May 22nd, 2013

Sleep Tracking Startup Zeo Says Goodnight

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One of the early pioneers in the Quantified Self movement has quietly gone out of business. Zeo, a leading maker of hardware and software used by consumers to track sleep and improve their health, has not been operating since the end of last year. A trustee has nearly completed the sale of all company assets. Zeo has been very quiet about the news up until now. In fact, Zeo’s website is still up… → Read More

April 26th, 2013

This Week On The TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast: The Q10 Vs. The One And The Fitbit Flex

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This week on the TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast we talk about the Blackberry Q10, The HTC One, and the Fitbit Flex. This time we’re joined by Matt Burns, Darrell Etherington, Chris Velazco, and a tiny thinger that won’t fit into the bracelet. Enjoy! → Read More

March 4th, 2013

Fitness And Health Tracker Fitbit Is Raising $30M At A $300M-Plus Valuation

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Fitness technology and hardware startup Fitbit is raising north of $30 million in growth capital at a $300 million-plus valuation, according to multiple sources. The company last raised $12 million in January 2012 from Foundry Group, True Ventures, SoftTech VC and Felicis Ventures. → Read More

February 12th, 2013

Fitbit’s Updated Android App Packs Wireless Sync Support For Samsung’s Galaxy S III and Note II

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Nike may not be planning to release an Android companion app for its activity-tracking FuelBand, but rival Fitbit is eager to make sure that health-conscious Droid owners are well taken care of. To that end, the company pushed out a new version of its Fitbit Android app that finally brings Bluetooth 4.0 sync support to Samsung’s Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. → Read More

January 10th, 2013

Withings Shows Off Its New Smart Scale And Smart Activity Tracker At CES [Video]

Withings was one of a pretty busy section of the CES 2013 show floor demoing health, fitness and lifestyle monitoring apps, and it had a couple of new things to add to its line of Wi-Fi scales and monitoring devices. One was the new Withings Smart Body Analyzer, which is a version of its Wi-Fi scale that, for the first time, measures heart rate. The other was the Smart Activity Tracker, a… → Read More

January 10th, 2013

Founder James Park Reports That Fitbit Users Average About 6,000 Steps A Day, Introduces Us To The Flex

The Fitbit pedometer is a fun way to track your daily perambulations. They’ve launched a number of products over the past year, including the One and the Aria scale. → Read More

January 7th, 2013

Following Fitbit’s New Wristband, Basis Unveils First Android App, To Go Live In March; iOS To Follow

Basis Mobile Steps Habit

Quantified Self enthusiasts are getting their fair share of excitement at CES this week. Basis first unveiled its intriguing health-tracking watch at the event last year, but after hiccups and lawsuits, the company finally launched its product on the market in November. At launch, however, the band looked great and the entire package was very promising. → Read More

January 7th, 2013

Goodbye Annoying Clips: Fitbit Reveals The $99 Flex Activity Tracking Wristband

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If there’s one issue that seems to crop up often with Fitbit’s eponymous line of fitness trackers, it’s that they can be a little tough to keep track of — our own Matt Burns ended up washing his, a tragedy that’s apparently befallen many a Fitbit fan.

That’s where Fitbit’s new $99 Flex wristband comes into play — it takes most of the same activity tracking tendencies as the earlier models and… → Read More

November 18th, 2012

Fitbit One Review: Slightly Flawed, But Still A Great Way To Quantify Yourself

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The original Fitbit first saw the light of day over four years ago, and boy how things have changed since then. Now it seems like everyone from old incumbents to ambitious upstarts have offered their own takes on the activity-tracking formula, so how does Fitbit’s newest offering stack up to the competition? → Read More

November 16th, 2012

The Jawbone UP Is Back, But Is It Better Than Ever?

