Who’s trying it: Alex, Melissa, Dan The MOOV is billed as a “smart personal coach,” which is more than just a wearable reporting to the user about activity. Where other activity trackers can capture data from a run, bike ride, swim, etc.—or do so through a connected app—the MOOV uses that data to help you get better, faster, and more fit. There are apps for coaching running/walking, swimming, cardio boxing, cycling, and 7-minute workouts. The MOOV devices are worn on [...]

Wearables: Leapfrog LeapBand, Ibitz activity tracker, Kidfit activity and sleep tracker Who’s trying them: The Lee kids and some of their friends Yes, there are kid wearables as well! Each of the three we’ve tried are about encouraging kids to be active, and incentivizing healthy activity through rewards. The Ibitz tracker is a small device that clips to clothing or shoes, similar to the Fitbit One or Jawbone Up Move. It tracks steps daily and over time. The activity is [...]

Wearable: Beddit Sleep Monitor Who’s Tried It: Kimberly, Sara, Alex What It Does: Sleep monitoring, including sleep quality, total sleep time, time to fall asleep, sleep efficiency, heart rate, respiration, sleep cycles, snoring, bed exits, restless sleep indicator Most of the wearables we’ve been trying this summer do some kind of sleep monitoring: the Microsoft Band, the Jawbone series, the Misfit Shine, the Fitbit series, and more. If you wear the devices at night, they report on restless vs. restful [...]

Before electronic activity trackers and step counters arrived on the scene, there were sportwatches.  Your old Timex Ironman--an indestructible amalgamation of ancient alien technology--was basically a stopwatch with a wristband. A sportwatch. It told you how much time had elapsed since you started it, how much time remained before the end of an interval you set and subsequently initiated, and—most importantly—it told you the time of day. At the turn of the millennium, Garmin, a company already well-known for its [...]