Jawbone Has A Super Cheap New Fitness Tracker With A Battery That Lasts For Half A Year | ||
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Jawbone just unveiled a new fitness tracker called the Move, which comes with the same sensors as its Up 24 wristband. The $50 Move can be worn in either a clip-on or wristband form factor. It's a lot like the $99 Misfit Shine, which can also keep track of your steps, calories burned, and monitor your sleep. Jawbone's new Move comes in a wide variety of color options, and like the Shine, you can tap the tiny module to see how close you are to your goal. The sensors inside the Jawbone UP Move are exactly the same as those inside the Jawbone UP 24. The main difference in terms of functionality is that the Move doesn't buzz to deliver notifications. There's a watch battery on the inside that lasts for about six months, according to Jawbone. It's also water resistant just like the UP 24. Based on Jawbone's description, it sounds like it offers the same functionality as the Misfit Shine but for half the price. The device itself is pretty tiny, and it's easy to pop out of the clip or band.
The clips come in a ton of different colors, and Jawbone says the band will be available in several color options too.
Here's what the back of the clip looks like.
The Jawbone Move will be available to preorder on Nov. 5 before it goes on sale later this month. SEE ALSO: Silicon Valley Never Talks About The Real Reason You Don't Own A Smartwatch Or Wearable Tech Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Jawbone's New Wristband Is Incredibly Sleek And Can Tell You Almost Everything About Your Health | ||
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Jawbone is releasing a new fitness band next year that can track everything from your resting heart rate to your precise sleep cycles and the temperature of your skin. The UP3, which launches later this year for $179.99, will use three different sensors to monitor your health instead of just one like its predecessor. While the Jawbone UP 24 and many other fitness trackers only use an accelerometer to count your steps and calories burned, the UP3 also includes sensors for measuring temperature, body composition and hydration. The UP3 measures both the temperature of your skin and your environment, so that the device can tell whether your body temperature is reacting to the conditions around you. The wristband can also measure your resting heart rate and respiration rate as well. Soon after launch, Jawbone will issue an over-the-air update that brings a few new features including on-demand heart rate monitoring, hydration tracking, and stress and fatigue monitoring. Jawbone also claims its heart rate monitor won't drain the wristband's battery. In addition to adding new functionality, Jawbone has also improved on the UP fitness band's existing features. Rather than just tracking your activities, the UP3 learns about your workouts over time. This means you may not have to actually log your activities manually if you wear the wristband often enough for it to pick up on your habits.
So, if you go for a run, Jawbone will ask if you went for a run when you navigate to the app to log your workout. If the app is correct, you simply tap the "Yes" button to log your run. If it's incorrect, you can add the activity manually. The goal, according to Jawbone, is to make it so that UP wearers use the app more for interacting with friends on their team rather than manually logging their activity. Jawbone says it's improved its sleep tracking features too. It now shows you how long you've been in REM sleep in addition to deep and light sleep. Although the new UP3 has more sensors than Jawbone's previous model, the company managed to make the wristband incredibly thin. It's slimmer than its predecessors and most other fitness bands out there, and Jawbone will be releasing various different styles. The plain black band will be available at launch, and other styles like the one pictured will be released soon after.
