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.
The fitness brand will show a mix of content in a new hub on the app, called #TikTokFitness Powered by Peloton, as the company shifts its focus to creating content instead of pricey workout equipment. In the hub, Peloton will show short-form classes, select live sessions, and collaborations between instructors and TikTok creators in an attempt to draw new users in.
The gist is Fitbit told 58 Australian customers between 2020 and 2022 false or misleading information regarding their rights to returns, replacements, and refunds for faulty products. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wasn’t having it — and this is the second case the ACCC has brought against Fitbit.
It’s concerning given that Fitbit’s pulled out of over a dozen countries recently. Plus, Ionic recalls haven’t exactly been gone smoothly. This kind of pattern is one you never like to see.
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Verge Score
Google’s fingerprints are all over this casual fitness tracker.
New quarter, same story. Peloton shares are falling after today’s earnings release in which the company said it was struggling to convert free users of its app to paid subscriptions. It pointed to recent partnerships, like the one with Lululemon, as an area of growth, along with hardware rentals. But once again, subscriber churn was higher than expected — a not-so-encouraging trend for a company known for its loyal fanbase.
It also confirmed that the Tread Plus will be relaunching at $5,995. That’s business, baby.
[investor.onepeloton.com]
Lululemon isn’t wasting time getting out of connected fitness. Following news it’s outsourcing content production to Peloton and halting Mirror sales, the company is laying off an additional 120 employees from its Studio division. This is a second round too, after laying off another 100 employees in July.
This is hardly surprising. Connected fitness companies that relied on premium hardware sales are all struggs to func these days. Turns out, the average joe isn’t fond of shelling out thousands for smart gym equipment when a digital subscription is much, much cheaper.
I’ve been testing the Ergatta and Aviron Strong for months. Both are great rowers, but I’m struggling to see a future for pricey connected fitness hardware.
One of the best things about Garmin is it often brings newer features to older models for free. Starting today, owners of the second-gen Epix, Fenix 7 series, Forerunner series, and Venu series can get some of the cool stuff introduced earlier this spring on the Epix Pro and Fenix 7 Pro. That includes the new Endurance and Hill Scores, muscle maps, weather map overlays, and... a fish forecast. You can check out the full list at the link below.
Personally, I don’t need a Hill Score to tell me I stink at uphill running but hey, it might be more helpful for you!
Marvel’s new running app — Marvel Move — is now available. It’s made in partnership with Six to Start, or the folks behind Zombies, Run! Basically, you get to listen to audio stories featuring Marvel heroes (and you) as you run. It’s sort of like a mix between a podcast and an interactive game.
I haven’t gotten a chance to try it out for myself yet, but I’ll probably check out the 5K Asgard training with Thor and Loki. I’m curious to see how well it works — especially since Zombies, Run! is how I started running a decade ago. If you want to learn more, I got a chance to speak with Adrian Hon, Six to Start’s CEO and co-founder, back when the app was announced.
Smartwatches are the default wearable option these days, but why is it so hard to find simple yet affordable alternatives like the fitness bands of yesteryear?
Co-founder of Withings, Eric Carreel, is setting the record straight on how exactly to pronounce the company’s name. According to Carreel, the correct pronounciation is “Wee-things”, because the Wi refers to Wi-Fi and in French, Wi-Fi is pronounced “Wee-Fee”.
I’m going to continue saying “With-ings”, but you do you.
I got results when trying to improve my athletic performance, but it took time, dedication, and a lot of patience with macro logging.
Researchers at the University of Maryland’s Small Artifacts Lab are working on a “wearable robot” called Calico. It appears that you sew a magnetic track onto your clothing, which Calico uses to run up and down your body.
The most obvious use case here seems to be fitness — Calico can count reps, track your heart rate and water consumption, and check your form during workouts. So, you know, you could work out with a smart watch, or you could work out with a tiny metal thing scurrying all over you. To each their own.
It is ridiculously cute, though.
[IEEE Spectrum]
Strava’s heatmaps can be handy if you’re scoping out new running, cycling, and hiking routes, as it helps visualize popular areas. However, researchers discovered they could reverse-engineer where a Strava user lives — even though heatmaps are created through anonymized, aggregated data.
You can read through the findings (PDF), but essentially, the more active the user, the easier it was for researchers to find their home addresses — especially in remote areas. If that creeps you out, go to Settings > Privacy Controls > Aggregated Data Usage to opt out.
[BleepingComputer]
It’s easy to blame trackers when fitness goals don’t go according to plan, but sometimes the problem lies closer to home.
