Jawbone Health may release COVID-detecting fitness band: specs, pics
Jawbone Health is preparing to release its first fitness band. Regulatory info provides us with images and specs of the upcoming device.
The company originally went under the name Jawbone. Those of us that have been following wearable tech for a while know it is one of the pioneers in this space. Its original product was released back in 2007 – a wireless headset. Many products followed including the company’s popular range of UP fitness bands.
As other players entered the fitness band and smartwatch market, the company found it difficult to remain profitable. The last we heard of them was some three years ago. Jawbone decided to radically change direction – it closed up shop and liquidated assets. What rose out of the ashes was a new company with the same CEO and a different name – Jawbone Health. Some $65 million was raised to get the outfit going.
Instead of consumer wearables Jawbone Health’s plan was to focus on providing a medical subscription service for remote patient monitoring. It was stated at the time the company would equip users with clinical grade devices on their wrist that communicate with a smartphone app and sync data to the cloud.
Regulatory filings
Now we may be about to see the first fruits of that labour. An FCC application was filed a few months ago for a product called Band A. You can see pictures of the fitness tracker below. A User Manual was published in the filing and made available to the public.
How exactly this fitness band is different from others that can be commonly found on the market is unclear. The filing states that this is a “consumer grade device”. Does this indicate a possible return to the consumer market? Possibly, but not likely.
The band tracks steps, distance, heart rate, calories burned and active versus idle time. There’s also a sleep mode that monitors for micro-movements, there are smart alarms, idle alerts and a CE grade skin temperature sensor. The accompanying smartphone app looks very user-friendly as shown in the pictures below.
Battery life of the IP68 rated device is up to 5 days. Finally, there’s a non-intrusive display that provides time-tracking and fitness data.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
The band is not up for sale anywhere. Log into the Jawbone Health website and it’s clear that all is still work-in-progress. A very simple message on the site summarises the new direction of the company.
“Prevention when possible is always better than a cure. We catch lifestyle diseases early & guide you toward a healthier life.”
What is interesting is that the Bluetooth SIG website has added Jawbone Band B to its register yesterday. The name suggests that this is the second iteration of the above fitness band. The specs of that product are not listed.
The website accompanying the filing is all.health. This also seems to be work-in-progress and the description is very similar to the one that can be found on the Jawbone Health website.
“We combine machine learning with human expertise and care to detect respiratory infections and lifestyle disease early. Contextualized 24/7 data working with clinician input and interventions are used to guide positive behavior changes and provide you with personalized insight into your health and fitness. Let us be your guide to a healthier life.”
The fact that “respiratory infections” are mentioned leads us to belive this could be a device that might be used to detect COVID at an early stage. Considering the tech also has a temperature sensor reinforces this possibility.
It is unclear at the moment how all.health fits in with Jawbone Health. But obviously there is a link and the goal is to provide preventive health info.
We should find out more detail soon enough. Typically when regulatory filings go through the actual product launch is not in the far distant future.
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