The clasp is also redesigned and the strap itself is more flexible than that of the UP 24. Based on Jawbone's claims, it sounds as if the UP3 will be one of the most advanced fitness trackers out there. It is, however, slightly more expensive than Fitbit's new Charge ($129.95) and Charge HR ($149.95), at $180. But it's still cheaper than Microsoft's new $200 Band, and if the UP3 performs as well as Jawbone says it will, it may be worth the extra few bucks. SEE ALSO: A New Wave Of Gadgets Can Collect Your Personal Information Like Never Before Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Snapchat Has A Deal With BuzzFeed, Vice, And Spotify | ||
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Snapchat looks as though it is entering the next stage of monetizing its popular photo sharing app. Digiday reports that the company is in negotiations with around a dozen media companies to launch a content section with the app called Discover that will serve up articles, music and videos. The media brands, according to a mockup of the feature that Digiday has obtained, include: CNN, Mail Online, ESPN, Comedy Central, Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed, Spotify, Vevo, National Geographic, Vice and People Magazine. The spread of media brands are likely to appeal directly to the older teen and millennial users that dominate the app. ESPN and Vevo confirmed to Digiday they were in conversations with Snapchat about working on the new platform. Business Insider has contacted Snapchat for confirmation and we will update this article when we receive a reply. Sources told Digiday Snapchat will look to monetize the content — which, like photos and videos on the app, will only appear for a short period of time before disappearing — through advertising. The ads will be brokered by the media companies themselves, but Snapchat would get a slice of the revenue from the ads served on the app. The Wall Street Journal first broke the news in August that Snapchat was working on a content section, but the mockup obtained by Digiday suggests the Discover feature might now be in the final stages before launch. Emily White, Snapchat's COO, has said Snapchat will ensure advertising on the app is overt rather than "native" to avoid users feeling like they are being "tricked." Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel has also confirmed ads on the app "aren't fancy" and that they are "not targeted." Aside from advertising, Snapchat may also be looking to monetize the app through mobile payments. Earlier this year, the company filed two payment-related trademarks. SEE ALSO: Evan Spiegel Reveals His Business Plan For Snapchat, And It's Spam Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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iPhone 6 Sales Are Boosting The Economies Of Entire Countries (AAPL) | ||
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A few days ago, a Credit Suisse analyst put out an astonishing report that said Apple's iPhone 6 sales had "pushed up industrial production in September" by 2.7%. The tech sector in Japan rose 12.4% in large part due to the massive sales of the expensive Apple device (it costs about $700/£550, depending where you get it), according analyst Hiromichi Shirakawam. Do iPhone sales really move the economies of entire countries simply by unleashing massive demand in the tech retail sector? It seems improbable. Yet today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reports that the country's retail sector ticked up 1.2% in September, boosted by a 9.2% rise in electronic goods sales — due to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. ZDNet reports: September saw a significant 1.2 percent boost, seasonally adjusted, to Australia's retail trade volume, with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus release playing a large part in the sector's monthly growth, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). ... "In seasonally adjusted terms, the largest contributor to the rise was household goods retailing (4.1 percent), where electrical and electronic goods retailing recorded growth (9.2 per cent)," the ABS said in a statement. "This figure was influenced by the release of the iPhone 6 during the month. This seems staggering. And yet, some analysts think Apple may sell 80 million iPhone 6's in the next few months. That's a lot of spending unleashed globally — and think of all the peripherals and app purchases it will generate as a corollary. The iPhone may indeed be a macroeconomic effect all on its own. Here's the relevant text of the Credit Suisse note from a few days ago: Japan: Mobile phone related sectors pushed up industrial production in September Industrial production rebounded and gained 2.7% mom after falling 1.9% mom in August (Exhibit 1). The result was stronger than the expectations (BBG: +2.2%, CS: +1.0%), but continued to underperform the METI's projection (+6.0% mom) in the August survey. Production expanded sharply for ITC equipment (+12.4% mom), benefiting from a surge in the shipments of the newly launched mobile phone (iPhone 6). A positive spillover was observed for production of electronic parts & devices (+5.8% mom). Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Ukraine cuts finances to rebel region until 'terrorists' leave | ||
