Body computing goes mainstream as Jawbone announces the Up
Today, with the announcement of availability of the Up fitness band, I believe Jawbone has signaled their intent to become a strong competitor in the Quantified Self and body computing market.
The Up, available Nov 6, will log body movement and, along with the already released iPhone app, allow you to track food intake and sleep patterns. It even includes a vibrating alert to wake you during the optimal sleep cycle! It end runs Apples notoriously stingy hardware certification by utilizing the headphone jack to transmit data to the app, not unlike the Square reader.
We finally have the answer to the question Venturebeat asked in July question when Jawbone announced they raised a new round of funding totaling $70M, "Why Now?" Now because none of the other entrants in the Quantified Self market have the ecosystem, design sense and engineering ability to sell body computing to the masses like Jawbone does today.
With the Era's app platform and (still unreleased) API), it's ability to connect to multiple bluetooth devices, and this (displayless) bluetooth sensor, it is now clear Jawbone intends to release a suite of body computing products. Though the Up uses the clever headphone data transfer method, imagine the next set of devices released from them all wirelessly connected to their flagship headset line!
That truly fulfills the promise of body networks we've been sold for more than a decade. I for one am incredibly excited to see what they have up their sleeves.