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In the world of activity trackers, nothing comes close to the Mi Band's value. Cheaper than any Garmin or Fitbit tracker, even the most basic vivofit4 and Inspire, but still packing enough functionality, it also benefits from Xiaomi's name recognition and is considered a serious choice, not a cheap knock-off no-name tracker.The most recent Mi Band 4 pushes the value-for-money envelop even further thanks to a colored AMOLED screen, swim tracking, and music controls, which get added on top of the previous generation's all-day activity, sleep, and heart rate tracking. Overall, the package is very attractive, but cracks are inevitably hiding below the surface, especially if you like spending your time in a pool.
Walking is a big part of Pokémon Go; you have to walk not only to find monsters to catch, but also to hatch the eggs that are often the easiest way to get your hands on some of the rarer critters in the game. You have to have the app open for it to log your distance traveled, though, which is kind of a pain — but that's changing soon.
Location games' Run An Empire is a brand new augmented reality app that ingeniously gamifies walking, jogging, and running. Similar apps already exist on the Play Store, though Run an Empire takes the AR gameplay into a whole new direction. Instead of running away from zombies or defending Earth against alien invaders, you will be tasked with building an empire through the ages. It's like someone combined the 4X game Civilization with an exercise app.
Recently, Samsung's Indian R&D released a new app called Walk Mode. It's advertised as notifying you if there is a danger present as you go about your business using your phone while walking. Safety is quite a noble endeavor for Samsung to be pursuing, and I'd like to say that the company's efforts paid off, but I would be lying.
It might be a bit later than the competition, but this new feature certainly isn't unwanted. Now when you request a ride in Lyft, you might be shown alternative pickup locations to save you extra time. That way if your driver has to navigate a complex area to get to you, you can shave off some extra driving time with a short walk, and everyone gets where they're going faster.
Human's activity and fitness tracker has been available on iOS since 2013, but it has just decided to get its running shoes on and ride to the Android side. The app takes a passive approach to activity tracking, working in the background on your phone to figure out everything (walks, runs, bike rides) you've done throughout the day. If this sounds familiar, it's because it's very similar to Google Fit or to the previous "celebrity" in the category, Moves.
Texting and driving is a big no-no. We get that. People still do it, but it isn't from the misguided belief that they aren't being risky or, in some places, breaking the law. Yet what about texting and walking? It may not result in unintentional manslaughter (okay, it's much less likely to result in accidental death), but that doesn't mean it's harmless.
There's a reason Moves has attracted millions of downloads on iOS. It doesn't require the purchase of a separate device, instead turning the smartphone that's already in your pocket into a pedometer. This isn't unheard of on Android, but Moves is available for free and isn't weighed down by ads. ProtoGeo wants Moves to be an app that mainstream people actually use, and that means keeping it clean, simple, and non-intrusive.
My power went out last night. This wasn't as scary of an experience when I had a dumb phone, which could last multiple days without having to be charged. Now that I'm toting around a 5-inch monster with a quad-core processor, I'm nervous if my phone will even last until nightfall. That's why when I saw that SolePower had met their $50,000 goal on Kickstarter in order to develop a shoe insole that charges portable electronics while we walk, they had my undivided attention.
It never fails. You're walking along, reading your emails, not looking where you're going, and then boom! You trip over the cat and land nose-first into his empty food bowl. Transparent Screen aims to prevent this type of misstep by letting you see through your camera while you're walking. Unfortunately, it can't fix your cat's passive aggressive behavior, but we're sure an app like that is in the works.