JBL has announced the launch of two innovative new headphone designs, utilising JBL OpenSound Technology to transform the listening experience and set a new standard for audio quality in comfortable and versatile new form factors.

The JBL Soundgear Frames and the JBL Soundgear Sense are now available, providing listeners with JBL’s Signature Sound quality while maintaining a natural connection to their surroundings.

There’s no more iconic pairing than music and fashion – and now JBL has created the perfect fusion of style and sound in one functional design.

Now available, the JBL Soundgear Frames are the first audio sunglasses created by audio powerhouse brand JBL. Slim, flexible and lightweight, the Soundgear Frames are comfortable enough to wear all day and come in a choice of three translucent colours and two stylish designs.

“These glasses present a stylish new option for Kiwis to experience sound on-the-go, setting a whole new standard in wearable audio. Perfect for travelling, exercising outdoors or just strolling around town – the Soundgear Frames are a comfortable new way to listen to your favourite music,” says Michael Sherman, Senior Strategy Manager at JBL New Zealand.

The JBL Soundgear Frames deliver an immersive and engaging sound experience while leaving your ears completely open, so you can still hear everything that’s happening around you.

Each arm of the Soundgear Frames cleverly conceals JBL’s unique ultra-thin high amplitude speaker, featuring a special algorithm for bass enhancement and frequency division processing. Whether you’re grooving to RnB, or prefer the upbeat tempo of EDM, the Soundgear Frames deliver your favourite tunes in high quality, thanks to JBL’s superior sound engineering.

Need to make a call on the go? The advanced beamforming 2-mic array on one temple, with dual-module environmental noise cancellation is perfect for making and taking calls, without needing to take your phone out of your pocket.

8 hours of playtime gives you music and calls throughout an entire day of work or fun. And if you need some more juice, a quick 10-minute charge gives you another 2 hours.

Not only are the JBL Soundgear Frames lightweight and comfortable enough to wear all day long, they’re also IP54 certified water resistant. Perfectly suited to New Zealand’s springtime weather, not even the rain can interrupt listeners enjoying their music through the Soundgear Frames.

Controlling the Soundgear Frames is a breeze. The JBL logo doubles as an easy-to-find control panel, giving you fast, accurate control of your favourite tunes. Use the JBL Headphones app on your device to tweak your sound and customise your gestures as you need. You can also select from six EQ presents or a fully customisable 10-band equaliser to adjust your music for your personal taste and listening preferences.

The durable, flexible, lightweight frames come in three translucent colours – Onyx, Pearl and Amber – with a choice of square or round frames to flatter all face shapes. The semi-transparent lenses feature UV A/B blocking, and you can also fit the Soundgear Frames with prescription lenses.

Stay connected, stay aware, and immerse yourself in legendary JBL sound quality with the JBL Soundgear Sense. Featuring JBL OpenSound Technology, the JBL Soundgear Sense introduces a breakthrough in audio technology by providing listeners with JBL’s Signature Sound quality while maintaining a natural connection to their surroundings.

With uniquely designed 16.2mm drivers and a bass-enhancing algorithm, JBL Soundgear Sense takes open-ear sound quality to the next level. Hear the world around you while enjoying every beat of your favourite tracks. Enjoy punchy bass and clear vocals from playlists and calls.

With unrivalled flexibility, the ear hooks offer rotation and size adjustments for truly personalised, all-day comfort. Designed to enhance your daily routine, the air conduction earbuds rest comfortably on the curve of your ears without obstructing the ear canal; they also use the unique design and shape to reduce sound leakage and protect your privacy. JBL Soundgear Sense ensures a secure yet relaxed fit for extended wear, making them ideal for outdoor activities, office use, or exploring the city.