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I’ve had most of the week to wear the $129 Jawbone UP and I thought I’d offer a few impressions for those unsure which model pedometer to buy. I’m a Fitbit man myself because I’ve gotten used to moving the minuscule dongle from pocket to pocket and I have only lost one in my travels. But – and this is a big but – I could be convinced to move over to Jawbone if they fixed a few niggling problems. → Read More

November 12th, 2012

LeWeb Paris Program Announced: The Internet Of Things With Nest, Fitbit, Lockitron, NASA & Others

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LeWeb Paris is less than a month away and conference organizers Loic and Geraldine Le Meur just posted this year’s schedule. The theme of the event, which is scheduled to run from December 4th to 6th,  is “The Internet of Things.” There is a clear focus on connected hardware, with speakers like Nest‘s Tony Fadell and Fitbit‘s James Park, as well as representatives from companies like Lifx→ Read More

September 27th, 2012

With Fitbit And RunKeeper Data, Notch Offers A Creative Way To Visualize Your Health

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It’s a good time to be a healthy geek — and to start becoming one. Of late, we’ve seen an exponential increase in digital health data thanks to growing popularity of a new generation of smart, wearable devices that help us track and stay on top of our health. These Quantified Self devices scratch our geeky itch for data and allow us to take doctors and fitness instructors home with us — or out… → Read More

September 17th, 2012

Hands-On With The Fitbit Zip

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Fitbit just announced two new devices, the $99 One, a replacement for the Ultra pedometer, and the Zip, a $60 entry-level model that adds a bit of mirth to the Fitbit family. The One won’t be available until October but I carried Zip around for a week or so already and found it to be quite fun and capable.

The Zip is a departure from the original “clothespin” style Ultra in that it can be… → Read More

April 23rd, 2012

Hands On With The Fitbit Aria Scale

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Fitbit has consistently proven to be the best smart pedometer on the market. Competitors exist, including the excellent Striiv, but the ease of use and portability of this little pedometer clip beats them all. In short, Fitbits just work.

With the launch of the Aria wireless scale, Fitbit has added another sensor in the panoply of health data available to high-tech health nuts. This… → Read More

January 24th, 2012

Fitness Tracker Fitbit Raises $12M To Market New Wi-Fi Enabled Smart Scale, Aria

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Fitness technology startup and TechCrunch 50 finalist Fitbit has raised $12 Million in Series C funding from existing investors Foundry Group, True Ventures, SoftTech VC and Felicis Ventures.

The company offers a device called the Fitbit Tracker and a companion web-based fitness data aggregation technology that tracks weight, nutrition, exercise, sleeping schedules and other health related data… → Read More

January 13th, 2012

Health Sensors Are Everywhere: Up Close With Striiv And Fitbit

This was the year of the sensors. From Fitbit’s new Aria Wi-Fi scale to the Basis sports watch, I saw more devices to keep you healthy and lean than ever.

I sat down with the folks from Fitbit and Striiv who both saw the power of self-reporting and mindfulness when it comes to weight loss. Striiv, for example, has a new feature that allows you to connect to your friends wirelessly to compete… → Read More

October 3rd, 2011

The Fitbit Ultra: More Fitbit Goodness, Same Fitbit Package

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I had the opportunity to use a Fitbit Ultra, the successor to a glorified pedometer that has become oddly popular and addictive to a certain subset of non-torpid technophiles. To be clear, the desire to measure your days in terms of steps taken is an old one (there is heard tell of an old Chinese tradition of walking 10,000 steps a day to reach health and prosperity), but the Fitbit does this in a… → Read More

July 3rd, 2011

Sexual Activity Tracked By Fitbit Shows Up In Google Search Results

Yikes. Users of fitness and calorie tracker Fitbit may need to be more careful when creating a profile on the site. The sexual activity of many of the users of the company’s tracker and online platform can be found in Google Search results, meaning that these users’ profiles are public and searchable. You can click here to access these results. The Next Web reported this earlier this morning.

