[ericrwalker]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Looks good, how you charge it?

with the USB cord to 3.5mm adapter.

http://www.jawbone.com/support/up

 

[kcgrl]

This looks amazing but the fact that you can't wirelessly sync to the iPhone is a major downer for me.

Makes no sense when a company like Jawbone who specialise in bluetooth don't incorporate it into it.

I'll no doubt end up getting one though

I do believe they did this so that the battery life would last longer than one day! I am okay with having to manually sync it but I do think in the future they will have to add this feature!

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can't wait for the reviews to start coming out! definitely on my wish list! I may be selling my bodybugg for this considering I don't like how bulking the bodybugg is...so this might be just the gadget I was looking for!

 

[scott911]

I do like the feature that wakes you at the "right" time.
Interesting to see if it works and improves one's morning routine.