Health Tech | Gear Diary

Target Teams up with Qardio to Help Boost “Connected Health” Sections in Stores

If you’re looking forward to staying healthy this Spring, and need a little boost to help you stay motivated, you’ll be happy to know that Qardio has teamed up with Target to bring digital healthcare to the masses! Qardio is an award winning digital health company that’s whole mission is to transform the way health is looked at by creating simpler, smarter solutions that everyone from doctors to patients can use. And today they are continuing the trend by announcing that their QardioArm and QardioBase health devices are two products that will be featured in Target’s new “Connected Health” section…

Reviews

OKU Reviewed: Why This Little Cube Should Be Your Personal Skin Coach

Whether you are in your mid-twenties and dealing with hormonal breakouts, or in your forties worrying about dryness and the onset of wrinkles, skin is your largest and most likely least understood organ. OKU is a device that is supposed to look “beneath the surface of your skin and see what you can’t see with the naked eye.”

Reviews

Withings Smart Body Analyzer Wi-Fi Scale and Health Tracker: Stay on Top of Your Weight Loss

Over the past couple of years, I had managed to gain some very unwanted pounds rather rapidly. I thought at first that my weight gain was hormonal, or perhaps I had a thyroid problem. I was running and walking long distances regularly, and I was (sporadically) writing down what I ate, but I wasn’t seeing any results.

Reviews

Eve Mattress Review: From Box to Better Night’s Sleep

A little over a year ago, I received a “bed in a box” for review. Fast forward a year, and my wife Raina suggested moving from a queen mattress to a king. Eve Mattress was one of two companies kind enough to send one of their kind mattresses for review; I’ve been sleeping on it for two weeks.

Outdoors, Reviews

Pear Sports Fitness App and Equipment Review: Carry a Trainer in Your Pocket!

Fitness apps are a growing business, but not all of them are created equal. Some offer great tracking for running and biking. Others offer a few broad cross training choices, but nothing more substantive. Pear Sports aims to be a bit of everything, from cross training to cardio, with training programs and experts from multiple fields all in your pocket!

Health and Fitness, Reviews

Brooks Seattle Shell Jacket Review: Make Staying Warm Look Good!

Running in good weather is easy. All you need is shorts and a t-shirt and off you go. Rain and cold are a bit tougher since you need to balance comfort with layers. Brooks, whose motto is “Run Happy”, wants you to be comfortable in all weather, and they asked us to test their Seattle Shell jacket for that reason!

Events, Gear Bits, Health and Fitness

Oral-B Genius: Brush Like Your Dentist Recommends

While at Mobile World Congress, I caught a demo of the new Oral-B Genius, the world’s first toothbrush that “sees what you don’t”. Using a combination of Oral-B’s Position Detection Technology with Triple Pressure Control and a professional timer, the Genius helps you brush like your dentist recommends. Take a look …

Yum Log

Soylent 2.0 Is Vegan, Nutritionally Balanced and Definitely NOT PEOPLE, But Is It Any Good?

Soylent is a very unfortunate/amusingly named meal replacement drink that has the added cachet of being crowdfunded via Kickstarter; basically, it’s the hacking and disruption movement coming for your food. The company says a steady diet of Soylent could replace your meals, as it is formulated to be nutritionally balanced. I had a free sample, and here’s what I thought:

Reviews

Brooks Pureflow 5 Running Shoe Review

Running shoes are the most subjective item to review, since everything from shoe type to foot size to personal preference become factors in judging the shoe. Having said that, I feel pretty comfortable saying the Brooks Pureflow 5 are probably the best running shoe I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing in the last several years. Read on to learn why!

Editorials

Is Theranos Truly Disruptive, or Is It All Smoke and Mirrors?

Have you heard of Theranos? The name might seem vaguely familiar because they are a wildly successful start-up that’s raised over 9 billion dollars! They claim they have a faster, more efficient way to test blood using a drop instead of the traditional blood drawn from the vein. Unfortunately, it looks like the enthusiasm over their idea may be misplaced.

Reviews

The Withings Aura Connected Clock + Sleep Sensor Accessory Review

Sleep and I have a sometimes erratic relationship. Some nights I deal with insomnia, and I might sleep 4 or 5 hours at best; other nights I’ll need to catch up on sleep so badly that I’ll pass out for 12 or more hours. Ideally, I should get 8 hours sleep per night. Obviously, what I’ve been doing isn’t ideal.

