OPPO has unveiled its new flagship smartwatch with a host of industry leading updates: the Watch X.

In the latest addition to its wearable tech line, the leading global smart device brand has incorporated extra-long battery life, as well as ultra-fast charging and its most advanced fitness tracking yet.

“We are thrilled to announce the OPPO Watch X to our New Zealand customers,” says OPPO NZ Country Manager Morgan Halim. “Building on the success of our recently launched Pad Neo, the OPPO Watch X highlights our commitment to expanding the OPPO ecosystem for our New Zealand customers by offering a premium wearable product.”

With its premium design, the Watch X is crafted for everyday wear and is available in two versatile colours, Mars Brown and Platinum Black.

It’s incredibly durable, crafted to US military standard, and can withstand water pressure up to a depth of 50 metres.

The Watch X’s battery life and charging capability is second to none. It can charge from zero to full in 60 minutes, or as little as 10 minutes charging can give you a further 24 hours of use.

It also has the capacity to provide up to 100 hours (four days) of fully active battery life when in the full-featured Smart Mode, or last up to 12 days in Power Saver Mode.

Many people choose smartwatches for their ability to support our health and fitness goals, and OPPO’s Watch X boasts several innovative features for motivation, inspiration and tracking.

There’s the detailed running functionality which includes running posture recognition, ground contact time detection, stride length tracking and more. Professional sport mode supports 11 workouts with specialised data, from skiing to tennis, badminton, rowing machine, swimming and beyond. A dual-frequency GPS provides ultra-accurate positioning for users when exercising in environments with poor GPS coverage.

Continuing OPPO’s pledge to offer next-level features for competitive pricing, the Watch X is one of the only smartwatches in this price segment to have this dual-frequency GPS capability.

As well as supporting a wide range of fitness journeys, the Watch X has plenty of features that empower users to manage their everyday health.

It has an improved heart rate sensor and blood oxygen sensor, and can also monitor stress levels over a given time period by calculating heart rate variability.

Sleep health awareness is only rising, and Watch X supports in-depth sleep monitoring to help build habits that can lead to better sleep. It can track the wearer’s sleep breathing rate, sleep blood oxygen level, baseline heart rate, snoring, body movement and more, and offers in-depth weekly sleep tracking reports in its OHealth app.

The Watch X and OHealth app also now support Health Connect by Android, which allows users to securely sync their health data with Health Connect-compatible apps.

Watch X is available now.

The post OPPO launches Watch X appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Watch5 and Galaxy Watch5 Pro is shaping health and wellness habits with intuitive insights, advanced features and even more powerful capabilities which includes ECG and blood pressure monitoring.

This new watch update will now enhance the features that Kiwis rely on every day, and give more ability to achieve their health and wellness milestones.

In addition to all the already available and insightful sleep tracking, personalised design options and other wellness options to help shape everyday health habits, the Galaxy Watch5 series is equipped with Samsung’s unique BioActive Sensor that drives the next era of digital health monitoring. The ability to measure your heart rate, blood oxygen level and even stress level has been a staple of Kiwis Samsung watch users, however with the latest update users can get a deeper understanding of their heart health by monitoring blood pressure (BP) and Electrocardiogram (ECG), right from their wrist.

The new ECG functionality, now allows users the ability to record the heart’s electrical activity of repeated cardiac cycles through the Electrocardiogram (ECG) function, which also includes an Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) feature proactively monitors heart rhythms suggestive of atrial fibrillation (AFib).

High blood pressure is when the pressure of your blood on your artery walls is abnormally high, potentially causing artery damage and health problems over the long term. Known medically as hypertension, high blood pressure affects up to 1 in 5 New Zealanders and is a significant contributor to the incidence of heart disease and stroke. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 series now unlocks the technology to be able to measure the wearer’s blood pressure.

Samsung has launched blood pressure and electrocardiogram (ECG) tracking for the Galaxy Watch5 starting 31 May 2023.

For those who want to elevate their fitness journey, the Galaxy Watch update is available for download which will release a new level of personal fitness monitoring device to complement your regular medical check-ups.

The post Samsung Holistic Health Innovation on Galaxy Watch5 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

New Flips and new Folds as well as the killer Galaxy Buds2 Pro, its big things from Samsung as they also released an updated smart watch, the Galaxy Watch5 Pro.

Last year Samsung went back to the fan favourite twisty dial around the watch face, but this new iteration sees it gone again.

Instead the 45mm AMOLED touch screen is surrounded by an equally touchable frame, slide your finger around and it functions the same as the tactile dial.

Speaking of features, the Galaxy Watch5 Pro is bursting with them.

From the usual suspects of heart rate, sleeping routines and stress levels Samsung has also added Body Composition – keep an eye on your muscle, fat, skeletal mass and more to keep yourself as fit and healthy as possible.

Samsung have taken their workout regimes up a notch or three.

From the pre-programmed ones to routines you can create all on your own it will utilise GPS tracking so you can designate a run around your neighbourhood, or anywhere on your smartphone and sync that to your Galaxy Watch5 Pro which will give you turn by turn accuracy.

