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Polar’s M600 sports watch is a dedicated fitness wearable that also runs Android Wear

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There’s an increasing trend of using Android Wear as the OS for specialty fitness wearables. At CES, Casio announced a rugged sensor-packed Wear device that also has a monochrome watch mode. Polar is continuing in that line with an Android Wear watch that doubles as an exercise wearable with an optical heart rate sensor, GPS, and activity tracking.


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Report: Jawbone has stopped making its fitness trackers, planning a ‘clinical-grade’ wearable

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Update: Jawbone says that the report is “unequivocally false”. Read the company’s update at its blog

According to a report this evening from Tech Insider, Jawbone, the company once famous for its Bluetooth headsets and more recently known for its Jambox speakers and fitness wearables, has stopped making the UP line of fitness trackers. This includes three devices that the company has reportedly struggled to sell: the UP2, UP3, and UP4. Another report says that a clinical-grade wearable is coming soon…


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Longtime Google search head Amit Singhal joins board of smart fitness tracking startup

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While still in retirement, Google’s former head of search Amit Singhal is joining the board of GOQii, a smart fitness startup that has already launched in India. Unlike other fitness competitors, GOQii is more focused on selling a personal coaching service than actual hardware.


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ASICS will acquire Runkeeper, following Adidas and Under Armor’s example

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Following in the footsteps of competitors, Adidas and Under Armor, ASICS will buy fitness app-maker, Runkeeper. The move was announced on Medium by Runkeeper’s founder, Jason Jacobs, and indicates that all fitness apparel companies clearly see the need to embed tracking technology, and/or tie-in apps with their brands.


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HTC and Under Armor’s HealthBox combines smart scales, fitness and heart-rate trackers in a single $400 package

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In an effort to get customers entirely absorbed into their ecoystem in one fell swoop, HTC and Under Armor have today announced HealthBox. Although it may sound like the brand-name for some kind of nutritious lunch, it is in fact a system which ties together a smart scale, fitness band and heart-rate monitor with a smartphone app…


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Watchmaker Fossil picks up fitness wearable tech w/ $260M Misfit acquisition

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Misfit, makers of popular smartphone-connected wearable fitness accessories, today announced the company is being acquired by watchmaker Fossil Group for $260 million, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Fossil plans to take the technology and integrate it into its traditional watch designs, according to the report:
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Adidas buys popular fitness app maker Runtastic for € 220 million

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Runtastic, developers of several popular fitness apps, today announced it has been acquired by Adidas for € 220 million. The move, according to a press release from both companies, will help Adidas bolster its efforts in offering connected products and its vision of “the convergence of sport, digital and data in an always connected and always on-demand world.” Or in other words, Adidas now has a strong software component with a large user base to integrate with its digitally enabled sports products including balls, wrist devices, apparel, and shoes.

Adidas already offers several of its own mobile apps that cross over into Runtastic’s territory, such as the miCoach train & run app and the Adidas Go app that integrates with Spotify to offer music matched to a user’s running pace. Runtastic, however, has around 20 mobile apps related to fitness and health and claims around 140 million downloads and 70 million registered users. The company also offers a few hardware products, including a scale and fitness tracking devices, that compliment its fitness apps that integrate with other third-party hardware including Android Wear devices and other wearables. 

It’s unclear what Adidas has planned for the company and its apps, but Runtastic will be joining the Adidas teams and building new experiences as part of the brand going forward. What exactly that means for the Runtastic brand and integration with Adidas products remains to be seen.

Google X developed a new fitness wristband, plans to deploy it as a medical device

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Every so often, Google officially comes out and tells the world about a project they’ve been working on inside Google X. In recent years we’ve heard about the glucose contact lens for diabetes patients, Google Glass, the self-driving car, and more. Now, Google has debuted (via Bloomberg), a new health-tracking wristband capable of monitoring heart rate, heart rhythm, skin temperature, and other useful information such as light exposure and noise levels…
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Google is developing tech that counts calories from your food pics

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How many calories does all that Android have?

Google showed off its new photo storage service at I/O last week with features including unlimited backup and searching for images by keywords, but the company has another image-related technology in development. Google can already recognize images of food when you search your photo library, but its currently developing technology that goes a step further by actually counting the calories in your meal based on your food shots. This could make dieting and calorie counting much more convenient in the future if it works well enough…
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9to5Toys Last Call: Jawbone UP24 (used) from $36, ZAGG Bluetooth keyboard $19, travel router $15, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

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Jawbone UP24 fitness bands (used): from $36.40 shipped (Reg. $130)

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 ZAGG Universal Keyboard for All Bluetooth Devices: $19 shipped (orig. $70)

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HooToo TripMate Wireless N Travel Router w/ USB port: $15 Prime shipped (Reg. $20)