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Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine's prime minister said Wednesday that financial aid from the central government to the pro-Russian separatist eastern regions will be stopped until "terrorists clear out of there." However, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a cabinet meeting that Ukraine would maintain gas and electricity supplies so as to spare "ordinary people" during the winter. The decision to axe the Donetsk and Lugansk regions from Ukraine's cash-strapped budget came amid growing doubts over the future of a two-month old peace accord that was meant to stop fighting and lead to political settlement. Yatsenyuk said the separatist leaders, who have declared independence and defied the government by holding their own elections on Sunday, should be left to fend for themselves. "We don't want to finance imposters and conmen," he said. "As soon as the terrorists clear out of there and we get back the territory, then we will pay every person the welfare payments they have the right to." "To pay today is to directly finance terrorism," he said. "The terrorists should get out of this territory and Russia should stop supporting them." However, gas and power supplies will continue, he said. "Our citizens are on this territory and the government will not allow these people to freeze, because this would lead to humanitarian catastrophe." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Jawbone Has A Super Cheap New Fitness Tracker With A Battery That Lasts For Half A Year | ||
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Jawbone just unveiled a new fitness tracker called the Move, which comes with the same sensors as its Up 24 wristband. The $50 Move can be worn in either a clip-on or wristband form factor. It's a lot like the $99 Misfit Shine, which can also keep track of your steps, calories burned, and monitor your sleep. Jawbone's new Move comes in a wide variety of color options, and like the Shine, you can tap the tiny module to see how close you are to your goal. The sensors inside the Jawbone UP Move are exactly the same as those inside the Jawbone UP 24. The main difference in terms of functionality is that the Move doesn't buzz to deliver notifications. There's a watch battery on the inside that lasts for about six months, according to Jawbone. It's also water resistant just like the UP 24. Based on Jawbone's description, it sounds like it offers the same functionality as the Misfit Shine but for half the price. The device itself is pretty tiny, and it's easy to pop out of the clip or band.
The clips come in a ton of different colors, and Jawbone says the band will be available in several color options too.
Here's what the back of the clip looks like.
The Jawbone Move will be available to preorder on Nov. 5 before it goes on sale later this month. SEE ALSO: Silicon Valley Never Talks About The Real Reason You Don't Own A Smartwatch Or Wearable Tech Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Jawbone's New Wristband Is Incredibly Sleek And Can Tell You Almost Everything About Your Health | ||
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Jawbone is releasing a new fitness band next year that can track everything from your resting heart rate to your precise sleep cycles and the temperature of your skin. The UP3, which launches later this year for $179.99, will use three different sensors to monitor your health instead of just one like its predecessor. While the Jawbone UP 24 and many other fitness trackers only use an accelerometer to count your steps and calories burned, the UP3 also includes sensors for measuring temperature, body composition and hydration. The UP3 measures both the temperature of your skin and your environment, so that the device can tell whether your body temperature is reacting to the conditions around you. The wristband can also measure your resting heart rate and respiration rate as well. Soon after launch, Jawbone will issue an over-the-air update that brings a few new features including on-demand heart rate monitoring, hydration tracking, and stress and fatigue monitoring. Jawbone also claims its heart rate monitor won't drain the wristband's battery. In addition to adding new functionality, Jawbone has also improved on the UP fitness band's existing features. Rather than just tracking your activities, the UP3 learns about your workouts over time. This means you may not have to actually log your activities manually if you wear the wristband often enough for it to pick up on your habits.
So, if you go for a run, Jawbone will ask if you went for a run when you navigate to the app to log your workout. If the app is correct, you simply tap the "Yes" button to log your run. If it's incorrect, you can add the activity manually. The goal, according to Jawbone, is to make it so that UP wearers use the app more for interacting with friends on their team rather than manually logging their activity. Jawbone says it's improved its sleep tracking features too. It now shows you how long you've been in REM sleep in addition to deep and light sleep. Although the new UP3 has more sensors than Jawbone's previous model, the company managed to make the wristband incredibly thin. It's slimmer than its predecessors and most other fitness bands out there, and Jawbone will be releasing various different styles. The plain black band will be available at launch, and other styles like the one pictured will be released soon after.