The Galaxy Watch5 Pro connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and you’ll need use the Galaxy Wearable app to set it up.

The app enables you to see your stats in a near-to granular detail and offers up a wealth of customisation options including an extensive watch face library. This said it is simple enough to swap out your watch face from your wrist.

There are two tactile buttons to the right.

One will open up the Galaxy Watch5 Pro’s main menu and the second directs you to work out modes.

The Galaxy Watch5 Pro is built for real life with a super strong Sapphire face and titanium framing.

Water resistant, but not waterproof. So you wont be able to take a dip wearing the Galaxy Watch5 Pro but a jog in the rain, you should be fine.

Sensors for the Galaxy Watch5 Pro are all located on the wirelessly chargeable back.

Battery wise you’ll get a full day, sometimes a bit more with GPS on.

Generally the battery is designed to be an all day one, or roughly 8-ish hours from full to flat.

For me it’s been a mixed bag.

Some days coming up short before the end of a normal work day and others stretching near to a day and a half.

So clearly it will depend on use. The heavier days had involved taking calls from my wrist and using the Watch5 Pro to control media playback.

If you’re wanting to max out your battery life, turning GPS off sees a super long life of up to 80 hours, or 10 work days.

The Galaxy Watch5 Pro is a little bulkier and heavier than last years model, but still comfy for all day wear. The beefier bulk didn’t affect the wearability of the smartwatch on a day to day basis. The new magnetic clasp strap that Samsung has added to the Galaxy Watch5 Pro makes the wearable look rather classy for what is ultimately a sports watch.

Wearing the Galaxy Watch5 Pro every day for just a little over a week it was evident that it may be a little big for some folk. For me personally, the bigger the better.

There is a smaller model, the Galaxy Watch5, but if you’re wanting that larger display, more screen to reply to messages from your wrist and some epic fitness features you’re not going to go wrong with the Watch5 Pro.

The post Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

It’s been a busy month for Samsung with the roll out of their newest foldables, wearables and a brand new set of their inner ears, Galaxy Buds2 Pro.

Having reviewed and used at length the previous iterations, when I first heard of these coming I was curious to say the least.

How could you improve on what was near un-improvable?

Their last Galaxy Buds2 were rocking, long lasting, small and an excellent comfy fit.

It seems there was improvement to be had which brings me to the choc loaded features of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro.

If you’ve never tried out any Galaxy Buds, like, never – they are small inner ear’s that don’t have the stem.

Small round, concise and ready to belt out a tune or four and perfect for unobtrusive handsfree calling.

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro bring the features from the prior model, touch gesture for volume, music or media playback and take or end calls.

They are smaller with a super comfy, all day wearing fit.

But Samsung didn’t just shrink the mini-boom boxes down, they took it a few steps further.

With any Galaxy Buds, which connect via Bluetooth to any smartdevice, you’ll need the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app.

This is a free download from your respective app store (Android / Apple).

The app unlocks all of the tweaking and advantages of owning a pair of Galaxy Buds2 Pro.

Going all in Samsung added head tracking (a feature used on Apple’s AirPods Pro) as well as 360 spatial audio.

The super cool thing here is that the latter, 360 Spatial audio) generally requires relevant audio tracks to get the effect. Streaming services such as Tidal and Amazon Music have enhanced tracks especially for this. But what the Galaxy Buds2 Pro do is aim to enhance any of your audio – even from the lagging behind in enhancements, Spotify.

The results vary, track by track but overall it does offer that arena like experience.

Head tracking does not work on any audio, whether local to the device or streaming, other than Apple Music, if you’re an iPhone owner and yes these will connect up to your iPhone via the App Store Galaxy Wearable app.

Going loud is an understatement, for wireless earbuds these small beasts can rock out.

If you want to immerse yourself in the best of your playlists you most definitely can with ANC (Active Noise Cancelation) which literally blocks out any environmental noise. Even in a busy inner CBD.

But if you’re wanting to tune out but tune in for a bit of a chin wag – Samsung have got you there too.

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro have the Voice Detection mode, as we have seen on the prior Galaxy Buds.

If someone is talking to you in person and you’re engaged in a convo the buds will auto detect and lessen the volume as you chat away.

i found this to always be handy if you’re at a cafe waiting for an order.

For handsfree calls each bud has three microphones. Even in a more noisier environment calls are super clear, as the buds filter out the background chaos.

The buds also use the mics to listen for environmental interruptions and either filter it out without any disruption to your listening experience, or filter it in if you have ANC off or Voice Detection on.

As for the lifespan, it’s good, but not long lasting.

From a full charge the buds themselves will give you around 5 hours continuous use with ANC on. The case has four full charge cycles in it, that’s around 20 hours.

A full charge up in the case takes roughly 20 minutes from my experience on a wireless charger, around 15 minutes plugged in (if the case and buds are flat).

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro are the perfect all-rounders, no matter if you’re an Android or Apple fan.

Samsung have taken in and included the best, and more specific features from other inner ear buds and packed them in to one very light and small set.

While I would’ve liked to see the battery being at least 8 hours per use, to get you through a full work day, I also see that a compromise must’ve been made in order to lighten and shrink the Buds2 Pro down to what they are.

Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro, you’ll get the best of all worlds in the most feature packed wireless inner ears currently available.

The post Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Apple has introduced their Apple Watch Series 8 and the new Apple Watch SE, which bring groundbreaking technology and performance, and important safety innovations to the two smartwatches.

Apple Watch Series 8 features the beloved design of Apple Watch, including a large, Always-On Retina display and a strong crack-resistant front crystal. With all-day 18-hour battery life, Apple Watch Series 8 builds on best-in-class health and safety features like the ECG app and fall detection by introducing temperature-sensing capabilities, retrospective ovulation estimates and Crash Detection.

The new Apple Watch SE delivers the core Apple Watch experience, including Activity tracking, high and low heart rate notifications, and Emergency SOS as well as the new Crash Detection feature and a completely redesigned back case that perfectly matches the three classic case finishes, all at a more affordable price.

Both models are powered by watchOS 9, introducing new and more customisable watch faces like Lunar and Metropolitan, an enhanced Workout app, sleep stages, a first-of-its-kind AFib History feature and an all-new Medications app.

“We hear from customers how Apple Watch helps them stay connected with loved ones, be more active and live healthier lives,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “Apple Watch Series 8 reinforces our commitment in these areas with the addition of pioneering technology, while Apple Watch SE brings advanced core features at a new starting price. Powered by watchOS 9, the best smartwatches deliver more capabilities than ever before.”

The menstrual cycle is an important marker of health and many medical practitioners consider it a vital sign. Apple Watch Series 8 features innovative new temperature-sensing capabilities that give women further insights into their health, designed with the same privacy protections as with all other health data.

Apple Watch Series 8 takes a unique approach to temperature sensing with a two-sensor design, one sensor on the back of the watch, nearest the skin, and another just under the display, reducing bias from the outside environment.

Night-time wrist temperature can be a good indicator of overall body temperature. The sensors in Apple Watch Series 8 sample the wrist temperature during sleep every five seconds and measure changes as small as 0.1° C. In the Health app, users can see nightly shifts in baseline temperature, which can be caused by exercise, jet lag or even illness.

Utilising the new temperature-sensing capabilities in Apple Watch Series 8, users can receive retrospective ovulation estimates. Knowing when ovulation has occurred can be helpful for family planning, and Apple Watch Series 8 makes it easy and convenient by providing these estimates in the Health app. Temperature sensing also enables improved period predictions.

Additionally, with iOS 16 and watchOS 9, all Cycle Tracking users can now receive a notification if their logged cycle history shows a possible deviation, such as irregular, infrequent or prolonged periods and persistent spotting, which can be symptoms of underlying health conditions.

To enable Crash Detection, Apple developed an advanced sensor-fusion algorithm that leverages a new, more powerful gyroscope and accelerometer on Apple Watch, which now has the highest dynamic range accelerometer in any smartwatch. To create the algorithm, data was collected from these new motion sensors at professional crash test labs with common passenger cars in simulated real-world accidents, including head-on, rear-end, side-impact and rollovers. In addition to motion data, Crash Detection uses the barometer, GPS and the microphone on iPhone as inputs to detect the unique patterns that can indicate whether a severe crash has taken place.

When Apple Watch detects a severe car crash, the device will check in with the user and dial emergency services if they are unresponsive after a 10-second countdown.

Emergency responders will receive the user’s device location, which is also shared with the user’s emergency contacts. When combined, Crash Detection on Apple Watch and iPhone work seamlessly to get users help efficiently. When a severe car crash is detected, the emergency services call interface will appear on Apple Watch as it is most likely to be in closer proximity to the user, while the call is placed through iPhone if it is in range for the best possible connection.

To keep users connected for even longer, a new Low Power Mode can extend battery life to reach up to 36 hours for Apple Watch Series 8 with iPhone present.3 This new mode temporarily disables or limits select sensors and features, including the Always-On Retina display, workout autostart, heart health notifications and more.

Apple Watch Series 8 will be available across a range of case finishes, colours and band types to fit a variety of personal styles. Apple Watch Series 8 comes in aluminium and stainless steel cases in two sizes, 41mm and 45mm, and is compatible with all bands.

Aluminium case colours for Apple Watch Series 8 include starlight, midnight, silver and (PRODUCT)RED while the stainless steel case offers silver, graphite and gold. With Apple Watch Studio, Apple Watch Series 8 can be paired with any available band in the same collection.

Apple Watch Nike and Apple Watch Hermès also debut new bands and watch faces this year. Nike has vibrant new Sport Band colours and a new Sport Loop with the “Just Do It” logo woven right into the band. From later this year, any Apple Watch user running watchOS 9, even those without a Nike model, will be able to access all the Nike watch faces, including the fresh colours coming to the Bounce face.

Apple Watch Hermès introduces two new bands: H Diagonal, which creates a sporty pattern of the Hermès H with hundreds of microperforations, and Gourmette Metal, which features a polished stainless steel chain and noir leather wrapping twice around the wrist. A whimsical new Hermès watch face called Lucky Horse beautifully complements the new bands and celebrates the equestrian roots of the house with an animated horse that sleeps when the wrist is down and comes alive when it is raised.