As… → Read More

April 5th, 2011

Fitbit Partners With RunKeeper, Microsoft, About.Me And Others With New API

Fitness technology startup and TechCrunch 50 finalist FitBit is announcing the availability of its beta API today, and is revealing a number of partners that have integrated its health platform. The company offers a device called the Fitbit Tracker and a companion web-based fitness data aggregation technology that tracks weight, nutrition, exercise, sleeping schedules and other health related data… → Read More

January 19th, 2011

How Sonos Got It Right: Up Close With A Survivor

John MacFarlane had a dream: to send music from one box to every room in the house. In 2002, the only way to do this – sanely – was to run speaker wire from room to room, creating an install headache or a rat’s nest of wires. His company, Sonos, succeeded at sending the audio wirelessly, a feat that has been replicated many times but has never resulted in a product as successful… → Read More

September 15th, 2010

Google Health Gets A Wellness Makeover, Now Integrated With Fitbit And CardioTrainer

Google Health, which enables you to store and manage all your health information in one place on the Web, is getting a much-needed redesign and feature upgrade today. And Google, which launched Google Health in 2008, has partnered with popular mobile health app CardioTrainer and personal health and wellness monitoring device Fitbit to integrate data from these applications into your Health… → Read More

September 10th, 2010

Fitness Tracker Fitbit Gains Another $8 Million

Fitness technology startup and TC 50 finalist Fitbit just raised $8 million in funding, judging by this recent SEC Form D filing. According to information gleaned from the document, the $8 million looks to be part of a Series B round that the company hopes will eventually top out at $9 million.

The filing also lists The Foundry’s Brad Feld as joining the board as part of the financing, but has no… → Read More

September 24th, 2009

It Took A Year, But Fitness Gadget Fitbit Will Finally Launch

Fitness gadget Fitbit was a hit at last year’s TechCrunch50, where it created a ton of buzz and was a runner-up for the top prize. Of course, we all know that it takes hardware companies longer to launch than software startups and since last September, Fitbit has been working tirelessly to refine the product, establish distributions channels and tweak its online platform. Now we won’t have to wait… → Read More

September 24th, 2009

It Took A Year, But Fitness Gadget Fitbit Will Finally Launch

Fitness gadget Fitbit was a hit at last year’s TechCrunch50, where it created a ton of buzz and was a runner-up for the top prize. Of course, we all know that it takes hardware companies longer to launch than software startups and since last September, Fitbit has been working tirelessly to refine the product, establish distributions channels and tweak its online platform. Now we won’t have to wait… → Read More

October 10th, 2008

Fitbit Raises Healthy $2 Million From True Ventures And SoftTech VC

Fitbit, producer of a sleek little device that clips onto your clothing and tracks your movement throughout the day and night, has raised $2 million from True Ventures, SoftTech VC and several angels in what appears to be the company’s first round of institutional funding.

The device, set to go on sale in early 2009 for $99 a pop, uses the information it gathers about your movement to help you… → Read More

September 10th, 2008

Yammer Takes Top Prize At TechCrunch50

Three jam-packed days, and 52 startup demos later, we finally have a winner for this year’s TechCrunch50. Every day, the presentations just seemed to get stronger and stronger. There were so many strong contenders this year that we are awarding five jury selection prizes, in addition to the top prize. But there must be a winner, and that winner is…Yammer.

Yammer is Twitter with a business→ Read More

September 9th, 2008

FitBit, a tiny fitness gadget that I actually want

The first “gadget” we’ve seen at TC50 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 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… → Read More

September 9th, 2008

Are Linux Programmers Getting Too Fat?

TechCrunch50 company FitBit (which demoed its health activity monitoring device live as well) put up this slide to underscore its point that obesity is a growing problem, particularly in the geek world. The slide shows how the distribution of T-shirt sizes at the Linux Symposium has shifted towards the XL and XXL side of the scale.

I’m convinced. Linux programmers need FitBit. → Read More

September 9th, 2008

TC50: FitBit, A Fitness Gadget That Makes Us Want To Exercise

The first “gadget” we’ve seen at TC50 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 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… → Read More