UP4 is a wristband that can track your exercise by measuring your heart rate, analyzing your shut-eye, counting your steps and at the same time make purchases. Jawbone revealed the UP4 on Wednesday late at night. The wristband will work with iOS and Android phones, and will cost $200. UP4 will have sensors to collect your skin respiration, temperature and heart rate.
More Features
Other features include an accelerometer that tracks movement at every angle. UP4 will, therefore, be able to recognize familiar actions and label the kind of exercise you do, from Zumba to skiing. In addition, UP4 will have a near-field communication (NFC) chip in the outer band. This chip will allow you to complete transactions by placing your wrist next to a credit card payment terminal for just a short time.
This ability of UP4 to complete financial transactions comes with a few catches. For a start, the payment terminals that support NFC technology are limited to large institutions. Secondly, UP4 only works with American Express, which is not accepted by some businesses.
But Jawbone says the band works with a number of terminals across the country which can reach hundreds of thousands. Whether you can find one very much depends on where you live in the country.
Safe Payment
American Express will secure the payment connection with the same encryption software that is uses in its contactless payment system. This encryption will ensure that your financial information won’t be intercepted or tracked by anyone, one either end. For further security, you can immediately disengage your card via Jawbone’s UP app in case your wristband gets lost or is stolen. Jawbone will also cover all fraudulent charges made in the case of theft.
UP4 is an improvement of UP3 whose pre-orders delayed for what Jawbone claimed was due to a realization that the device would not be waterproof as a result of some manufacturing snafus. Jawbone revealed UP3 in November, and the pre-orders taken in December. The bands were supposed to start shipping on April 20. This short duration means no one shall have spent enough time with the UP3 to know whether they even want a UP4.
Jawbone has also updated its standard band, the UP24, and has also renamed the UP2. The UP2 is another Jawbone’s device that tracks both exercise and sleep. The device costs $100 and comes with the same alert capabilities found in its predecessor. Many people have praised Jawbone its motivational companion app called UP, as well as the lightweight design of its bands.