The new Apple Watch SE delivers advanced features at a new low price, and is a great way for users to start their Apple Watch journey or gift to their loved ones.

Powerful upgrades include the S8 SiP advanced dual-core processor, the same processor that is in Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra, making it 20 per cent faster than the previous generation, along with Crash Detection.

Apple Watch SE maintains the same case design, but features a redesigned matching back case made of a nylon composite material, making it lighter than ever. With watchOS 9, Apple Watch SE users can enjoy the benefits of the new Compass app in addition to the enhanced fitness and wellness features. Apple Watch SE is available in 40mm and 44mm aluminium cases, in midnight, starlight and silver finishes, and is compatible with all bands.

Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch SE are designed to minimise their impact on the environment. Both models are made with 100 per cent recycled aluminium in the case, 100 per cent recycled tungsten in the Taptic Engine and 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets.

In a first for Apple Watch, both models feature 100 per cent recycled gold, in the plating of multiple printed circuit boards on Apple Watch Series 8, and in the plating of the SiP on the new Apple Watch SE. Both models are free of mercury, BFRs, PVC and beryllium. No Apple Watch packaging uses outer plastic wrap, and 94 per cent or more of the packaging is fibre based, bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from its packaging by 2025.

Privacy is fundamental in the design and development across all of Apple’s features.

When a user’s iPhone is locked with a passcode, Touch ID or Face ID, all of their health and fitness data in the Health app, other than Medical ID, is encrypted. Any Health data backed up to iCloud is encrypted both in transit and on Apple servers. When using iOS and watchOS with the default two-factor authentication and a passcode, Health app data synced to iCloud is encrypted end-to-end meaning that Apple does not have the key to decrypt the data and therefore cannot read it.

Customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UAE, the UK, the US, and more than 40 other countries and regions can order Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch SE today, with availability beginning Friday, 16th September 2022.

The post Apple – Apple Watch Series 8 & New Apple Watch SE appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

As Samsung focused on their sleek near all-screen Active smart watch range the beloved and rugged Galaxy Watch took a hiatus.

Until now.

The 2020 version has shaved 1mm off and now for the bigger size comes in at 45mm (there’s also a smaller one at 41mm).

No longer do we see the black sports like silicone strap – it’s full leather included.

Faster, both in response and charging the Galaxy Watch 3 will give you upto 2 full days charge, from a full battery.

Not too bad and for a smartwatch that can monitor and adapt to your sleeping patterns, right down to the granular level such as your REM, so it’s not likely to die on you before bedtime.

During my time with the Galaxy Watch 3 I indeed did get upto 2 days use on a single charge – from around 6am on day one (full battery) it began complaining it needed juice by 8pm on day two and I get alot of notifications and calls.

The Galaxy Watch 3 is Android and iOS compatible via the Galaxy Wearable app and the Galaxy Wearable section in the Galaxy Store has an endless selection of watch faces that you can grab to customise it as you like.

Of both the Active range and the Galaxy it is the latter that has always been my favourite – and for one reason, the rotating bezel.

Around the touchscreen face of the Galaxy Watches is a circular border that twirls around enabling you to scroll through menu options, watch faces and even play games (yep there’s games for the Active and Galaxy watches).

On the right side of the Galaxy Watch 3 we see two familiar buttons.

One acts as a Menu button whereas the other is more of a back button, or as I coin it a ‘cancel all’ which takes you back or right out of any menu’s.

The Galaxy Watch 3 has a few new builtin apps too. It has retained the fitness, heart monitoring, stress monitor and if you set it up – the calorie intake. Samsung have added an oxygen monitor with estimating your SpO2 level. Need to stop and take a breather – the Galaxy Watch 3 has got your back.

Take a spill? Galaxy Watch 3 also detects if you trip up and via a onscreen alert you can literally call for medical assistance if you need it.

It’s also lighter. 15% lighter infact than the previous model. Waterproof up to 50 meters making the Galaxy Watch 3 for all fitness regimes.

There is already 120 various workout routines programmed into the Galaxy Watch 3 and you can set daily goals. The wearable will actually give you tips as you go. Taking a walk? The Galaxy Watch 3 will advise you on how well you’re doing, or tips to improve on the fly.

Being a wearable you can expect to get your notifications on the go. Out of the box and once synced up to your smartphone you can select what apps, first and third party, you want notifications for. This works on both Android and iOS.

Respond to SMS’ including the usage of quick reply bitmoji’s, WeChat, Messenger and more on the fly and rock out and control Spotify via bluetooth headset all from the smartwatch.

There are two variances of the Galaxy Watch 3, bluetooth only and LTE (this review is for the bluetooth model).

Bluetooth I found had a really good range – approximately I could go around 50 meters from my smartphone before connection dropped. LTE sets a remote connection should you be further away from your device.

The Galaxy Watch 3, built on Tizen OS is a wear and forget. Super comfy, not as weighted as it’s predecessor and a real good all rounder for play, health and fitness.

