The Giz Wiz Show, Week of February 12th, 2014, Show #1455
February 11, 2014 Post a Comment A workout partner for your wrist.
There are a lot of fitness tracking devices on the market these days. These watch-like fitness monitors can keep track of steps taken, stairs climbed, calories burned, distance walked, and in the case of the Fitbit Force, hours slept and sleep quality. If you want, it can even wake in the morning via vibrations so not to disturb others. (Of course you have to be wearing your FitBit Force all night for these sleep funcitons.) The Force can automatically sync the data it recorded to your PC, Mac, iPhone and many Android devices. This is all done wirelessly, when you get in range of the receiver included with your Fitbit Force, which is plugged into your computer. Once you go online, everything you do day by day is there on your Fitbit dashboard. You download the app when you first get your Fitbit Force, and enter age, weight, etc. Then you can use it to set a goal and use the LED display to track progress. To help you along, you earn badges for daily, weekly and lifetime achievements. It seems childish, but I was happy when my Fitball started to vibrate to draw my attention to the fact I had reached my first 10,000 step day. The FitBit OLED display shows your stats on the go and wirelessly syncs them to many popular smartphones. It’s water-resistant, not waterproof. You recharge it about once a week via USB. You’ll get an email telling you when it’s time to charge your Fitbit Force. I’ve had mine for about two weeks now, and I like it. If I find my step count low for the day, Fairway my dog, gets an extra long walk, or I climb some extra stairs. There is one annoying side of the Fitbit Force. The band is a pain to put on and it can open easily if you’re not very careful. There are many stories online of people who have lost their Fitbit Force days after buying it. The band should be redesigned. It's available in Slate or Black. $129.99
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UPDATE: Because some people have developed a rash from the Fitbit Force band, sales have been discontinued while Fitbit does a redesign. If you already have own a Force, you can get a refund. Info is on the company website or click link below. This affects only the Fitbit Force, not the other models.
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