Fitbit Inc. is an American company headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Founded and managed by James Park and Eric Friedman, the company is known for its products of the same name, which are activity trackers, wireless-enabled wearable technology devices that measure data such as the number of steps walked, heart rate, quality of sleep, steps climbed, and other personal metrics. The first of these was the Fitbit Tracker.
On May 7, 2015, Fitbit announced it had filed for IPO with a NYSE listing.The IPO was filed for $358 million. The company's stock began trading with the symbol "FIT" on June 18, 2015.
The Fitbit Tracker uses a three-dimensional accelerometer, similar to that in the Wii Remote, to sense user movement. The Tracker measures steps taken, and combines it with user data to calculate 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 by tracking periods of restlessness, how long it takes the wearer to fall asleep 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 website, where a number of features are available: 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.
The Fitbit Classic tracked only steps taken, distance traveled, 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.
At the TechCrunch50 during the "Mobile" session on September 9, 2008, 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.
A new hardware upgrade was announced on October 3, 2011, 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 a while, and there's a custom field to write in a personal "Greeting".
new colors (plum or blue, as opposed to the original teal)
The Fitbit Ultra is powered by a small Lithium polymer battery.
The Fitbit Ultra suffered from a small design flaw: the unit had a permanently curved shape in order to clip directly onto any piece of clothing. The plastic used in the unit was not appropriate for the strain experienced at the looped end, and with time would become brittle, and crack. While most users experienced only minor cracking with no effects to the device's function, in a few cases the cracking led to total failure: mostly the case splitting and screen ceasing to function.
Fitbit offered replacement or repair of affected units, under warranty.
The Fitbit Force was announced on October 10, 2013. It has an OLED display that shows time and daily activity. The Force tracks a number of statistics in real-time, including steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, stairs climbed and active minutes throughout the day. At night, the Force tracks sleep and can wake a user silently with a vibrating alarm.
On January 13, 2014 it was reported that an unconfirmed number of Fitbit customers who have purchased the Force have complained about skin irritation after wearing the Force for extended periods of time. Fitbit stated on its website that the company consulted with medical professionals whose assessments are that these irritations are most likely allergic reactions to nickel, a component of the surgical-grade steel or the adhesives used to assemble the Fitbit Force. Fitbit, working with the Consumer Protection Safety Commission, recalled the Fitbit Force on February 20, 2014. On March 12, 2014 the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) made the recall official.At that time it was revealed that The Fitbit Force had caused about 9,900 injuries. It is no longer for sale on Fitbit's website.
During CES 2016 event,[26] Fitbit announced a new fitness watch that is called "Fitbit Blaze". It is similar to a modern smart-watch, such as Apple Watch, Pebble Smart-watch, and Android Wear watches. The Blaze focused on fitness first, then smart features inside the watch. Unlike the Surge, the Blaze comes with a colored touchscreen, and exchangeable strap and frame. Some functionality from the Surge has been retained, like auto-tracking exercise and heart-rate monitor. Blaze has connected GPS, meaning it can track movements by using the connected smartphone's GPS. The user can receive notifications, including incoming calls, texts and calendar appointments on the Blaze.
In addition, the Fitbit Blaze also integrates with Fitstar, Fitbit's website for customized workouts. These workouts can be displayed on the Blaze's screen.
The Fitbit Alta has all the features of standard Fitbit wristbands which lacks only heart rate monitoring. The accessory can be used for tracking exercises and sleep. The wristband offers a full OLED touchsreen that you can tap to set up your reminder, a clock and view your smartphone notifications. The Alta is also able to recognize the type of activity you are doing: running, playing football, or just walking.
A 2014 study done at Iowa State University tested eight fit band devices including the Fitbit Zip and the Fitbit One. Using a sample of 30 men and 30 women, researchers had participants wear bands during 69-minute workouts that included a series of 13 different activities. Results showed the bands were at best 'reasonably accurate,' with the Fitbit Zip and Fitbit One scoring 10.1% and 10.4% error ratings, respectively.
A 2015 validation study completed by the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Medical Center tested the accuracy and reliability of Fitbit devices, including the Fitbit One and Fitbit Flex devices. Using a sample of 23 adults (10 males; 13 females), researchers had the participants wear multiple devices on their wrists and hips different walking/running speeds on a treadmill. Results showed that, overall, Fitbit devices worn on the hip accurately measured steps taken within 1 step of 100% accuracy. Devices worn on the wrist, however, were off by an average of 11 steps per minute. When measuring the number of calories burned Fitbit devices worn on the hip underestimated by an average of 6% while devices worn on the wrist overestimated calories burned by 21%. Authors concluded that both the Fitbit One and Fitbit Flex devices reliably measured step counts and energy expenditure, with hip-based Fitbit devices being more accurate than wrist-based devices.
