Gatorade, the company you best know for its sports drinks, has launched a single-use wearable patch that, when used with its companion app, can analyze an athlete's sweat and provide them with a 'unique sweat profile.' According to Gatorade, the Gx Sweat Patch is the first wearable of its kind to hit the market, one ultimately intended to 'help inform personalized hydration strategies.'
Withings is launching two new connected health devices, a smart scale and a blood pressure monitor, with cellular onboard so that they can get online even without WiFi or Bluetooth. The Withings Body Pro cellular smart scale and Withings BPM Connect Pro cellular blood pressure monitor are designed to make remote patient monitoring more straightforward, particularly during a time when telehealth services have moved to the fore.
Google might already consider its acquisition of Fitbit a done deal but there are still some loose ends that need to be addressed. In the meantime, however, the two seem to be proceeding as normal, at least behind the scenes. While Fitbit will most likely continue to operate as it is now, there might be some changes afoot in the way it does business. That may include a cheaper subscription tier that may also be Google's way to monetize the data the fitness tracker giant will be able to gather.
Smartwatches and smart fitness trackers are a dime a dozen these days, almost all of them equipped with one form of heart rate monitor or another. These might be fine for some consumers that don't mind the designs these smartwatches come in or don't require more accurate or dedicated readings. There will, however, always be people who shirk from these smart wearables, especially when they're actually training or exercising. For these, Polar is launching its new Verity Sense, a dedicated heart rate monitor that can be worn on almost any part of your body.
Using your smartphone's camera and built-in sensors of several sorts, Google's added a couple of basic health monitoring systems to Google Fit. Heart Rate and Respiratory Rate can now be measured with Google Fit thanks to Google's fancy footwork with Pixel phone cameras. Google suggested that they'll add these features to more devices than just the Pixel, courtesy of Google Fit.
Apple Fitness+ has added a new feature for those who want more spice in their stroll, with Time to Walk promising a new "audio walking experience" from celebrities like Dolly Parton and Shawn Mendes. Promising more engagement as you hit the sidewalk or the trails, the new system is much like a podcast, with Apple creating original content each week.
Peloton is adding stacked classes to its exercise platform, finally allowing users to build custom workout routines that combine multiple sessions into one. The new system treats Peloton's on-demand classes much in the way that a physical gym would operate, with the ability to combine workouts focused on different parts of the body into one smooth-running session.
OnePlus' first wearable has long been rumored, and now we're finally seeing what the company known for its affordable but feature-packed smartphones has in mind. The OnePlus Band isn't so much a smartwatch alternative as something to replace your Fitbit, with health-focused features and some aggressive pricing.
OnePlus has long been expected to soon launch its first-ever wearable and leaks have been rather abundant about what that will be. Now it seems that even the company itself is throwing breadcrumbs for us to follow, intentionally or otherwise. It has published a new OnePlus Health app on Google Play Store for the public to see and, fortunately for us, it holds a lot of clues about the upcoming OnePlus Band, except perhaps its name.
It is now official. OnePlus will be launching a wearable device this year but it won't be the smartwatch that has been expected since 2016. Confirming a recent rumor, the company is aiming for a gentler and more calculated introduction, one that squarely aims for the fitness market instead. The name is still to be officially announced but the OnePlus Band, as it is being called now, is officially teased to be coming soon.
If you live somewhere that is currently under a blanket of snow, now is a good time to head outside for some exercise -- at least if you're looking to burn fat, according to a new study from the American Physiological Society. Researchers found that high-intensity exercise sessions conducted in 32F temperatures resulted in more fat burning than the same exercise in a 'thermoneutral' space.
Although people were initially doubtful and even apprehensive about the purpose smartwatches would play in modern life, the Apple Watch was able to carve out its own niche that its competitors are now trying to catch up with. That niche focuses on monitoring and measuring wearers' health with the need for dedicated, expensive, and bulky medical equipment, and the latest watchOS 7.2 update brings yet another feature that might not be a lifesaver but will hopefully improve lives anyway.