“Basically, we’re fixing all of the things that people hate, ” is how one Jawbone rep here at IFA 2015 describes this mid-lifecycle update to Jawbone’s range of wrist-worn fitness trackers. When we reviewed the Up3 earlier this year, we described it as a feature-packed disappointment, since while the wearable had potential to be useful, the execution was bungled. That’s why the company has spent the last few months working on a firmware upgrade that, it’s hoped, will make the device much more attractive to new customers. Slideshow-317496 One of the biggest annoyances that we had with the Up3 is that the device only took your resting heart rate when you woke up. The company had originally said that the single daily measurement was the best indication of your heart’s health, but it’s not as useful as continuous or regular tracking. With this new firmware update, the Up3 and Up4, the mobile-payments variant of the Up3 , will now take your passive heart rate during the day. The idea is that whenever you sit down, it’ll see how your heart is holding up every 20 minutes or so. If you’re worried that all of this extra effort will send you racing to the recharge socket, don’t stress — we’re told that the change will have no detrimental effect on battery life. In addition, if you’re rocking an Up2 or an Up3/4, you’ll no longer have to touch the device’s cap (the solid plastic panel) to enter and leave sleep tracking mode. The company believes that now the gear will be able to detect all of that automatically within seconds of you hitting the hay. The only thing that you’ll have to do with the cap now is to tap it to dismiss alarm clock and inactivity alerts. The company has also addressed complaints over the Up2’s strap, which now comes in a rope-style design rather than the full band that was previously available. Meanwhile, the Up3 now comes in new colors like Sand Twist (beige, but the company is saying it’s closer to champagne gold) and Teal. As before, the Up3 is priced at $179.99, while the Up2 with its new lightweight band remains $99.99 and both, as of right now, are available to pre-order from Jawbone’s online store. Check out all the news from Berlin at our IFA 2015 hub . Filed under: Wearables Comments Source: Jawbone Tags: 2015, Fitness, IFA, IFA2015, Jawbone, SleepTracking, Up2, Up3
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Jawbone’s fitness trackers will track more of your fitness
