Fitbit Flex Monitors Fitness
The Fitbit wristband tracks your steps, distance, calories burned and sleep quality | Photo courtesy Fitbit
The Flex is similar to the competing Nike FuelBand and Jawbone Up. It’s a soft bracelet encased in a rubbery skin. The idea is that it’s malleable enough to stay firmly wrapped around your wrist, but comfortable enough to wear around the clock. The slim wristband will track your steps, distance, calories burned and sleep quality. Having a wristband is a constant reminder of your fitness goals, which you can set through Fitbit’s website, and the wristband will let you know when you’re on your way to hitting that goal – a light illuminates every time you reach a 20 percent increment mark.
As with Fitbit’s previous products (Fitbit One, Fitbit Zip and Fitbit Ultra), the Flex uses an internal accelerometer to record steps, distance traveled and estimated calories burned. It also keeps tabs on your overall activity level and will record the duration and quality of your sleep. You can monitor your personal Fitbit account from either the app or website. Your information will be synced automatically to your profile via Bluetooth, so you can see how close you are to accomplishing your daily step goal.
Flex is the first fitness band to use the latest Bluetooth 4.0 standard, which you use to sync with your computer or smart-phone. It addresses the main weaknesses of the Up – lack of wireless syncing and Android support. The Flex is not a watch and cannot display the time, as the Nike FuelBand does.
It will be released some time in the spring, comes in five colors and retails for $99.95. Visit Fitbit.com for any updates or more information.
Click Chick’s Mobile App of the Week: QuickPix
When you’re out and about, chances are the closest camera is the one on your phone, so why not make the most of it? The QuickPix app helps you take your iPhone camera to the next level. First, the app itself opens much faster than your built-in Camera app.
It also takes photos much faster, and snaps stills while you’re shooting video.
The handy stabilization feature ends blurry shots, as it doesn’t fire the shutter until the phone’s motion sensor detects you’re holding it still for a spilt second. If you can find a way to prop up your iPhone, you can use the self-timer. There also is a two-a-second burst mode, 6x digital zoom, and you can crop, rotate and sharpen photos, or add a border and other effects (i.e., black and white or sepia). For shutterbugs, QuickPix is worth the $1.99 from the iTunes App Store.
