There are few hotter markets right now than wearable fitness and mobile healthcare devices, with new products hitting shelves on a constant basis, new features being built, innovative apps boosting device abilities and now vendors are expanding way beyond the mountain biker and triathlete consumer bases.
Jawbone announced Wednesday it's teamed its UP wristband with Automatic, a smart driving assistant device, so that users can not only track running and walking activity but driving activity as well.
Actually it's more about getting data on when the user isn't being active, such as when they're driving, according to reports. Those using UP to keep track of fitness goals will be able to determine how much time they spend in the car and how that impacts the daily exercise routine. Jawbone says its app and device can even help drivers avoid road rage by providing insight on mood and diet.
The other huge market news is that fitness wearables are no longer just for the K-adult segment (if you recall LeapFrog debuted a LeapBand fitness smart watch for the five-year-old population in the past week). Now there is wearable monitoring-tagged clothing for babies and toddlers.
A news report earlier this week revealed parents are embracing baby shirts outfitted with sensor technology that keeps parents updated on a baby or toddler's vital signs.
The Mimo Baby bodysuit features a green device placed on a child's tummy to measure respiration, body position and skin temp. The data is sent to a smartphone. Soon there will be baby socks embedded with sensors that will share data via a smartphone app as well, such as a baby's heart rate or breathing rhythm.
Whether such baby fitness and monitoring gear will catch on like baby monitors have is yet to be seen though some parents are clearly embracing what they see as another protective tool in baby raising.