The post Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Fitbit today announced the latest evolution of its most popular family of devices, Fitbit Charge 4.

Featuring Fitbit’s most advanced combination of sensors and features, including built-in GPS and Spotify, Charge 4 delivers what you want most in a health and fitness tracker, paired with essential smart features and up to 7 days of battery life in a sleek, swimproof design, all at an approachable price. Charge 4 includes Fitbit’s latest innovation, Active Zone Minutes, a new personalised standard based on your resting heart rate and age that tracks any workout that gets your heart pumping, from indoor biking to yoga, measuring the time you spend in each heart rate zone toward a weekly goal of 150 minutes.

For more guidance and motivation in today’s environment, new content has been added to Fitbit Premium, including programs, workouts from brands like barre3, Down Dog and Physique 57, mindfulness tools, challenges and more. Along with 40 new pieces of free content, Fitbit is also offering a free 90-day trial for new Premium users. With the launch of new tools, software and content, being “on Fitbit” offers even greater value for users looking to manage their overall health.

“Our mission has always been to help people around the world get healthier. In today’s extraordinary times, that mission is more important than ever but we realize how hard it is to focus on your health and wellness. However, staying active, eating well and getting enough sleep can help reduce stress and boost immunity,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder. “To help support our users, we’re offering a free trial of Fitbit Premium and added content so our users have the right tools at home to help them stay healthy, and with Active Zone Minutes, we are giving users a new personalized standard for health and fitness so they can get the most out of any activity that works for them, and help to keep them motivated.”

Active Zone Minutes will launch first with Charge 4, with an innovative design made to optimize GPS performance plus house other advanced sensors and capabilities while maintaining a slim, lightweight tracker form at the same approachable price and battery life. Its premium, lightweight, swimproof design is comfortable for all-day (and night) wear, featuring an inductive button, a scratch-resistant screen, and a bright, crisp touchscreen display that is easy to view in natural light.

As the first Fitbit tracker with built-in GPS, you can leave your phone at home and get optimal performance for activities like running, walking and other outdoor excursions. Now with the ability to track your pace and distance in real-time, in addition to the 20+ goal-based exercise modes, you can access seven GPS-enabled exercise modes, including a new outdoor workout mode for any outdoor activity like hiking, running or a brisk walk. After completing a GPS-enabled workout, sync your device for a GPS-powered heat map in the Fitbit app where you can see your workout intensity, based on your different heart rate zones along your route to help you visualize and improve how you are performing against different terrain.

Because activity looks different for everyone, Fitbit developed Active Zone Minutes to help you understand how your activity contributes to your overall health, beyond the number of steps you take.

With Fitbit’s PurePulse 24/7 heart rate tracking, Active Zone Minutes uses your personalized heart rate zones to track your effort for any heart-pumping activity, whether doing a HIIT workout, power yoga or taking a vigorous walk outside. Earn credit for each minute of moderate activity in fat burn zone, and double the credit for vigorous activity in cardio and peak zones – Active Zone Minutes does the math for you so you can quickly understand how many you need to reach your daily and weekly goals. Get real-time alerts on your wrist each time you change zones so you can push harder or scale back to make your workouts more efficient. After a workout, see a detailed summary of your heart rate zones in the Fitbit app, including progress toward your goals, so you can continue challenging yourself to make every minute count.

Active Zone Minutes is based on recommendations from leading health organizations, including the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association, who recommend getting 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, which has been linked to better overall health and well-being, disease prevention, improved cognitive function, less anxiety, and better sleep.

Sleep is a critical component to maintaining overall health and wellness, and boosting immunity. As such, Fitbit’s leading sleep features are included with Charge 4 to help you understand and improve your sleep. Previously only available on Fitbit smartwatches, smart wake (coming soon) uses machine learning to wake you at the optimal time. Sleep Score provides deeper insights into your sleep with a daily look at the quality of your sleep, now available on-wrist for Charge 4. Other sleep features on Charge 4 make it easy to improve your sleep all from your wrist: quickly set alarms and activate Sleep Mode to maintain routines and sleep schedules.

Charge 4 also features a relative SpO2 sensor, which powers Fitbit’s Estimated Oxygen Variation Graph in the Fitbit app. With the graph, see an estimate of the oxygen level variability in your bloodstream, which may indicate variations in your breathing during sleep.

In addition, Charge 4 comes standard with the health and fitness essentials you know and love from Fitbit, including SmartTrack automatic exercise tracking, Cardio Fitness Level and Score, floors climbed, Reminders to Move every hour, female health tracking, food, water and weight logging, motivation from the global social fitness network of nearly 30 million like-minded individuals around the world to help you stay connected, and free educational insights about activity and sleep in the Fitbit app to better understand how your health and wellness tie together.

For an even more powerful health and fitness coach, Charge 4 has added convenience and smart features to manage your day and stay connected but not distracted, right from your wrist. The first Fitbit tracker with Spotify, Charge 4 helps you stay motivated with your favorite playlists and songs with easy-to-access music controls that let you choose the music output, play, shuffle and skip content, and like songs right from the wrist. Never miss an alert with on-screen call, text, agenda and app notifications, and keep in touch with family and friends with quick replies on Android to respond on-the-go or mute alerts with Do Not Disturb mode. Now standard on all Charge 4 devices, make secure payments from your wrist with Fitbit Pay with nearly 500 issuers, at retailers in 44 countries and 10 transit systems worldwide, including New Zealand ASB.