The clasp is also redesigned and the strap itself is more flexible than that of the UP 24. Based on Jawbone's claims, it sounds as if the UP3 will be one of the most advanced fitness trackers out there. It is, however, slightly more expensive than Fitbit's new Charge ($129.95) and Charge HR ($149.95), at $180. But it's still cheaper than Microsoft's new $200 Band, and if the UP3 performs as well as Jawbone says it will, it may be worth the extra few bucks. SEE ALSO: A New Wave Of Gadgets Can Collect Your Personal Information Like Never Before Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Michael Fassbender Is In Talks To Play Steve Jobs | ||
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Michael Fassbender is the latest actor in talks to play Apple founder Steve Jobs in director Danny Boyle's new movie, the Daily Mail reports. On Monday it was reported that Christian Bale had dropped out of the movie after deciding it wasn't a good fit for him. The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Bale felt he was "not right for the part." Danny Boyle's movie about Steve Jobs seems to be having trouble finding its star. Leonardo DiCaprio has also been mentioned in the past as a possible actor to play Jobs. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, who previously wrote The Social Network about the creation of Facebook. Another actor tied to the new Steve Jobs biopic is Seth Rogen, who is reportedly lined up to play Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Snapchat Has A Deal With BuzzFeed, Vice, And Spotify | ||
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Snapchat looks as though it is entering the next stage of monetizing its popular photo sharing app. Digiday reports that the company is in negotiations with around a dozen media companies to launch a content section with the app called Discover that will serve up articles, music and videos. The media brands, according to a mockup of the feature that Digiday has obtained, include: CNN, Mail Online, ESPN, Comedy Central, Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed, Spotify, Vevo, National Geographic, Vice and People Magazine. The spread of media brands are likely to appeal directly to the older teen and millennial users that dominate the app. ESPN and Vevo confirmed to Digiday they were in conversations with Snapchat about working on the new platform. Business Insider has contacted Snapchat for confirmation and we will update this article when we receive a reply. Sources told Digiday Snapchat will look to monetize the content — which, like photos and videos on the app, will only appear for a short period of time before disappearing — through advertising. The ads will be brokered by the media companies themselves, but Snapchat would get a slice of the revenue from the ads served on the app. The Wall Street Journal first broke the news in August that Snapchat was working on a content section, but the mockup obtained by Digiday suggests the Discover feature might now be in the final stages before launch. Emily White, Snapchat's COO, has said Snapchat will ensure advertising on the app is overt rather than "native" to avoid users feeling like they are being "tricked." Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel has also confirmed ads on the app "aren't fancy" and that they are "not targeted." Aside from advertising, Snapchat may also be looking to monetize the app through mobile payments. Earlier this year, the company filed two payment-related trademarks. SEE ALSO: Evan Spiegel Reveals His Business Plan For Snapchat, And It's Spam Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Boko Haram mount dynamite raid, rob bank, in looting spree | ||
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Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Suspected Boko Haram fighters stole dynamite and pick-up trucks from a French-owned cement works in Nigeria after robbing a bank, in a raid to fund and pursue their campaign of violence in the northeast of the African nation. The attack in Ashaka, in Gombe state, on Tuesday came after the Islamists robbed a bank, blew up a police station and razed a political party office 20 kilometres (12 miles) away in Nafada. Both incidents again demonstrated Boko Haram's apparent ability to strike at will and further punctured government claims that a ceasefire deal has been reached to end five years of bloodshed. Boko Haram funds its operations in part through bank robberies and has previously stolen vehicles including armoured personnel carriers, weapons and ammunition from the Nigerian military. Unlike previous attacks in recent months in the far northeast, the militants did not attempt to hold the town, leaving when they secured their loot. French diplomats in Nigeria said none of its nationals was taken in the raid. The head of the Lafarge group, Bruno Lafont, said operations had not been affected. "The factory was the target of intruders. There were no injuries. There was no damage in the factory," he told reporters in Paris on Wednesday. "This morning (Wednesday), the situation is still calm and everything is back to normal."
- Dynamite and trucks -
The Lafarge plant, set up in 1974, is the largest cement works in northern Nigeria and employs about 500 people, including an unspecified number of expatriates. The gunmen stormed the site at about 3:00 pm (1400 GMT), according to one worker, Amadu Wunti, who said they looted high explosives and demanded to be taken to where expatriate managers stay. Wunti identified the expatriates as French nationals but the Lafarge group said it did not comment on its foreign staff for security reasons. At the time, the plant was mostly empty, with staff having run to safety when news spread that the gunmen were coming after the raid in Nafada, which left at least 10 dead, according to residents. Locals Abubakar Galda and Awwal Ibrahim said five soldiers were killed at a checkpoint and four worshippers were shot dead at a mosque with the town's most senior cleric. Wunti's account was supported by several others, including another staff member, who said: "They (the militants) pulled out after the raid. They did not hurt or kidnap anyone. "But they took eight company vehicles and lots of dynamite used in quarry work. The attackers, which included young women, broke into the store and loaded dynamite into the vehicles and drove off."
