World News: fitness

Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Samsung releases SIMBAND fitness wearable for developers

by Nicole Lee | @nicole | 5 hours ago November 12th 2014 3:05 pm

Remember that SIMBAND wearable platform Samsung unveiled six months ago? Well, the Korean company has just announced at the Samsung Developer's Conference that the open reference version of it will be available to be ordered by developers today. We don't know too much about it just yet, but the wrist-worn device looks a lot like the Gear S, except with all of those additional sensors worked into the band. Those sensors, as was announced back in May, are modular, and can be reconfigured as the developer sees fit. Samsung says that the SIMBAND is "capable of integrating the most advanced sensing technologies in the world," which should work well with the new bio processor that the company announced today as well. The processor will apparently help developers incorporate more advanced health monitoring in their wearables.

Seeing as this is a developer's conference, it's only fitting that Samsung also announced a new developer platform and SDK, simply dubbed the Samsung Digital Health platform, that will supposedly work in concert with Samsung's cloud server and accounts to track your personal health info. "You can develop your own algorithms, your own sensor, completely from scratch," says Ram Fish, Samsung's VP of digital health. Samsung even demonstrated a version of the Babolat tennis racket, which apparently has those sensors built right in to help players improve their game. Instead of having the technology proprietary to their own products, Samsung's open platform is indicative of its attempt to open that tech up to others to see what they make of it, which could point to even more fitness wearables in the future. Samsung also hopes to build relationships with healthcare providers so that those wearing those fitness devices can better communicate their data to their doctors. Tags: samsung, sdc, sdc2014 Hide Comments 0Comments

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Garmin wants third-party apps to come to its fitness watches

byMariella Moon|@mariella_moon| 5 hours ago

Garmin's GPS watches and bands have been around wayyy longer than Android Wear and many other wearables, but the company's opening its gates to developers just now. The fitness/navigation equipment maker has launched an SDK called Connect IQ, which Garmin hopes devs will use to create watchfaces, widgets that show info at a glance and, of course, apps specially designed for wearable devices. Sadly, you won't be able to load apps on your old Garmin bands and watches -- you'd have to wait for compatible devices to come out in 2015. According to DC Rainmaker, if you do get one of those supported devices, you'll need to install the Garmin Connected Mobile app on your phone before you can load applications to the watch via Bluetooth, similar to Pebble. Question is: is there room on your "wearables to consider" list in a world where a bunch of Android Wear devices are already available and Apple watches are on their way?

Source: Garmin

More Coverage: DC Rainmaker, Kansas City Business Journal

Tags: app, developer, Garmin, SmartWatch Hide Comments 0Comments

Myontec wants to add voice coaching to its muscle-monitoring fitness shorts

byDaniel Cooper|@danielwcooper| 3 hours ago

Whenever I'm out for a run, there's a voice in the back of my head telling me to slow down and grab a sandwich. That's not particularly helpful when you're trying to shed pounds and achieve peak fitness, which is why Myontec wants to change what's being pumped into your brain. The Finnish company has taken to Kickstarter in the hope of both lowering the price of its costly MBody high-tech fitness shorts, but also to develop the ultimate replacement for a personal trainer in the process.

The shorts themselves currently retail for around $1,000, and can monitor your muscle load, heart rate, cadence, speed and balance. However, all of that information is pushed straight to your smartphone, so while it can identify if your running style needs fixing, you'll have to look down at your phone to learn what's wrong. That's not too much of an issue right now, because most of the people using MBody are professional athletes backed up with teams of analysts.

That's why Myontec is looking to develop an audio coaching platform that'll pipe those directions straight to your ears like the world's smartest personal trainer. For instance, if you're running in a manner that could make you more prone to injury, it'll tell you to concentrate on your position. Likewise, if your warm-up hasn't gotten your heart-rate to the required level to begin your workout, it'll tell you to keep warming up for a few more minutes. If this sounds like a pretty neat idea, then you can snag one of the sets for $500, with a few early-bird deals available for those at the front of the line.

Source: Kickstarter

Tags: Audio Coaching, Fitness, Kickstarter, MBody, Myontec, video Hide Comments 0Comments