Fitbit
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|
| Type | Private startup |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Founded | San Francisco, California, United States (October 2007)[1] |
| Founder(s) | James Park Eric Friedman |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Area served | USA |
| Key people | James Park, CEO Eric Friedman, CTO |
| Products | Fitbit Tracker |
| Website | www.fitbit.com |
Fitbit Inc. is a company headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded and managed by James Park and Eric Friedman, the company is known for its product of the same name, the Fitbit Tracker, a wireless-enabled wearable device that measures data such as the number of steps walked, quality of sleep, and other personal metrics. The average price of the Fitbit is between $60–$130, depending on the model.[2] However, data cannot be downloaded off the fitbit website unless one pays the premium membership price of $49 per year. Intraday data analysis cannot be downloaded at all.[3]
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Fitbit Tracker [edit]
The Fitbit Tracker uses a three-dimensional accelerometer, similar to that in the Wii Remote, to sense user movement. The Tracker measures steps taken, distance walked, calories burned, floors climbed, and activity duration and intensity. It uses an OLED display to display this and other information such as the battery level. It also measures sleep quality: how long it takes the wearer to fall asleep, how often they wake up over the course of the night, and how long they are actually asleep.
A wireless base station is included to receive data from the Tracker and also charge its battery. When connected to a computer the base station will upload data to the Fitbit. From the website, a number of features are possible: seeing an overview of physical activity, setting and tracking goals, keeping food and activity logs, and interacting with friends. Use of the website is free.
Development history [edit]
Fitbit Classic [edit]
The product was announced on September 9, 2008[4] at TechCrunch50 during the "Mobile" session. Fitbit received positive reactions during its panel from experts like Rafe Needleman, Tim O'Reilly, and Evan Williams who cited its wearability, price point, and lack of subscription fees.
The Fitbit Classic only tracked steps taken, distance travelled, calories burned, activity intensity, and sleep. It was designed to be a small black and teal device that could be clipped discreetly onto clothing and worn 24/7.
Fitbit Ultra [edit]
A new hardware upgrade was announced on October 3, 2011,[5] called the Fitbit Ultra. The new features included:
- an altimeter that measures elevation gain in terms of floors, with one floor roughly equivalent to ten feet.
- a digital clock visible on the device’s display
- a stopwatch that can be used to time activities
- randomized “Chatter” messages show when the Ultra is moved after sitting idle for awhile, and there’s a custom field to write in a personal “Greeting”.
- new colors (plum or blue, as opposed to the original teal)
Fitbit One [edit]
Announced on September 17, 2012, the Fitbit One is an update to the Fitbit Ultra that uses a more vivid digital display, has a separate clip and a separate charging cable and wireless sync dongle.[6] The Fitbit One and the Fitbit Zip were the first wireless activity trackers to sync using Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth Smart technology. The wireless syncing is currently available on newer Apple and Samsung devices such as the iPhone 4S and higher, iPad 3rd generation, iPod touch 5th generation,[7] Samsung Galaxy Note II, and Samsung Galaxy SIII.
Fitbit Zip [edit]
Announced on September 17, 2012, the Fitbit Zip is roughly the size of a quarter and tracks only Steps, Distance, and Calories Burned. Compared to other trackers, the Zip is the first Fitbit product to include a disposable battery. It also has a lower price point than other Fitbit trackers. Similar to the Fitbit One, it is able to sync its data wirelessly to a supported mobile devices such as the iPhone 4S and higher, iPad 3rd generation, iPod touch 5th generation,[8] Samsung Galaxy Note II, and Samsung Galaxy SIII.
Fitbit Flex [edit]
In spring of 2013, Fitbit will release the Fitbit Flex, which is a device that one wears on the wrist. It tracks movement 24 hours a day, including sleep patterns. It has a simple display of 5 LED lights and has all the same sync functions as the Fitbit One and Zip.
