Think you’re active because you walk around the office all the time on your way to meetings? Well, now there’s a way to actually track that and know for sure if you’re REALLY getting all that much exercise when you’re strolling through the cubicles.
Philips just announced the new DirectLife product. It’s an activity monitor that you throw in your pocket, clip to your belt, or wear around your neck. It then senses all your movements, and tell you exactly what your daily energy expenditure is. The sensor (and the software that reads the information out of it) will help you to determine how much energy you expend on a daily basis, and how much you should be expending on a daily basis.
I’m curious about this one, since living the blogger lifestyle has me expending as little energy as possible, moving from my chair to the mini-fridge for a can of Mt. Dew or Monster(tm) every so often.
The system is available from the DirectLife online store now, and will run you $79 (until October 30th) and includes a 4-month membership. After the initial 4 months, membership will run you $12.50 a month. This product is available in the US and the Netherlands only at this time.
“This product is available in the US and Netherlands only,” that line just made me very very happy :)
I had one of these for a 60-day trial and it wasn’t helpful — it is, after all, nothing more than an accelerometer. The value ought to be in the coaching, but the initial survey of my activity level and goals was meaningless and the periodic e-mail reminders just so much polite nagging. I’m sure glad I wasn’t paying for it!
All you really get is a web-based app that displays your activity level as a bar graph, in hourly, daily, or weekly chunks. It’s graduated in units of “calories” that have little to do with food calories, but do seem to correlate well with your actual activity level. If this is helpful to you then go for it — though I cannot imagine paying an ongoing fee for this information.
There doesn’t seem to be a way to just query the device directly, it’s all web-based, which I suppose is how you’re expected to continue subscribing.
i am with Philips and have one of these. While purely motivational at this point and not meant to really track accurately, it is small sturdy and waterproof enough to be carried during any activity. the iphone would be a poor replacment.
I bought a Directlife based on David Pogue’s review in the Times, and now I feel like I’ve been conned. The Phillips website is not exactly forthcoming about the terms of the purchase (it only works if you pay the monthly fee to access their website). I tried to complete the assessment period, but had an unavoidable interruption in my normal activity levels. I emailed to get the assessment restarted and had to wait several days for a reply. My “coach” said he’d restarted it, but it didn’t work, so I’m left waiting another couple days for him to reply to my followup. Meanwhile, I’m paying for the privilege of owning a 1 inch square of inert plastic. The help section on the site is essentially useless, and there is no phone number that I can find to call for technical assistance. So basically, you are at the mercy of email-only coach/customer service reps, who will help you when/if they get around to it. I THINK the device/service has the potential to be useful, if I could actually get it working, but I am pretty disappointed in the lack of transparency, the start-up obstacles and the less than attentive customer service. Incidentally, each of Philips other product lines has a phone number listed on the corporate site. They must REALLY not want to talk to their directlife customers.