On May 7, 2015, Fitbit announced it had filed for IPO with a NYSE listing.The IPO was filed for $358 million. The company's stock began trading with the symbol "FIT" on June 18, 2015.
The Fitbit Tracker uses a three-dimensional accelerometer, similar to that in the Wii Remote, to sense user movement. The Tracker measures steps taken, and combines it with user data to calculate 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 by tracking periods of restlessness, how long it takes the wearer to fall asleep 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 website, where a number of features are available: 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.
The Fitbit Classic tracked only steps taken, distance traveled, 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.
At the TechCrunch50 during the "Mobile" session on September 9, 2008, 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.
A new hardware upgrade was announced on October 3, 2011, 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 a while, and there's a custom field to write in a personal "Greeting".
new colors (plum or blue, as opposed to the original teal)
The Fitbit Ultra is powered by a small Lithium polymer battery.
The Fitbit Ultra suffered from a small design flaw: the unit had a permanently curved shape in order to clip directly onto any piece of clothing. The plastic used in the unit was not appropriate for the strain experienced at the looped end, and with time would become brittle, and crack. While most users experienced only minor cracking with no effects to the device's function, in a few cases the cracking led to total failure: mostly the case splitting and screen ceasing to function.
Fitbit offered replacement or repair of affected units, under warranty.
The Fitbit Force was announced on October 10, 2013. It has an OLED display that shows time and daily activity. The Force tracks a number of statistics in real-time, including steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, stairs climbed and active minutes throughout the day. At night, the Force tracks sleep and can wake a user silently with a vibrating alarm.
On January 13, 2014 it was reported that an unconfirmed number of Fitbit customers who have purchased the Force have complained about skin irritation after wearing the Force for extended periods of time. Fitbit stated on its website that the company consulted with medical professionals whose assessments are that these irritations are most likely allergic reactions to nickel, a component of the surgical-grade steel or the adhesives used to assemble the Fitbit Force. Fitbit, working with the Consumer Protection Safety Commission, recalled the Fitbit Force on February 20, 2014. On March 12, 2014 the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) made the recall official.At that time it was revealed that The Fitbit Force had caused about 9,900 injuries. It is no longer for sale on Fitbit's website.
During CES 2016 event,[26] Fitbit announced a new fitness watch that is called "Fitbit Blaze". It is similar to a modern smart-watch, such as Apple Watch, Pebble Smart-watch, and Android Wear watches. The Blaze focused on fitness first, then smart features inside the watch. Unlike the Surge, the Blaze comes with a colored touchscreen, and exchangeable strap and frame. Some functionality from the Surge has been retained, like auto-tracking exercise and heart-rate monitor. Blaze has connected GPS, meaning it can track movements by using the connected smartphone's GPS. The user can receive notifications, including incoming calls, texts and calendar appointments on the Blaze.
In addition, the Fitbit Blaze also integrates with Fitstar, Fitbit's website for customized workouts. These workouts can be displayed on the Blaze's screen.
The Fitbit Alta has all the features of standard Fitbit wristbands which lacks only heart rate monitoring. The accessory can be used for tracking exercises and sleep. The wristband offers a full OLED touchsreen that you can tap to set up your reminder, a clock and view your smartphone notifications. The Alta is also able to recognize the type of activity you are doing: running, playing football, or just walking.
A 2014 study done at Iowa State University tested eight fit band devices including the Fitbit Zip and the Fitbit One. Using a sample of 30 men and 30 women, researchers had participants wear bands during 69-minute workouts that included a series of 13 different activities. Results showed the bands were at best 'reasonably accurate,' with the Fitbit Zip and Fitbit One scoring 10.1% and 10.4% error ratings, respectively.
A 2015 validation study completed by the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at Columbia University Medical Center tested the accuracy and reliability of Fitbit devices, including the Fitbit One and Fitbit Flex devices. Using a sample of 23 adults (10 males; 13 females), researchers had the participants wear multiple devices on their wrists and hips different walking/running speeds on a treadmill. Results showed that, overall, Fitbit devices worn on the hip accurately measured steps taken within 1 step of 100% accuracy. Devices worn on the wrist, however, were off by an average of 11 steps per minute. When measuring the number of calories burned Fitbit devices worn on the hip underestimated by an average of 6% while devices worn on the wrist overestimated calories burned by 21%. Authors concluded that both the Fitbit One and Fitbit Flex devices reliably measured step counts and energy expenditure, with hip-based Fitbit devices being more accurate than wrist-based devices.
No comments:
Post a Comment