Fitbit Aria [edit]
In April 2012,[9] Fitbit released a "Wi-Fi Smart Scale" called the Fitbit Aria. It measures weight, body mass index (BMI) and percentage of body fat of the user. It can keep track of 8 individual users and updates information to fitbit.com automatically via WI-FI network.[10] The information is also updated to the mobile apps.
Fitbit Mobile Apps [edit]
In October 2011, just a few weeks after the launch of the Fitbit Ultra, Fitbit launched a native app for the iPhone.[11] In March 2012 Fitbit launched a native app for the Android (currently available in the US, Canada, and the UK).[11] The apps could sync between itself and a user’s account on Fitbit.com to update information. Users could log their food, activities, water intake, and weight, as well as track their fitness goals throughout the day even while offline. On February 12, 2013, Fitbit released Beta Sync for Android that would allow wireless syncing from any fitbit device to a limited number of Android devices. The previous version of the Android app could only read the dashboard from the main website in a mobile format.
Fitbit Website [edit]
Fitbit offers a free website that can be used with or without the Fitbit Tracker. Users have the ability to log their food, activities, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and glucose levels to track over time. Users also have the ability to set daily and weekly goals for themselves for steps, calories burned and consumed, and distance walked.
App Gallery [edit]
Fitbit.com dashboard also has the ability for users to connect existing applications from other providers such as Loseit, Myfitnesspal and many others to have cumulative data collection in one location for a more complete personal health report.
Food Plan [edit]
Fitbit allows users to set a Food Plan for themselves on the website or the mobile app based on a weight goal. The Food Plan tool has four different intensity settings users can choose from, and gives a range of calorie consumption to aim for each day. This number updates dynamically with any activities logged on the Fitbit website or synced with the Fitbit Tracker. It also gives a projected date for the weight loss which updates as the user logs their weight.
Badges [edit]
On August 9, 2011 Fitbit launched badges for various step and distance milestones. Step badges could be earned based on how many steps a user took in a single day, while lifetime distance badges gave users a badge based on how much distance they’ve logged since they started using the Fitbit Tracker. With the launch of Fitbit Ultra, they came out with new Ultra-only badges that can be earned for floor climbing, and launched new step and distance badges that anyone could earn.
Reception [edit]
Awards [edit]
Fitbit has won numerous awards, including runner-up at TechCrunch50 in 2008[12] and CES 2009 Innovation honoree and best in the Health & Wellness category.[13]
Criticism pertaining to privacy [edit]
Starting in June 2011, Fitbit was criticized for its website's default activity sharing settings, which made users' manually entered physical activities available for public viewing.[14] All users had the option to make their physical activity information private, but some users were unaware that the information was public by default. One specific issue which technology blogs made fun of was that some users were including details about their sex lives in their daily exercise logs, and this information was by default publicly available.[15] Fitbit responded to criticism by making all such data private by default and requesting that search engines remove indexed user profile pages from their databases.[14]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Fitbit Company Profile". CrunchBase. TechCrunch. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
- ^ "Fitbit Store". Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=360
- ^ Greene, Kate (September 10, 2008). "Self Surveillance". Technology Review. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
- ^ http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=522
- ^ Wilson, Mark. "Fitbit’s Newest Gadget: 24/7 Fitness Tracking Meets 24/7 App Syncing". Co.Design by Fast Company. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ^ http://www.fitbit.com/one/specs
- ^ http://www.fitbit.com/zip/specs
- ^ http://gdgt.com/fitbit/
- ^ http://www.fitbit.com/product/aria
- ^ a b http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=530
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2008/09/10/yammer-takes-techcrunch50s-top-prize/
- ^ http://www.cesweb.org/awards/innovations/2009honorees.asp
- ^ a b http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=463
- ^ http://gizmodo.com/5817784/dear-fitbit-users-kudos-on-the-30-minutes-of-vigorous-sexual-activity-last-night
