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Garmin has a fitness band which nags you

by on07 January 2015


On the next push-up, you will be dead

The creator of a mapping device which thinks it is legal to drive through the centre of Rome in the weekend, now thinks it can nag you on your health.

Garmin announced a new version of its vivofit wearable tracker which nags you with alerts to get off your fat er... chair  and do some exercise.

The vivofit 2 will be compatible with a series of interchangeable band choices including some by renowned potter and designer Jonathan Adler.

When the tracker's red inactivity meter reaches a certain point, alerts will sound, prompting you to get moving, or, which is more likely, to throw the watch into the nearest water.

The tracker, which features one-year battery life, measures steps taken, calories burned, hours slept and sleep quality, and the LCD screen remains on.

Users can sync their MyFitnessPal accounts to the Garmin Connect app and take part in challenges that provide the opportunity to earn badges that measure how far you've come in your fitness.

Of course the downside of all this is that it is the same product maker which made the travel guide which has done better than alcohol to get me bewildered and lost.   In Rome you have been forbidden to enter the town centre in the weekend since the time of Julius Caesar  but that is not stopped my Garmin telling me I can, and then indignantly chirping “recalculating” when I don’t.

Having it take care of fitness on that basis fills me with dread. The prospect of being alerted when I am out of breath (ie all the time) or have not slept properly, (Sunday night), or do not have enough sleep (every night). I do not really want to know that my blood pressure shoots through the roof when I read about another Apple atrocity.  

I particularly do not want to be told this by the same company that wasted my Sunday afternoon by getting more lost than I needed to and ping-ponged me between two roundabouts twice.

The device will be available this quarter on its own or bundled with the accessory bands, with suggested retail prices starting at $129.99.

The Jonathan Adler bands are also sold separately in three-pack bundles for $39.99, while three-pack bundles of the Signature Series bands retail for $24.99.data on a corresponding app.

Last modified on 07 January 2015
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