Charge 4 is powered by up to seven days of battery life so you can stay motivated and connected. It provides an intuitive touchscreen experience with interactive graphics that allow for seamless navigation so you can access the most important information you need, right from your wrist.

For users looking to build on the device experience with extra guidance, support and motivation, which is even more critical these days, Fitbit Premium, is a paid subscription service in the Fitbit app that you can access conveniently from your phone, whenever you need it and no matter where you are. Leveraging insights from 10+ years of data along with academic and medical expertise, Premium delivers customized guided programs, advanced sleep tools, personal insights, thousands of workouts, new challenges, and health reports help you move more, sleep better and eat well.

“Since launching Fitbit Premium last year, consumer retention and engagement results are improving, and we’re seeing positive health and wellness benefits for our users,” said Jonathan Oakes, EVP of Product & Design. “For example, users who took less than 5,000 steps per day before trying Premium took 16,000 more steps per week during the first two weeks of joining – a testament to the power of our Premium experience in improving users’ health and fitness.”

To support our users and help people stay active at home during today’s difficult times, Fitbit is offering 40 new pieces of Premium content free in the Fitbit app. In addition, anyone new to Fitbit Premium can get a 90-day free trial of this paid subscription, which includes personalised health insights, guidance, advanced sleep tools, customised programs and 200+ workouts from brands like barre3, Daily Burn, obé fitness, Physique 57, POPSUGAR and Yoga Studio: Mind & Body. If Premium is not available in your region and you have not tried Fitbit Coach yet, we are offering a 90-day free trial so you can stream video workouts on your phone or computer. To access Premium or Coach, visit the Fitbit ap.

Fitbit now has 16 programs available to Premium users. New guided programs include strength training, gym cardio and mindful eating, tailored based on your goals, fitness level, schedule and preferences. In addition to a wide range of workouts categorized by time, activity and fitness level to easily find what’s right for you, Premium members have access to new mindfulness content from brands like Ten Percent Happier, in one single, convenient place. Coming soon, Fitbit will also offer workouts for both free and Premium users to help you reach your Active Zone Minutes goal.

Three customizable challenges are also available to Premium members, including Get Fit Bingo, where users can compete with family and friends on a health and fitness bingo board with different activities, such as meeting your step or Active Zone Minutes goal for the day. Premium will continue to add more content to support users on their health and wellness journeys.

Pre-order for Charge 4 and Charge 4 Special Edition begins online today in New Zealand at Fitbit.com and online from leading local retailers, with product anticipated to be available in May 2020.

The post Fitbit Introduces Fitbit Charge 4 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) today unveiled a new addition to its popular HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 Series, HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e.

Designed to inspire an active lifestyle, the new smartwatch features 100 workout modes ranging from traditional sports to more trendy forms of exercise.

For the first time, Huawei has introduced a blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring feature to the HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e.

Supported by a two-week long battery life, the device is engineered to bring a scientific, yet sporty concept to global consumers’ everyday life. The new smartwatch also supports precise heart rate monitoring, abnormal heart rate reminders, pressure level monitoring and sleep monitoring features that allow users to understand their health status in real time.

Additionally, HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e brings improvements in design over the previous generation, including a concealed crown that goes with the watch body to add an extra flourish. New and refreshing colour variants have also been introduced, with Mint Green and Lava Red colourways giving consumers a simple yet stylish look.

HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e is equipped with a 1.39-inch AMOLED high precision touch display supporting a Retina-grade resolution. With this vibrant display, users are always just one tap away from information, even if they are outside on a bright summer’s day.

For the popular HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 42mm, Huawei also announced a new Champagne Gold case edition with straps in two new colourways, Frosty White and Chestnut Red, which exude tranquillity and grace.

The new HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 42mm also brings a cycle tracking feature catered for female users.

“Like the previous HUAWEI WATCH GT products, the HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e will continue to bring reliable fitness and health management experiences to consumers.” Said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei CBG, “Huawei places huge importance on fitness and health functions. Since we are upgrading the All-scenario Seamless AI Life strategy in 2020, fitness and health will become an essential user scenario. As technology products are more interconnected with consumers’ lives, Huawei will continue to drive technology advancement, improve software and hardware ecosystems, and innovate in wearables to bring smarter fitness and health management experiences driven by technology.”

The design of the HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e is sporty, while the HUAWEI WATCH GT 2’s design is classic. Instead of following traditional designs where the watch face is separated from its strap, it possesses a classic round dial with an integrated strap for a streamlined, modern look – a refreshing take on the future of smartwatches. Its stainless steel body complements the concealed, crown design that blends in with the watch’s curved silhouette.

The watch comes in four new colourways of Graphite Black, Lava Red, Mint Green and Icy White, with the strap made of a soft and comfortable fluororubber. The dual-colour, breathable TPU material completes a flawless unibody design.