- Recent violence -
Nafada is near the border with Yobe, a state under emergency rule since May last year because of the Islamist uprising and where Boko Haram is reportedly in control of several towns and villages. The violence would be consistent with Boko Haram's recent pattern of striking south of their stronghold in the northeast, where it is attempting to carve out a hardline Islamic state. The attack happened after a triple bombing at a bus station in the Gombe state capital, Gombe city, last week, which killed at least eight people and injured dozens of others. Suspected militants on Sunday used dynamite to blast open a jail in the central state of Kogi, where Boko Haram prisoners have been held, allowing 132 to escape. Bloodshed has continued across the north since the government claimed on October 17 that Boko Haram had agreed to a ceasefire. Nigeria maintains that the truce is still viable, despite the continued violence and mounting death toll. But most experts believe that the purported Boko Haram envoys supposedly in talks with the government have no ties to the group's real leadership. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed talk of a ceasefire as "a lie" in a video last week.
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Ukraine peace plan hangs by a thread | ||
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Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - The ceasefire in Ukraine hung by a thread Wednesday after President Petro Poroshenko accused pro-Russian rebels of sinking the peace process and ordered troop reinforcements to eastern cities. Artillery explosions could be heard around the airport in Donetsk, where Ukrainian soldiers have been holding out for weeks against surrounding separatist forces. Following salvos of Grad multiple rockets and cannon fire, black smoke rose from the area of Peski, a government-held village near the airport. Later Wednesday, ceasefire observers representing government forces, rebels, Russia and the European security body OSCE were due to "discuss a possible path to a ceasefire in the area of the airport," a spokesman for the Ukrainian military said. But the already tattered truce, which was signed September 5, has looked ever more fragile since rebels defied the government Sunday and held leadership elections that they described as legitimising their two self-declared independent states. Russia said it "respected" the elections, but Kiev, the European Union and United States all said that the polls had badly damaged the peace process, which was based on giving rebel areas autonomy, not independence. - More troops, weapons- Rebel leaders have also threatened to expand their territory, especially to the Black Sea port of Mariupol. In response, Poroshenko said late Tuesday that he had ordered reinforcements to guard against a "possible offensive in the direction of Mariupol, Berdyansk, Kharkiv and Luhansk north." "Ukraine remains a firm supporter of the peace plan," Poroshenko said. But "we are obliged as the Ukrainian state not to allow the spread of this cancerous tumour, to ensure the blockade of this territory," he told his National Security and Defence Council. "Today, several new units and groupings have been formed, which will already allow us to stop any possible attack," Poroshenko said. "The supplying of our armed forces with the very latest technology -- offensive, reconnaissance, guided systems -- is continuing quite effectively." Poroshenko said he had also asked parliament to cancel the law offering autonomy to the rebels based around the cities of Donetsk and Lugansk. The law was at the heart of the September 5 accords. The separatists adopted a conciliatory tone in their reply Wednesday, saying that they were ready to try and resurrect the peace process. "We are prepared to work on a new version of the agreement," said the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics in an unusual joint statement. Ukraine's small army has been badly mauled during the more than half-year of battles with rebels who Western governments say are supplied and supported by regular Russian troops. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday in Brussels that Russia continues to arm, train and support the rebels, with special forces inside Ukraine and more troops detected moving troops along the border. Analysts say the Ukrainian government's biggest fear is the threat of an offensive by Russian-backed separatists to capture Mariupol and then push along the coast to establish a land corridor linking Russia to Crimea -- another Ukrainian region, which was invaded and annexed by Russia in March. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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This Map Shows How The Olympics Saved East London From Doom | ||
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Data released on November 3 by the London Datastore gives a new perspective on the positive impact the Olympics had on local businesses. The areas where most of the games took place are now doing great: East London is by far the healthiest area in the city, while the rest of the capital has struggled to keep up the pace it was growing at before the financial crisis. The map below shows the percentage growth rate in number of business from each of London's 33 local authorities (ie. 32 London boroughs plus the City of London, which technically is not a borough) between 2008 and 2013.
