May 28, 2022 — Worldwide sales of fitness trackers increased from US$14 billion in 2017 to over $36 billion in 2020. The skyrocketing success of these gadgets suggests that more people than ever see some value in keeping tabs on the number of steps they take, flights of stairs they climb, time they spend sitting, and calories they burn. […]
August 28, 2020 — Are we ready for our Alexa smart speaker to tell us exactly how much body fat we have? Just in case we are, Amazon has some new technology to take us in that direction. It’s called Halo. Now for only $65 (discounted from a list price $99.99) we can get a smart band, an app, […]
November 2, 2019 — After 12 remarkable years, it looks like the wild ride for Fitbit may be coming to an end. Maybe. Or maybe it’s on the verge of becoming a rising star in the Google universe. On Friday, the sale of Fitbit to Google for $2.1 billion emerged as a real story. Speculation about such a deal […]
May 31, 2019 — We wait for it every day. That magic moment when our fitness band goes nuts with good vibrations to tell us that we’ve crossed the magic threshold of 10,000 steps for the day. But if you dig into it, you can easily learn that the 10,000 step benchmark is more arbitrary than magic. And new […]
February 17, 2019 — The consumer market for activity trackers is shrinking. Smartwatches have put a dent in the sales trend for Fitbit’s old bread and butter product – the fitness tracker. Of course, the company has responded with a pretty good smartwatch to compete with Apple. But a big part of its strategy is to make a buck by helping […]
January 2, 2019 — Healthy lifestyles are a popular concept. But popular culture is fickle about this subject. As soon as something captures our attention in this realm, it quickly fades from view. So as we plunge into a new year, let’s take a quick look at what’s hot and what’s not, according to the culture that surrounds us. […]
October 30, 2018 — Tech has a very mixed track record in obesity care. Diet apps were early hits. Fitness trackers have a loyal following. The apps are free and the trackers have a lot of gee whiz pizazz. What’s not to like? Unfortunately, proving that they lead to better health outcomes has been tough. But now, in the […]
March 18, 2018 — Sometimes simple things can have lasting effects. A new study in PLOS Medicine points to an excellent example. The subject is a 12-week walking program with pedometers. Follow-up on two different randomized controlled studies show real increases in physical activity three to four years after the program. More Than Just the Gizmos The story behind […]
December 1, 2017 — “What gets measured gets managed.” This bit of wisdom from Peter Drucker got its start with Lord Kelvin. By now, the whole idea of tracking has become a bit of a holy grail for weight management. We get many prompts for tracking: weight, diet, and physical activity. And generally, keeping track of what we’re doing is […]
May 27, 2017 — Is that electronic leash on your wrist really doing anything? Can you rely upon fitness trackers for good information? A pair of recent studies add to the reasons you might doubt it. Heart Rate, Yes; Calories Burned, No Researchers from Stanford tested seven fitness trackers and published their result in the Journal of Personalized Medicine. […]
