Adidas has Runtastic, Under Armour has MyFitnessPal and Endomondo. The consolidation in the wearables market continues with the Japanese shoe giant ASICS acquiring Runkeeper. The smartphone app was sold late last week; pricing was not disclosed. Runkeeper, with 40 million users, was the last big independent running app, and ASICS was the last big running shoe maker … [Read more...]
Runkeeper CEO Says Fitness Trackers Are Dead; We’re Not So Sure
Business Insider is carrying a very thoughtful and provocative article by Runkeeper CEO Jason Jacobs. Jacobs says that standalone fitness trackers like the Nike FuelBand, the Fitbit Force, or the Misfit Shine, are fads -- and that the future belongs to smartphones and software. The argument -- that consumers consistently bias toward simplicity and not complexity -- is … [Read more...]
Walgreens’s Mobile App Connects to Wearables, Rewards Healthy Behavior
People who use Walgreens's iPhone and Android apps have long been able to renew their prescriptions with the app, and the company opened up its API to third parties last year. We're now seeing that the app connects to a wide range of wearable devices -- and the company is paying customers for healthy behaviors. The Walgreens Balance Rewards app will pull data from devices … [Read more...]