All of these features not only highlight how comfortable HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e is to put on, but also underline its durability. Even during intense exercise, fitness and health monitoring is still accurate. It comes equipped with a 1.39-inch AMOLED high precision touch display which is crisp and colourful, allowing users to see the details clearly even in strong sunlight.

HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e also comes with some surprising details. Minimalistic and robust, the case also features a sandblasted surface for better texture. A coat of deep black on the surface subtly reflects light, creating a mesmerising effect that changes with the angle of light shone on the watch.

Huawei’s latest smartwatch also spices things up with its new watch faces. By introducing new motion watch faces, which complement fluidity and action when the user is on the move, Huawei is offering even more customisation. Additionally, the new dual time zone theme helps users to stay connected with friends, family and colleagues around the world.

The multi-functional watch face allows the user to customise the settings they want, such as selecting what important reminders to receive during the day. If users want the smartwatch to be unique, they can simply choose a photo from their album to be displayed on the watch face.

Whether the users are into mainstream sports or something a little more experimental, they can enjoy the unique perks offered through various tracking modes on the HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e.

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e supports 15 professional workout modes including eight outdoor activities (running, walking, mountain climbing, hiking, trail running, cycling, open water swimming, triathlon) and seven indoor activities (walking, running, cycling, pool swimming, free training, elliptical machine, rower). In professional workout modes, the HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e provides comprehensive monitoring that can track 190 types of data – all to help the users to get the most out of their workout.

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e can also automatically detect 6 professional workout modes, offering a smarter sporting experience.

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e also supports 85 customised workout modes that cover six categories of sports: extreme, leisure, fitness, aquatics, ball games and winter sports. The activities range from street dance to parkour, rock climbing to yoga, and ballet to boxing. While users are enjoying their favourite sports, HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e will record key data such as duration, calories burnt, heart rate interval, exercise progress, recovery time and more, providing users with scientific exercise planning and generating an infographic with the data to share on social media with just one click.

HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e has a large internal storage that can store around 500 mp3 songs. With Huawei Music and Bluetooth headphones, users can enjoy their custom exercise playlist during their training.

Based on a high-performance heart rate sensor, Huawei’s self-developed Truseen 3.5 heart rate monitoring technology, TruRelexTM stress management technology, and Trusleep 2.0 technology, HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e allows users to monitor heart rate, stress level and sleep quality in real time, so they can have a full understanding of their health status. When a user’s heart rate is too high or too low, the watch will send a prompt reminder.

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e is equipped with Huawei’s proprietary Kirin A1 chip to provide a two-week battery life, assisting users to perform fitness and health management actively and comprehensively.

For the first time, HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e supports blood oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) monitoring globally. Within a minute, users can easily test their SpO2 level and assess their body condition anytime.

Huawei also announced the new Frosty White and Chestnut Red variants for HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 42mm with a menstrual management feature. Users can obtain menstrual and fertility reminders through the watch by inputting information such as their menstrual period and cycle length. Also, the cycle predictions can be obtained through Huawei Health App.

Beginning from April, HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e will be available in Huawei Vmall and Huawei Authorised Retailers.

The post Huawei launches HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

New data from the fully impartial price and product comparison site, PriceSpy, suggests Kiwis are very much behind the fast-moving world of wearable tech products.

According to historical click data from PriceSpy, the shopping category for smart watches has already increased in popularity in 2020, receiving almost 70 per cent (68 per cent) more clicks in January 2020 compared to January 2019*. Rather impressively, the shopping category of fitness watches also increased by almost 40 per cent (38 per cent) over the same period of time.

Not all wearable fitness gadgets however grew at the same rate, as the PriceSpy research found the shopping category for traditional activity trackers, which include products such as the Fitbit Charge 3 and Fitbit Inspire HR, dropped in clicks by almost a fifth (-19 per cent) year-on-year.

Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett, New Zealand country manager for PriceSpy, says: “Our latest findings highlight just how much wearable fitness gadgets have taken off in New Zealand.

“January is obviously one of the biggest times of the year that consumers look to invest in health and wellness products but compared to just one year ago, the percentage of shoppers clicking on smart watches in particular has grown phenomenally, increasing 68 per cent.”

Quick facts:

• The wearable tech industry was reported worth nearly $23 billion in 2018 and this figure is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 per cent to reach $54 billion by 2023 (source: globaldata);
• The number of connected wearable devices worldwide has more than doubled in the space of three years, increasing from 325 million in 2016 to 722 million in 2019. The number of devices is forecast to reach more than one billion by 2022 (source: Statista);
• In 2023, it is projected that 131.6 million smartwatches will be shipped worldwide, up from 91.8 million units in 2019 (source: Statista).

Liisa continues: “Whilst popularity for wearable fitness gadgets continues to grow rapidly, our insights suggest not all products are as popular as others. For example, the percentage of clicks received for traditional activity trackers dropped by almost one fifth year year-on-year.

“What’s particularly interesting about this is consumers appear to be clicking more on wearable fitness gadgets that have a considerably higher price point, suggesting shoppers are looking to invest in this market for the long run.”

