Fitness tech has evolved beyond activity trackers like the Apple Watch and Fitbit. Today, there are hundreds of streaming workout and wellness apps from brands like Nike, Equinox, and ClassPass to help track your exercises and reach your fitness goals There’s also been a boom in connected fitness equipment like Peloton, Mirror, and Tonal that are paving the way for on-demand workouts from the comfort of your home, with additional content like meditation, yoga, and mobility training to boost mind and body health.
Foley’s pivot to founding a bespoke rug startup was reported a while back, but he’s remarkably candid about what he’s been up to since leaving Peloton in this New York Post interview.
“I’m working hard so that I can try and make money again... because I don’t have much left. And so I’m hungry and humble.”
But why rugs?
“I love rugs, I love interior design.”
IEEE Spectrum’s Tekla S. Perry spoke to Fitbit founders James Park and Eric Friedman, as well as designers and engineers to get the complete story on how the company’s first clip-on fitness tracker — inspired by the Nintendo Wii’s motion-tracking capabilities — came to be.
[IEEE Spectrum]
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It’s not so much a standalone health tracker or a smartwatch alternative as an accessory for your Galaxy Watch.
Usually, I’m all about the bass for workout headphones, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Suunto Sonic and Wing.
This was announced a while back. (Along with a new Dark Mode which also recently went live.) Basically, four people can now share an annual Strava premium subscription. The caveat is everyone has to live within the same country and you’ve got to be a new subscriber. The new Family plan is available in 32 countries, and pricing will depend on where you live.
[press.strava.com]
The hardware is solid. The ideas are intriguing. So long as it holds up in testing, Samsung could have a winner.
It’s the Apple Watch Ultra, but for Android. Oh, and the Galaxy Watch 7 is here, too.
This is meant to be the best Polar’s got, but it has no business being this expensive.
And three instructors are leaving at the end of the month: Kendall Toole, Ross Rayburn, and Kristin McGee. An official Peloton statement pegs these departures as a “normal and ongoing part of the Peloton process,” while hinting that the company may hire new talent.
Real talk, Peloton is a media company now and that means instructor salaries are a huge cost in making content. It was only a matter of time before we saw this happen.
You do need a Music Premium account, but you can download playlists for offline playback. We love to see Garmin add to the ConnectIQ store, which... let’s face it, doesn’t have the largest selection as far as third-party smartwatch app stores go. Previously, you could choose between Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer. (But I’ve yet to meet anyone who used the latter two with the Garmin.)
Popular Peloton instructor Kendall Toole announced today she’s leaving the platform. Earlier in April, instructor Ross Rayburn announced he was taking a break. And just last month, CEO Barry McCarthy stepped down amid another round of layoffs.
Any other company, I’d worry about customers jumping ship. But I spoke with several Peloton diehards and asked about this exact situation. They told me they’re not going anywhere.
A number of private equity firms are thinking about buying Peloton and taking it private, according to CNBC. That’s after the company’s bad quarter (and lack of strategy) led to both a 15 percent staff layoff and CEO Barry McCarthy stepping down. How will the PE vultures fix things? They have “zeroed in on cutting Peloton’s operating expenses,” of course. That’ll fix it, sure.
Skip Crossrope unless you really love skipping rope.
For runners, Strava’s Best Efforts feature has been an easy way to chase PRs (and get a dopamine hit whenever you see those little medals pop up in your activity summary.) Now Strava is expanding the feature for cyclists. It’ll include new distances, elevation gain, single climbs, power, and time at specific intervals. More good news: it applies to previous rides too!
Three years after completing its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, Google has taken another step towards integrating the fitness-tracking company into its hardware lineup with some updated branding.
Recent changes on the Fitbit website, first spotted by 9to5Google, include an updated wordmark that uses capitalized Google Sans font and ditches the dotted arrow logo, which is still featured on the brand’s favicon.
A few days ago, Peloton announced it was getting rid of GymKit support for the Apple Watch on its Bike Plus. Technically, Peloton had already introduced a separate Apple Watch integration two years ago. But GymKit was originally a selling point for the more expensive bike, and removing it ticked off the company’s loyal users. Now, Peloton says that they heard the feedback “loud and clear.” GymKit ain’t going anywhere.
Peloton’s Q2 2024 earnings were mixed — some things flopped, other things seem to be buoying the business. Like relaunching the Tread Plus for $6,000. CEO Barry McCarthy told investors on the earnings call that since it started taking orders in December, there’s actually a demand backlog.
McCarthy also said increased interest led to more sales of its cheaper, entry-level Tread. That, I get. (I reviewed it, it’s great.) But I’m fascinated by the folks who didn’t blink at plopping down $6K for the Plus despite the infamy associated with it. Is that you? Hit me up, let’s chat. I’m legitimately curious!
DesFit, a leading voice in the fitness device space on YouTube, has a preview of the new Garmin Connect app and website that’s currently in beta for select users. This major overhaul will hopefully correct one of the main pain points that comes with using Garmin’s information dense devices. Des likes the emphasis on swiping panels, but says the at-a-glance screens will take time to get used to and the website still needs polishing.
What do you think?
