Gadgetory

hi this is Brian Bennett for cnet.com and today we're taking a first look at the jawbone up this Fitness gadget costs 129 99 and has arrived just in time for the holiday season you may not know but the mobile fitness device market is booming a number of powerful products have launched over the past few years that promise to harness current portable technology to get you better in shape or at least adopt a more healthy lifestyle Nike's FuelBand and the Fitbit are great examples of this trend the jawbone up however takes the personal activity tracker into new territory the up is designed to be worn 24 hours seven days a week alte pain a detailed picture of your health it then uses the data to motivate you into getting off the couch or out of that chair and move around the also tracks your sleep recording length quality etc all in the hope you'll work to eliminate your sleep debt and get more rest the device is essentially a complex bundle of electronics battery motion sensor and flexible circuit boards all stuffed into a twistable rubber skin there are a minimum of controls and indicators on the up band shaped like a bracelet the up has just one square button on one end and a nylon cap covering its 3.5 millimeter mini headphone plug on the other it's used to both charge and synced it up with compatible iPhones right below the button set to status lights one drawn in the shape of a starburst and the other a Halfmoon these lights steadily glow or blinking colors of green or red depending on what the mode the up is in or function it's performing jawbone says it made the up band to meld seamlessly into everyday life as a result it's built to be very durable able to withstand drops twists and liquid spills you can even shower with the up just don't take it swimming the other half of the up system is its corresponding iphone application since the device doesn't link to pcs or even Android phones you'll have to use the iPhone app to view all your performance data but that data is showcased cleanly and in an intuitive format on the home screen are two easily digestible and color-coded bars blue for sleep orange four steps which also show raw performance numbers and their percentage value in relation to your current goal for instance you can see I got seventy eight percent of the eight hours of sleep that up recommends hmmm that's not so good the app also lets you log meals your current mood plus share your status with other friends using up through a social feed there are tips to which jawbone calls insights plus the host of other nice features the up can tackle as well such as power naps and silent alarms I'm Brian Bennett for cnet.com and this has been a first look at the jawbone up be sure to check back soon for a full review