Digital fitness tracker meets digital fitness coach (meet @getmoov)

There's no scarcity of fitness trackers and apps — Jawbone UP, FitBit, Nike FuelBand to name a few. But what if you want to go beyond tracking and get a little coaching?

Enter Moov, a soon-to-be-released (this summer) device plus app that not only tracks your fitness, but offers advice for improving your game. 

If you run, Moov analyzes your foot strike. If you swim, it analyzes your strokes. If you bike, it analyzes your cadence. It also offers advice for your boxing and weight workouts with yoga and golf coming soon after launch.

Moov will be available this summer and has a pre-order price of $59.95.

My request: Hockey, of course!

Pre-order: http://Moov.cc World's first multi-sport artificial-intelligent coach. Wear it. Mount it. Hear it. 5 sports included to start. Real-time interactive coaching. Performance tracking. Injury prevention. Form monitoring. 3D Motion sensing. Waterproof. 50% off introductory price for limited time. Versatile, 1 moov, many sports. 5 sports (run, cycling, swimming, boxing and bodyweight workout) apps at debut.

Source: iMore

It ain't for you (but maybe it should be)

Is the new Nike+ FuelBand SE for you?

That's the question posed by a new TV ad for the wristband that tracks steps and workouts.

Is the Nike+ FuelBand SE for you? If you believe in motivation, and technology, and wrists, then maybe. If you don't, why not? Learn more about the Nike+ FuelBand SE: http://www.nike.com/fuelband

Nike's FuelBand is in the same category as the Jawbone UP and the FitBit Force — wearable tech that helps quantify your fitness goals by tracking activity and inactivity. Jawbone and FitBit also track sleep patterns. [I wear the Jawbone UP.]

Each device has the same goal — to motivate you to be more active.

So, as the motivational voiceover in Nike's new FuelBand ad exclaims,

If you don't like feeling awesome, it ain't for you.

But it should be. So get out there and live healthy!

There isn't an app for this …

This ad for the Peace Corps grabbed me.

Technology can do a lot. Sometimes you need to put down the tech and just do. As in volunteering.

Check out the whole campaign. It's right on.

8 ways iBeacons can improve your health

Location-based services are heating up.

First it was check-ins (think Foursquare). That begat unique offers based on geolocations. Now Apple has taken the next step with proximity-based messages and offers — within a location. 

Image source: Gigaom

Apple installed iBeacons in all 254 of its U.S. stores earlier this month. The iBeacon system uses low-powered, low-cost transmitters to send messages to users based on their proximity (and users have the option to turn off the messages).

Here's how it works: As iPhone-toting customers walk through one of Apple's retail stores, they can receive messages about products they are standing in front of, news about events that are about to take place or even on-the-spot unadvertised discounts. 

Macy's is also testing Apple's iBeacon service and Major League Baseball said it will use the technology at ballparks this spring. And Apple is not alone, with Qualcomm recently announcing its own proximity beacons, called Gimbal.

How can these be used in health care? Here are eight quick ideas:

1. Help patients, families and visitors navigate throughout a hospital.
2. Broadcast wait times at ERs and doctor's offices.
3. Notify passers by of specials at the cafeteria or the gift shop.
4. Remind patients that the in-house pharmacy is convenient and quick.
5. Provide reminders to patients to complete satisfaction surveys.
6. Remind everyone to wash their hands (everywhere)!
7. Suggest it's time for a flu shot.
8. Notification of the urgent need for blood donors.

Crowdsouring sickness (with @sickweather)

Cough, common cold and sore throat are going around in Boston.

And I'm heading there today.

Thanks to the Sickweather app for iPhone, I can get a glimpse of what ailments are spreading through my area.

Just as Doppler radar scans the skies for indicators of bad weather, Sickweather scans social networks for indicators of illness, allowing you to check for the chance of sickness as easily as you can check for the chance of rain.

You can tweak preferences within Sickweather to notify you when certain illnesses are prevalent — from allergies and asthma to strep throat and whooping cough. As Sickweather says, "don't worry, be healthy."

So, for my trip to Boston today, I'll be packing the Purell!