With Up24 , Jawbone Bracelet Gym Goes Wireless - Use of Gadgets

Jawbone Bracelet Gym Goes Wireless -  Use of Gadgets

Bluetooth and a new application to make your workout more personal.

Of all the fitness trackers can be worn on the wrist - and boy , are there a lot of them - into the jaw may be the most minimalist from a hardware standpoint .

Like other appliances , elastic cuff , texture uses sensors to monitor the exercise during the day , and the rest you get when you sleep. But unlike most of its rivals, it does not have a screen to tell you how you are progressing toward your goals daily . Not even have a wireless connection : You can transfer data to your iPhone or Android phone connecting to the band in the headphone jack . Most of the interaction with the application is made ​​up , which also allows you to manually enter additional relevant data , such as weight and the details about the food you eat .

Now Jawbone has announced a new model, Up24 . At first glance , it looks exactly like the first simplified fashion coil company. It still has a microscopic cover for charging jack and proprietary USB cable , which feel they were born to be misplaced . But Up24 has an important novelty: Bluetooth . It costs $ 150 and comes with a new version of the application up ( for iOS only at the beginning ) , which also works with the original bracelet , which will remain on the market for $ 130.

Bluetooth connectivity allows synchronization with the application Up24 wirelessly in the background, and managed to retain respectable Jawbone battery ; seven days on a charge . Apart from saving you from having to remove the cover and plug the band into earphone jack of your phone to transfer data - which never seemed so huge a problem - the wireless capability that helps the coach to apply during day.

For example , is designed to remind your walking goal for the day - and to tell you when you've reached - and give a summary of how well each morning you slept . A new feature called "Today I Will" makes suggestions about daily goals from data collected Bracelet : You may notice that has been going to bed late and I encourage you to go to bed a little earlier. The application also commemorates milestones such as the passage of a million take.

Unfortunately , the few days I've had with Up24 - which coincided with a period in which I spent a lot of time on airplanes and therefore was exceptionally lazy - turn out to be too short a meeting to get a real sense of how the experience has changed. Jawbone advised to take the band for a while so that the application can collect enough data to help you effectively , is apparently still find me , and therefore have not had much to say beyond what was already in the initial application .

Which is not to say I did not notice any improvement. You can still press a button on the side to put it in sleep mode when you retire to sleep. But if you forget to do it - I did the 75 percent of the time with the application before - now you realize when you were probably asleep, and double checks with you to confirm that he was right.

What was good about the previous versions of the application Up is still impressive : On the one hand , it's beautiful and ambitious , with a series of colored infographics trace their exercise, sleep and other works. There is still a social networking component that allows to control the activities of friends who use Up . As before , one of the best features is the integration with IFTTT , which allows automation fancy tricks that involve multiple applications : for example , you can configure it to add an entry of food each time you register at a restaurant on Foursquare .

Earlier versions of the application up , despite its dynamism , sometimes felt a bit overwhelming. Jawbone has rejiggered the organization a bit, but I still found less completely intuitive . For example, I do not understand why the menu does not include an option to enter information about the foods you eat - instead , teensy touch the icon on your power to do the job . There is also a new useful summary of recent activity, which may be lost entirely if you do not realize you have to swipe down to see it.

And maybe it's just my particular personality , but sometimes the new application is overbearingly cheerful and talkative. In one day he had come so far to reach my daily goal of 10,000 steps , the application still out of his way to congratulate me , saying that I had walked enough steps to cross the Golden Gate Bridge . I 've found my laziness friendly criticism more motivating . ( The application has to push to complete your goals, but it does seem that only when most of the way , unfortunately not before. )

That's what happens to fitness trackers and their applications : more than most devices that are deeply personal . I do not need all that more positive reinforcement , but I like obsessively check how close I am to reach my goal to walk without bothering to remove the phone from his pocket. ( All variants of the device Fitbit have screens that make it possible. ) However , I will continue using Up24 so I can provide better advice - and if you approach Jawbone talks , the premium of $ 20 on the original model is obvious .

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