Barking is the best area overall. It had 3,150 business units in 2003. Five years later, in 2008, there were 3,970, meaning that before the crisis it had grown by 26%. But by 2013 the number exploded to 5,325 units, up 34% in the period after the crisis. Hackney is another booming district, while Newham, the area where Stratford and the Olympic park is, took the silver with 1,700 business units created between 2008 and 2013. Tower Hamlets is another buzzing hotspot, with almost 2,000 business units created in an area that includes Brick Lane's vintage markets, the migrant community in Whitechapel and the financial firms of Canary Wharf. On the other end of the ladder are the areas in the west of the city and south of the river. Kensington and Chelsea is the borough that suffered the most, and the only one where the number of businesses shrank between 2008 and 2013: there were 13,305 in 2008, declining to 13,120 in 2013, meaning that 185 businesses closed down without being replaced. Lambeth was a pleasant surprise, businesses there grew by 3,410 units. That's more proof that Brixton, which is part of this borough, is one of the hottest areas in London these days. Other locations were not that lucky. Southwark and Wandsworth have literally stopped growing because of the crisis: in the five years before 2008, the two boroughs were booming by 41% and 42% respectively. In the following period, neither saw growth of more than 5%. Business growth dropped from thousands to hundreds in a few months. Bromley also suffered badly: 3,460 new businesses opened before 2008, while only 135 did after the crisis. Havering was probably too far from the Olympic scene of Newham and Hackney: it grew by 1,785 units (29%) before 2008, but dropped 80 units in the following five years. London as a whole suffered badly from the crisis: while more than 85,000 businesses units were created before 2008, only 33,000 were founded in the five years after. Without the Games it would have probably been a lot worse. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Eurozone retail sales suffer sharp drop in September | ||
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Brussels (AFP) - Retail sales across the 18 countries of the eurozone sank 1.3 percent in September, data showed Wednesday, in another sign that slumping demand is hurting the European economy. Germany, usually the eurozone's economic engine, suffered the biggest drop, losing a whopping 3.2 percent in one month, the EU's official Eurostat agency said. It was followed by a 2.5 percent fall in closely watched Portugal, which completed a massive debt bailout programme earlier this year after adopting a raft of tough economic reforms. Rises in retail sales came only in smaller eurozone countries, such as Malta, Luxembourg and Austria. Consumer demand is a key driver of the economy, and attracting shoppers back into stores is crucial if the eurozone is to get back on track after years of debt crisis. In struggling France, the eurozone's second biggest economy, retail sales suffered a 0.7 percent monthly fall in September. Over the past year, eurozone retail sales have grown only a slight 0.6 percent, hardly enough to lift the economy and stave off the threat of a triple-dip recession. In other worrying data, a key survey showed that private sector activity was losing steam in the eurozone. In the latest reading of the purchasing managers' index (PMI) by the Markit analysis group, the eurozone composite output PMI edged up from 52.0 to 52.1 in October, slightly below the first estimate of 52.2. Consistent with earlier showings, the data showed Ireland leading the way in economic activity and France lagging. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Jerusalem car attack 'injures 10, driver shot dead' | ||
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Jerusalem (AFP) - Ten people were wounded, one critically, when a car deliberately rammed pedestrians in Jerusalem on Wednesday, medics said, with media reports saying the driver was shot dead shortly afterwards. "Ten people were wounded, one of whom is in critical condition," emergency services spokesman Zaki Heller told AFP. He said the car had driven down the light rail tracks then ploughed into people waiting on the platform in the mirror image of an attack in the same place two weeks ago.
Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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