Reviews

Adidas Fit Smart: Get Your Workout by Running from This Device!

There’s an old adage that says if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all. If I followed it, this would be a very, very short review. It’s not that the Adidas Fit Smart is BAD, per se…it’s just that the handful of useful features don’t outweigh the major flaws.

Reviews

The Etymotic Bean Quiet Sound Amplifier, Because You Shouldn’t Have to Keep Saying “What?”

Is the phrase “I’m sorry, what did you say?” a common part of your day? It is for me. My hearing is…questionable, or, as my wife put it, “It’s not normal to be 34 and need the closed captioning.” The good folks at Etymotic have clearly experienced this too, and that’s where the Bean Quiet Sound Amplifier can shine.

Reviews

Thermos Connected Hydration Bottle with Smart Lid- Does Anyone NEED a Smart Water Bottle?

Do I really need an app-enabled water bottle? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself since Judie and I each received a Thermos Connected Hydration Bottle with Smart Lid at CES. This looks like a regular water bottle, but it’s Bluetooth-enabled and monitors your water intake over the course of a day. Is this something worth purchasing? You decide.

Events, News & Features

Kuaiwear Launches Their Kuai Multisport Biometric Headphones

It’s no longer enough to just tie on your sneakers and head out for a run. Now you need your watch, footpod, headphones, heart rate monitor, and smartphone. We’re about a week away from SPIbelt including a battery in their products just to keep everything charged. Kuai has a much simpler solution: Kuai Multisport Biometric Headphones. That’s a very long and fancy name for a very simple concept. Kuai took headphones, added sensors for heart rate and cadence, threw in 8Gbof memory for music and coaching downloads, and even added connectivity for Bluetooth and ANT+, so you can easily connect…

Events, News & Features

Solos Smart Eyewear Turns Cycling into Sci Fi!

It’s official, we’re living in the future. Not only is virtual reality quickly becoming everyday reality, but now you can wear a heads-up display while you’re riding a bike, literally seeing your ride statistics floating in front of you like a biking terminator. That’s the future that Solos Smart Eyewear is promising!

Events, News & Features

Casio Announces the WSD-F10 Outdoor Watch with Android Wear

Casio is diving wrist first into the Android Wear world with their newest release, the WSD-F10 Outdoor Watch. It combines Casio’s trademark rugged designs with the power of Android Wear, perfect for those times when you need to check Facebook while at Basecamp for Mount Everest. All joking aside, Casio has thrown a lot of extra features into the WSD-10 to make it stand out in the smartwatch world. It has GPS, is water resistant to 40 meters, offers dust and shock proofing, and has a number of Casio-specific apps for outdoor activities. They also offer a time-only display to…

Events, Health and Fitness, News & Features

Polar Balance Smart Scale Adds Weight Tracking to the Polar Flow Ecosystem

Polar has been expanding their fitness portfolio beyond just heart rate monitoring, with a slew of activity trackers and GPS watches. Now they’re making the whole ecosystem even more holistic by adding weight management with the new Polar Balance scale! The Polar Balance scale is a wifi connected scale that hooks into the Polar Flow app. At only $99 it falls on the cheaper end of the connected scale options, but obviously it works best if you already have an investment in Polar via their activity tracking devices. Also, it can accommodate up to 10 profiles, so your entire rugby…

Events, News & Features

Misfit Announces the Misfit Ray Activity Tracker

Misfit’s devices have all had a very recognizable style, in that they are small round disks of various materials, ranging from cheaper plastics to metals to even Swarovski crystals. They are shaking things up with their new Misfit Ray, a more bracelet-style tube that tracks activity, sleep, and handles basic notifications, just like its siblings!

Events, News & Features

DigitSole Brings Warmth and Wearables to Your Feet

Everyone knew CES 2016 was going to be focused on wearable technology, but I doubt anyone could have imagined something like DigitSoles. They make smartphone controlled shoes and insoles that track your steps, adjust the fit, and even warm your feet!

Events, News & Features

CES 2016 Is a GO with Withings New Activity Tracker

Seems as if Withings is wasting NO time getting out ahead of the competition for CES week as they’ve already released ANOTHER product that will for sure make you keep certain resolutions you made in 2015 stick in the New Year. Today the company announced the Withings Go, which is an automatic activity and sleep tracker. At a modest price of $69, the Withings Go is easily one of the more versatile activity trackers out there on the market today. With it’s always-on E Ink multiscreen display and the ability to automatically track steps, distance, running, swimming on TOP of…