On the one hand, or wrist, there may
be an eye-catching Apple Watch, while the other will sport with more
discreet
jewelry packed with Internet Age smarts.
Jawbone had that vision of the wearable computing trend in mind late
Wednesday when it ramped its UP family of lifestyle-tracking bands and
teased
a coming model that enables American Express users to tap and pay at shop
checkout counters.
“People often wear a watch at the same time they are wearing bracelets,”
Jawbone vice president of product management and strategy Travis Bogard told
AFP at the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
“We can now put technology into those situations in a way that doesn’t
disrupt how you would wear it. Then you can collect that information and do
interesting things with it.”
A UP3 bracelet that tracks heart rate along with activity and sleep is
shipping after a delayed release while technicians improved water
resistance.
Jawbone introduced another new Up band with an overhauled design and
almost
half the mass of its predecessor.
Bogard showed off a coming flagship UP4 model with sensors capable of
measuring heart rate and other biometrics, and which could be used at
checkouts that have American Express contactless payment systems.
“We have created a seamless payment experience all in the tap of a
wrist,”
said Leslie Berland, executive vice president of digital partnerships and
development at American Express.
UP4 will be priced at 199 dollar when it is released in the middle of
this year,
according to Bogard. The lowest priced UP model is 49 dollar.
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In time with smartwatches
Bogard was undaunted by the pending arrival next week of Apple Watch,
which
unofficial estimates indicate has about a million pre-orders and could
ignite
the smar watch market.
“Those are really daytime wear,” he said of smartwatches.
UP bands are designed to be jewelry that “disappears on the body”
while
being worn all day every day, using sensors to track activity, sleep and
more.
The bands synch to smartphones and feed what they learn to the Internet
cloud, where “smart coach” software provides personalized advice for
healthier
lifestyles.
Jawbone has focused on creating a platform that can synch to
applications
tailored for an array of smartwatches from major players including Apple,
Huawei, Asus, LG and Motorola.
Data gathered by wearable computing devices can be used by “smart coach”
to
coax or nudge users toward lifestyle goals from losing weight to drinking
more
water or getting to sleep earlier.
“Data is good, understanding is better,” Bogard said.
Technology Holy Grail
While Jawbone believes people will want UP hardware, it has made the
platform open so developers can synch devices, applications or services to
the
system.
“One thing that differentiates tech companies from competitors is being a
platform,” Gartner analyst Brian Blau told AFP.
“That is something of a Holy Grail. Getting to that point and
kick-starting
an ecosystem is really lucrative, and could be for Jawbone.”
Having services, applications, smartwatches and more tuned to its
platform
diversifies opportunities for Jawbone to make money.
Gartner has found that while people have been showing interest in
wearable
computing, it hasn’t translated into massive mainstream purchasing.
“I think that the Apple Watch is going to pique people’s interest and
they
will pay more attention to wrist wearables,” Blau said.
The analyst doubted there would be a quick shift to people using watches,
bracelets or other wearable computers as wallets since it is already easy
enough to use credit cards for purchases.
Overall, it remains early days for wearable computing with innovations
on
the horizon including virtual or augmented reality head gear and sensors or
chips embedded in clothing fabric, according to the analyst.
“The wearables industry is only just getting started,” Blau said.
“The conundrum the wearables industry is in today is which will stand out
as the next platform or the next spot on the body where people will wear
things.” (AFP)