The first “gadget” we’ve seen at TechCrunch50 is the FitBit, a wireless 3D pedometer and diet monitoring system that will cost $99 and connect online to upload activity levels and food intake. The device, which is getting a lot of buzz, clips to almost any piece of clothing and is almost invisible. When you pass by the wireless base station the FitBit transmits all of its collected data and transmits it to the website where it is processed. You can also add food eaten and other data and it also tracks sleeping patterns.
The founder already lost 15 pounds using an early version of the device simply by becoming mindful of his activity and calories burned. The product is similar to the Nike+iPod gear available now but the wireless sync is the real draw in this case. It’s a fascinating product and definitely a compelling little widget that could a lot of us a lot of good. Knocking off 15 pounds on my orotund Polish-Hungarian frame would be nice.
Cool product.
Better business model. Sell inexpensively to gain a base and at a profit. Build premium services to better serve satisfied customers.
Gotta trust a Chinese American entrepreneur
niiiice…
enjoyed the presentation
Anyone know who are the investors in this product?
Wow! I can pay one hundred bucks for this or 25 cents for a pen and write it down myself.
Studies show most people overestimate their exercise and underestimate their caloric intake. People who do keep health journals can’t do it write in them more than once or twice a day, reducing the proven effectiveness monitoring offers. I’d be curious to see if the device is as accurate as they claim, but the idea behind it is sound and the price seems reasonable.
Anyone know of the negative health ramifications of having one of these close to your body 24/7? While this seems like a cool device that would be my *big* concern…
You mean like a mobile phone???
Jon,
I’m certain it’s very low power and low frequency - they say it lasts 10 days on a single charge, so it’s not going to be doing high frequency communication back to the base-station. Most likely it wakes up every few ms and tries to locate the base-station and goes back to sleep if it doesn’t.
You’ll get far more RF exposure from your WiFi router than something like this.
PS. I have a MS in electrical engineering, if it help.
Will love it merged with a MP3 player
I know a bunch of ladies from my Chubby Mommy Running Club who might want to test this, just for fun. We also test Wii Fit and several different kinds of cupcakes, regularly. To make sure they’re not poison.
Ha
Tech for tech baby. Mainstream are not interested in something that can neuter your balls. For men who don’t want to have kids.
What’s all this hype about tracking calories and all. I think all of us are educated enough to know fatty food from non-fatty food. Just avoid the fats and carbos and load up the proteins. That’s all we need to remember. And oh yeah… get off the couch once a day at least!
A comment like this is exactly why American’s are fat. The lack of understanding when it comes to basic nutrition is troublesome.
Now that’s a startup with legs. Fat is the big thing for the next 20 years or more in US. Nice well rounded business model and solution. They better be set up like a drive thru window. They’re going to get a lot of hungry customers whip in there.
How does FitBit compare to the BodyBugg?
come and download free
all good songs
lagusempoi.blogspot.com
Don’t forget to check out the fitbit babe… just see what fitbit can do for you:
http://fitbitbabe.blogspot.com
Wow! Nice one fitbit. It’s kinda got the whole wii fit buzz, but taking it on the road. Agreed it does sound a bit like the Nike/iPod combo. I wonder how long it will take the folks in Cupertino to redesign/launch a similar system?
Check out the ActiPed at http://www.actiped.co.uk
Lower price point. This device does all that the fitbit does but the battery lasts for 18 months+! No charging or docking required.
finally a health monitoring system with an easy upload mechanism… hopefully it works as promised
Won’t come out until December/January, but I’ve got one preordered. Some people may not need help to get fit/healthy, but others do. I’m in the latter group and just don’t have the get up to write in a paper journal. It’ll be nice to have an online place to journal stuff and actually monitor sleep and exercise.
So obesity is cured! Hallelujah! But didn’t the Shangri-La Diet already cure obesity?
Somehow this seems like that Bedpost sex tracking site: a bit too much for the average person. I can’t see these entering the mainstream.
Does it track cycling and elliptical machines?
Whatever happened to using your belt to track your weight? Are you jeans tight? Jeez, what a bunch of geeks you guys are.
No doubt a great product. But with all these gadgets are we getting to mechanized? One must not take the actual facts presented by these gadgets too seriously but use these as trends.
I like this product and will post it to our fitness exercise forum.
I’d hate to point out the obvious, but this is not going to track the calories your burn accurately. A heart rate monitor already does that, and most good ones, eg Suunto, sync to your computer already.