fitness

Fitbit debuts Flex, first Bluetooth 4.0 tracker

LAS VEGAS--Personal fitness company Fitbit has just jumped further into the wearable tech market. The company unveiled its $99.95 Fitbit Flex device, an activity tracker designed to be worn all day and monitor movement, sleep, and calories burned.

Design The Flex is similar to other competing products in the growing personal fitness category such as the Nike FuelBand, and Jawbone Up. Built to be worn all day long, the appropriately named Flex is a soft bracelet encased in a rubbery skin. The idea is that it's malleable enough to stay firmly wrapped around your wrist but be comfortable … Read more

This small, slick fitness tracker senses your ticker

LAS VEGAS--It seems that many companies want in on the wearable fitness tracker craze, and Withings is no exception. Its new Smart Activity Tracker is a small, light, 8-gram device that records user activity, sleep, and even measures heart rate in real time.

About the size of a USB stick, the Smart Activity Tracker can handle all the typical pedometer duties such as logging the steps you take, stairs climbed, and calories burned. What sets this gadget apart, though, is its heart rate sensor located on back. Just place your finger tip in the right spot and the Tracker will … Read more

RunKeeper 3.0 for iOS gets overhauled interface, new features

I usually hang up my running shoes for the winter, but the arrival of RunKeeper 3.0 for iOS makes me want to brave the cold, ice, and snow (of which there's ample supply here in Michigan).

Let me pause here to note that although the App Store is home to many great run-management apps, I've been a RunKeeper fan -- and user -- since way back in 2009. And I'm not alone in my adoration of the app: It's a regular presence on the iTunes top-10-freebies list.

So what's new in version 3.0? … Read more

How to enable pinch-to-zoom in Gmail on your Android device

Last week when Google rolled out Gmail 4.2.1 to all Android users, swipe-to-delete wasn't the only feature added to the app. Google also added pinch-to-zoom, but it's not called pinch-to-zoom in the settings. Wait, what? Yeah, it's a bit confusing. So here's what you'll need to do to enable pinch-to-zoom in Gmail on your Android device.

Download the latest version of Gmail from the Google Play Store. It should be version 4.2.1. After you're up to date, launch the Gmail app and navigate to Settings > General Settings. Check the … Read more

Episode 24: Jawbone Up vs. Fitbit One

I've had a lot of great adventures producing Always On, but I've had a lifelong dream to see a space shuttle launch, and with this show, I got to get pretty close: I flew down to Cape Canaveral to watch the Falcon 9 rocket blast off with the Dragon cargo capsule on board. It was, as you might imagine, a pretty spectacular sight: and a pretty exciting start to the future of privatized space flight.

This episode also features another pretty awesome day for me: a spin around Ford's test track in the 2013 Shelby GT500 Mustang. … Read more

Lots of little 'lectrics at the LA Auto Show (roundup)

Take a look around the 2012 LA Auto Show and you'll see quite a few compact, fully-electric vehicles. Having spent much time creeping along at 20 mph on Los Angeles' gridlocked highways and stopping-and-going on its crowded streets this week, I can think of no better city to get excited about EVs.

We've rounded up the biggest players in this year's small EV class, many of which are currently available to consumers or will be sometime in 2013.

Chevrolet Spark EV

Chevrolet follows up its Volt with the smaller, simpler Spark EV. Based on the smallest model … Read more

Basis watch keeps eye on health

San Francisco startup Basis Science confirmed pricing and availability for its Basis health tracker today. The $199 watch-style gadget hits the market in early December, continuing the evolution of wearable fitness technology for everyday consumers. … Read more

The Cheapskate Fifth-Anniversary Giveaway Spectacular, Round Three

Happy Black Friday, cheeps! (That's "cheapskates" plus "peeps" in case you're new around here.)

In honor of this crazy day of shopping madness, and to cap off the celebration of my fifth anniversary writing the Cheapskate blog, I've got one seriously killer contest for you.

Because it's a fifth anniversary, I decided one prize wouldn't do -- I needed five. And thanks to some very generous companies, that's what I ended up with. I'm overjoyed with this roster of goodies, which you can easily enter to win by following … Read more

Jawbone launches updated Up fitness gadget

Today Jawbone unveiled a new and revamped version of its Up fitness solution. Priced at $129.99, and available now for preorder, the Up says Jawbone has been significantly rebuilt from the inside out for increased strength and greater functionality. … Read more

GPS apps that let you know where you've been

When most of us think about GPS apps for smartphones, we're thinking about navigation apps that help you to get wherever you happen to be going. However, there's a whole range of GPS logger apps that are designed to keep track of where you've been.

Tracking your historic position, movement, speed, and elevation is very useful for fitness, as evidenced by the selection of fitness apps below, but it can also be fun. For example, after exporting the .GPX data from a GPS logger app, it can be imported into Google Earth or similar software to create a 3D flyby or, as is the case in the image above, 2D virtual artwork on a massive scale.