fitness

Last week, Garmin made a round of updates to its Vivoactive 3 fitness tracker, and today, it's taking a pass at the Vivoactive's big brother. The Fenix 5 series is the next in line to get some updates, with Garmin today announcing three new watches that will comprise the Fenix 5 Plus line. The watches boast some significant upgrades over their predecessors, but be prepared to shell out a lot of cash if you want to own one.

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Garmin has announced a new version of the Vivoactive 3, the fitness tracking GPS smartwatch it launched last August. This new version, dubbed the Vivoactive 3 Music, is pretty much the same as the original that debuted last year, but with one key difference: it comes with onboard storage you can fill up with music. At first blush, that might seem a little underwhelming as the only new addition, but the Vivoactive 3 was already a pretty capable wearable before this.

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A few months back, Fitbit announced and opened pre-orders for its first kid-focused fitness tracker. Dubbed the Fitbit Ace, this new device wants to get kids motivated to put down the screens for a little while and go get some exercise. Today, the Fitbit Ace is launching worldwide, landing at many of the biggest retailers here in the US.

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Smartwatches have become more than just smaller smartphones. Many of them are smaller clinical labs as well. Health and fitness have become the focus of many smartwatch makers, especially Apple. Despite having countless sensors, almost all of them are missing one important functionality: measuring the user’s blood pressure. At Computex 2018, ASUS, following Omron’s footsteps at the start of this year, is addressing that problem with the new VivoWatch BP that brings a blood pressure monitor to the consumer wearable market.

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We are surrounded by technology throughout our waking hours. In fact, some of them, through devious intention or accidental side effect, seem to be designed to keep us awake. There has been a recent surge of interest in technologies that will help us stay fit but, again, they put more emphasis on being active and awake.

Very few focus on taking advantage of science and technology to give our bodies the boost they need during sleeping hours. One of those few is Molecule, a new startup that is breaking into the mattress market with a Mattress that will help you keep your cool and keep you sleeping soundly.

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Fitbit is kicking off its week by announcing that a long-requested feature will soon be coming to its products: female health tracking. Specifically, this means fertility and menstrual cycle tracking. It seems that we have a little longer to wait before these features go live, but Fitbit gave us some in-depth details today.

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If you've been looking for an excuse to get active, Amazon's daily deals might have the answer, with a one-day promotion for several Fitbit fitness bands and smartwatch models. The company's Alta, Alta HR, Charge 2, Flyer, and Ionic are all up for grabs, with up to $50 savings depending on which model you want to strap to your wrist.

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Smartwatches are complex (but small) beasts with multi-faceted functionality. Fitness trackers, in contrast, are streamlined to do only one thing: keep track of your activities. Well, actually two things. They also display that information, provided they have a screen of their own. Following the fitness-centric update to the Gear S2, Samsung is rolling out a similar refresh to the Gear Fit2 and Gear Fit2 Pro, making it easier to see your fitness stats and goals with just a few taps and swipes.

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Mention the word “wearable device” to people and those in the know will immediately think one of two things: a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, or even both. Motiv, however, wanted to smash that preconceived notion into little bits that you can wrap around your finger. Last year, the startup launched the Motiv Ring, which, as the name so plainly implies, crams all those fitness tracking hardware into something you can easily put on your finger. This year, it is expanding that ring’s reach by making it possible to buy the “truly wearable wearable” in more places.

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There has never been a better time to be mobile. And not just in the road warrior kind of mobility. It’s almost as if we’ve entered the couch potato counter-culture age, where there is no shortage of incentives, tricks, and devices to get you up and about, from Pokemon GO to gamifying activity tracking. But walking hither and thither is just half the equation. The other half is making sure you’re actually burning that lunch or dinner you just had. When it comes to running, jogging, or exercising, you probably don’t want to do so in silence. Here are some of the best workout companions that won’t tie you down or snag you up while you channel the spirit of Rocky.

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Fitbit may have its new Versa smartwatch to debut Fitbit OS 2.0, but owners of the wearable company's existing products aren't being left out. Ionic wearers should slowly begin to see Fitbit OS 2.0 roll out to their smartwatches, the company has confirmed, though right now it's a small-scale deployment to make sure nothing goes wrong along the way.

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Fitbit just announced not just one but two wearables, a smartwatch and a fitness tracker for kids. Google is expected to do a rebranding, and maybe even a re-envisioning, of its Android Wear platform. Amidst all of these announcements, one can't help but wonder what has become of what should have been the next phase in our mobile evolution.

Smartwatches still exist, no mistake about that, probably as long as Apple is still playing the game. But smartwatches need to do some heavy thinking, maybe even a U-turn if it's to remain relevant, even if Apple suddenly decides to throw in the towel.

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