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Samsung Galaxy ALPHA SM-G850A 32GB 4G LTE: $299 shipped (Reg. $400)

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LG G3 w/ free $100 Amazon gift card for $0.01 w/ 2-yr contract or $479 w/o

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LAST CHANCE! Small States Review Bolt Briefcase from WaterField Designs is an ideal work and travel companion, $249 giveaway

More new gear from today:

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Headphones: JBL J55 on-ears (multiple colors) $20 (Reg. $43), Sennheiser HD 518 over-ears $65 (Reg. up to $130)

More deals still alive:

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Download a free copy of the Transformers movie

New products & more:

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Rock Band 4 slated for a 2015 return w/ song collections transferring + all new hardware

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Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5s more reliable than current wearable fitness devices at measuring activity, finds study

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If you were thinking about buying a fitness band, a university study suggests you probably shouldn’t bother: it found that the Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5s measure activity more reliably than most current fitness bands.

The study by the University of Pennsylvania (via EurekAlert!) tested the ability of the phones to measure steps on a treadmill and compared the results to six dedicated fitness bands. The two smartphones had a margin of error of 12.9%, while the error rates of the fitness bands ranged up to 22.7%.

The study tested the Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5s against the Nike Fuelband, Jawbone UP24, Digi-Walker SW-200, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit One and Fitbit Zip. Only the FitBit One and Zip performed significantly better than the two smartphones.

Microsoft outs upcoming fitness ‘Band’ with premature Android and Mac app releases

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Microsoft hasn’t officially announced its wearable device, but it seems the company has accidentally published its desktop syncing client to the Mac App Store early. Whoops. The device is called the Microsoft Band (possibly Lumia Band, according to some currently non-functional support URLs).

The Microsoft privacy policy for the app lists some of the Band’s features: “Microsoft Band sensors help you keep track of things like your heart rate, steps, calories burned, and sleep.” Links in the document claiming to lead to a page with additional data, such as a list of sensors, currently lead to a 404 page.

Other key feature include the ability to get phone notifications on the Band, create reminders using Cortana, and more:


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Google plans to create a ‘baseline’ of health from extensive data collected in new study

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Google is planning to collect data from 175 participants in a new study to attempt to create a statistical standard for what is considered a healthy person, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The data collected in this study, called Project Baseline, will presumably be used at some point in the future to monitor technology users for any signs of potential medical issues and alert them.

In the study, which will eventually be expanded to thousands of participants, Google X’s Dr. Andrew Conrad and a team of as many as 100 scientists in varying fields will collect anonymous molecular and genetic data in order to determine the idea traits of a healthy individual. These samples will come in the form of tissue, tears, urine, and more which will be collected this summer.


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After wearables, Samsung explores rideables in technology tests on Trek bicycles

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CNET reports that Samsung is partnering with bicycle manufacturer Trek and its factory race team to explore the options for integrating the company’s technology into future bicycles.

The company has begun testing some of its mobile products — such as the Galaxy S5, its Gear portfolio, and the Galaxy Note — on the Trek Factory Racing Team as they train for some of the world’s top races, such as the Tour de France. As they ride, the team will monitor their health stats, racing cadence, and speed, along with communicate about team strategies and race routes …


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Sony’s Fitbit-like SmartBand now available in the U.S., is only compatible with Android

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Following the release of the Sony Smartwatch 2, the company has now pushed its latest wearable product to the United States market: the Sony SmartBand SWR10 (via Android Central). The device may look familiar if you’re a Fitbit user, and that’s because it basically does the same thing. The device features an accelerometer for tracking your steps, LED and vibration alerts for phone notifications, controls for media, and an app that works only with Android.

This Lifelog Android app is where the true functionality of this device comes, however:

Lifelog collects data from both the SmartBand and your smartphone to tell a broader story of what happens in your life — fitness, location, weather, photos, music, personal notes (life bookmarks) and more. Lifelog displays the information in a colorful, versatile interface that helps you reflect on what you did each day and set goals for the future. Lifelog displays your activity in a colorful, multi-faceted interface that lets you view your information in various ways.

You can get the SmartBand SWR10 straight from Sony for $99.99, and it comes with the removable main unit as well as two wristbands of different sizes. Alternatively, you can purchase the device on Amazon for $10 less, at $89.99.

Google apparently working on fitness APIs for future Android releases

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With rumors of Apple’s upcoming iWatch and its focus on fitness, it’s not a stretch to think that Google couldn’t also be exploring a similar use for its own devices. Now, as spotted by the unofficial Google Operating System blog, it seems we have our first glimpse at a fitness API for Android.

Whether this API will become available in a future Android update or will require new hardware or sensors to fully operate is not yet known. The company has already included some fitness sensors with its Nexus 5, but there’s currently no way for other devices to take advantage of similar data natively. A system fitness API could open up new doors, not just for Google’s own software, but for third-party developers like Nike.