In the past couple of months, the tech company Jawbone has been buying out smaller exercise technologies -- something extremely common in an age of startups and acqui-hires. Most recently, their acquisition of BodyMedia, a company that makes wearable gadgets which track health, adds to their potential of completely reinventing wearable exercise tech.
Who is Jawbone?
Since being founded in 1999, San Francisco based company Jawbone built its reputation by developing a line of bluetooth headsets. The tech company soon became regarded as one of the best manufacturers of headsets, and in 2011 expanded to produce portable speakers as well. But the company isn't stopping there.
Being experts in wearable, portable headsets, getting into the business of wearable exercise tech isn't much of a leap. Already a producer of the Up Health Wristband (a simple gadget that tracks activity and encourages better health), the company has their toe in the pool of health tech, but clearly this is just the beginning. After their most recent acquisition of BodyMedia, it looks like the company is ready to start making a name for themselves in the world of exercise technology.
Collecting the Pieces
Back in February, Jawbone bought the start up company Massive Health, a company focused on making weight loss and health easy through interactive iPhone apps. Combining tech, social media, and health, the joining of these companies offered a lot of potential for mobile health apps and more.
Adding even more to their tool belt, buying BodyMedia now gives Jawbone an edge in wearable health tracking. Between these two grabs, Jawbone has spent millions of dollars, investing in the health tracking industry. The question now is what they're going to do with it.
What is Wearable Health Tracking?
At the moment, there are numerous wearable gadgets and tracking technologies out there. The idea is to make it easier for anyone to track their health -- their weight loss, diet, heart rate, blood pressure, and more -- and let people know what's going on inside of their bodies as well as watch their progress. Technology is so integrated into our daily lives that it's no surprise it's helping the health industry make great strides, and being embraced by people all over the world.
Although there are already health tracking technologies out there, it still has a long way to go. This is why Jawbone's progress in the industry is so exciting. Marrying a tech company with health-focused ideas means we can expect to see huge improvements in wearable products as well as apps to go along with them.
The Up App
With their Up Wristband already out there, Jawbone has a solid platform to build off of. In correlation with the wristband, and in conjunction with the app-focused company Massive Health, the company just launched their new app platform, Up, to make the data from the wristband more usable.
Jawbone Leading the Way into the Future of Exercise Tech
Their new app shows just a glimpse of what can become of exercise tech. More effective wearable health gadget can give users more exact and extensive data about their unique health. Interactive apps can make that data easier to understand and create better communication between people and their doctors. In the future, Jawbone may even begin buying up companies in other sectors of the exercise industry and may truly become a pioneer in holistic health solutions.
Jawbone expanding even further into the industry of exercise tech just shows that getting healthy is becoming even easier, and anyone who can use a smartphone will have to tools they need to take control of their health.
