By: iPadfanzz staff on March 20, 2013
Jawbone’s Up, the fitness-tracking wristband that has had a troubled past, is now compatible with devices running Google’s mobile operating system thanks to a new Up Android app that hit Google Play.
Jawbone's Up System is a good option for those who want to track their fitness and health goals like to track steps and physical movement to calculate an estimate of calories burned throughout the day. For instance, if you wear the gadget to bed, it’ll track how much sleep you got, and it can even determine how much of that was a deep sleep or light sleep. It is a slender cuff that could be mistaken for a bracelet on someone with an eclectic taste for jewelry. Once you get used to it you’ll forget that you are wearing a piece of technology. The Up Band is entirely water resistant, so you can wear it while taking a bath.
Earlier, the Up only worked with Apple’s iOS. The app is also easy to use: you need to made an account online, download the app from the iTunes store (or Google Play) and then plug the band into your iPhone's headphone jack. You enter your stats (height, weight, age, sleep and step goals), your Jawbone's name, and you’re on. An interesting feature of Jawbone app is that you can set an "Idle Alert," a setting that has the band vibrate if you're stationary for too long.
On the other hand, tracking your caloric intake is a more involved process: You enter the foods and drinks you consume throughout the day directly into the app, which is equipped with a barcode scanner and full database of products, restaurant items and regular eats.
In terms of battery life, the Up can go on a bit over a week before it needs to be plugged into the computer for some juice.
Along with the new Android compatibility, the company says the gadget is now on sale in Europe, and that it will hit Asia, Australia and the Middle East in April. And the iOS version of the Up by Jawbone app has been updated to support 11 new languages.