“In terms of leading wearables fitness gadget brands, our data shows Fitbit, Samsung and Apple were most popular with Kiwi shoppers in 2019, as well in 2020 so far. But it’s not just the usual tech companies that are putting their stake in the ground, as fashion designers such as Louis Vuitton are getting in on the action, selling wearable tech products costing up to $7300 NZD.”

Liisa concludes: “For those who are in the market for a new wearable fitness gadget and are unsure what your money can buy, our key recommendation is to use a price and product comparison site or app, such as PriceSpy to do your buying research first.

“Using such a site or app will help shoppers in more way than one. Firstly, they can make sure they are not paying over the odds for an item that may cost considerably less elsewhere. Secondly, consumers can compare the features of multiple wearable fitness gadgets in one place, so they can invest their money wisely and choose the best product that best suits their individual needs.”

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First study to evaluate de-identified data from wearable devices on resting heart rate and sleep finds improved real-time prediction of influenza-like illness in five US states compared to current surveillance methods.

The research, published in The Lancet Digital Health journal, demonstrates the potential of data from wearable devices to improve surveillance of infectious disease. Resting heart rate tends to spike during infectious episodes and this is captured by wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, that track heart rate. De-identified data from 47,249 Fitbit users, retrospectively identifies weeks with elevated resting heart rate and changes to routine sleep. Further prospective studies will need to be done to help differentiate between infectious versus non-infectious forecasting.

Influenza results in 650,000 deaths worldwide annually. Approximately 7% of working adults and 20% of children aged under five years get flu each year. Traditional surveillance reporting takes 1-3 weeks to report, which limits the ability to enact quick outbreak response measures – such as ensuring patients stay at home, wash hands, and deploying antivirals and vaccines.

Past studies using crowdsourced data, such as Google Flu Trends and Twitter have found variable success on their own as these methods tend to overestimate rates during epidemics. This is because it is impossible to separate out the activity of individuals with influenza from heightened awareness or related to media during flu season.

Study author Dr Jennifer Radin, Scripps Research Translational Institute, USA, says: “Responding more quickly to influenza outbreaks can prevent further spread and infection, and we were curious to see if sensor data could improve real-time surveillance at the state level. We demonstrate the potential for metrics from wearable devices to enhance flu surveillance and consequently improve public health responses. In the future as these devices improve, and with access to 24 / 7 real-time data, it may be possible to identify rates of influenza on a daily instead of weekly basis.”

The researchers reviewed de-identified data from 200,000 users who wore a Fitbit wearable device that tracks users’ activity, heart rate and sleep for at least 60 days during the study time from March 2016 to March 2018. From the 200,000, 47,248 users from California, Texas, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania wore a Fitbit device consistently during the study period, resulting in a total of 13,342,651 daily measurements evaluated. The average user was 43 years old and 60% were female. All Fitbit users, including those whose data are included in this study, are notified that their de-identified data could potentially be used for research in the Fitbit Privacy Policy.

Users’ average resting heart rate and sleep duration were calculated, as well as deviations to this to help identify when these measures were outside of an individual’s typical range (ie, using standard deviation). During each week, a user was identified as abnormal if their weekly average resting heart rate was above their overall average (by more than a half or a full standard deviation) and their weekly average sleep was not below their overall average (by more than half a standard deviation). The users were arranged by which state they lived in, and the proportion of users above the threshold each week was calculated. This data was compared to weekly estimates for influenza-like illness rates reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

By incorporating data from Fitbit trackers, influenza predictions at the state level were improved. In all five states there was an improvement in real-time surveillance, and the closest alignment with CDC data was found when abnormal resting heart rate was defined as half a standard deviation above normal and sleep more than half a standard deviation below.

This is the first time heart rate trackers and sleep data have been used to predict flu, or any infectious disease, in real-time. With greater volumes of data it may be possible to apply the method to more geographically refined areas, such as county or city-level.

The authors identify several limitations in their study. A general lack of activity data meant they could not control for seasonal fitness changes or more short-term activity changes. Weekly resting heart rate averages may include days when an individual is both sick and not sick, and this may result in underestimation of illness by lowering the weekly averages. Other factors may also increase resting heart rate, including stress or other infections. Lastly, the authors note that previous studies of sleep measuring devices have been found to have low accuracy, though the authors note that accuracy will continue to improve as technology evolves.

In the study, the Fitbit users were predominantly middle age adults and likely higher income than the general population so potentially less likely to suffer comorbidities which could make them more susceptible to severe infections. They also may be more likely to get influenza vaccines or receive antivirals or other medicines if they do get sick which can reduce disease severity, so the models may need to be modified for use in other populations.

In a linked Comment article, Dr Cécile Viboud of the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, USA, says: “The study by Radin et al is a promising first step towards integrating wearable measurements in predictive models of infectious diseases. […] we anticipate that the large amount of real-time data generated by Fitbit and other personal devices will prove highly useful for public health and augment traditional surveillance systems. The ever expanding “big data” revolution offers unique opportunities to mine new data streams, identify epidemiologically-relevant patterns, and enrich infectious disease forecasts.”

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