In addition to delivering impressive sound, JBL Soundgear Sense boasts multi-point connectivity for seamless connections with all your devices. Switching and reconnecting is a thing of the past. With four integrated microphones, JBL Soundgear Sense delivers great call quality, no matter the environment. Seamlessly integrating into your active lifestyle, the IP54 rating guarantees resistance to sweat, dust, and rainfall. The detachable neckband provides an added level of security during those heavy workouts.

“Given the immense popularity of features like Ambient Aware in our True Wireless earbuds, we aimed to elevate this experience by designing a naturally open product that can still deliver a premium listening experience. Kiwis looking for a headphone that keeps them connected to their surroundings, especially while performing outdoor activities like running or cycling, will appreciate the functionality of the Soundgear Sense,” says Sherman.

The JBL Soundgear Sense is available now in white and black.

The post JBL launches Soundgear Frames & Soundgear Sense appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Fitbit has always been focused on helping make everyone in the world healthier.

Millions of people around the globe use Fitbit every day — from checking how well they slept to doing a workout or mindfulness session in our app.

Now they have shared their next generation of Fitbit wearables that combine Fitbit’s health and wellness tools with the smarts of Google — Inspire 3, Versa 4 and Sense 2. These devices are even thinner and more comfortable, so you can wear them all day and night, and you don’t have to charge them every day.

Whether you’re focused on improving your mental health, gearing up to run a marathon, or starting a new health and wellness routine, you have a range of easy-to-use devices to choose from. By giving you information about your body that otherwise wouldn’t be top of mind, like your resting heart rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2), sleep trends and body’s responses to stressors, you can better understand how to manage your holistic health. Here’s a look at how each device can fit your needs.

First up is the Inspire 3. A fun, easy-to-use tracker that helps you stay on top of your health with 10 days of battery life. It’s a great entry-level device with a rich colour display that can track important metrics at our most accessible price point.

Fitbit’s Versa 4 is a more fitness-focused smartwatch that offers over 40 exercise modes, real-time stats, built-in GPS and Active Zone Minutes, plus Premium features like Daily Readiness Score to help you reach your activity goals – all with 6 days of battery life in a thinner and lighter design.

And lastly the Fitbit Sense 2 is their most advanced health-focused smartwatch with more than six days of battery life that helps you manage stress and track your heart health with sensors that can detect signs of atrial fibrillation through our ECG app and PPG algorithm (both FDA cleared and CE marked), heart rate variability, skin temperature and more. It also includes our new Body Response sensor, which measures cEDA for all-day stress management.

Fitbit’s newest offerings are just the start of how they aim to help you uncover information to improve your overall health and wellness.

With the Fitbit app, you can stay motivated and on track with weekly and longitudinal stats about your activity, heart health, sleep and stress. Plus you can log your hydration, menstrual health, mood, nutrition and glucose levels all in one place. Seeing all of your metrics together can help you better understand how the actions you take each day can impact your well-being and make better decisions for your daily life.

You’ll also access important health features, including Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications, which uses our photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor to assess your heart rhythm for signs of atrial fibrillation or AFib, for users 22 years or older with no known history of irregular heart rhythm. This feature has both FDA clearance and CE marking, and it’s compatible with a range of our heart-rate enabled devices.

Fitbit Premium, which is included with all new device purchases for six months, takes your experience even further with additions like Daily Readiness Score and Sleep Profile to dive deeper into your stats and progress, and over 1,000 workout and mindfulness sessions to keep your mind and body active.

The new Fitbit lineup will be releasing September 2022.

The post New Fitbits for 2022! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

We’re very excited to share that Fitbit’s Electrocardiogram (ECG) App has received local regulatory clearance in New Zealand.

Unveiled in Fitbit’s recent product launch, the app will be available from today onwards to users on Fitbit Sense.

Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide, despite being one of the most preventable conditions. Many Kiwis would be shocked to learn that a New Zealander dies every 90 minutes from heart disease. With the ECG App, Kiwis can now assess their heart rhythm by measuring and recording the electrical activity of their heart via their Fitbit.

ECG tests help doctors detect heart problems, such as AFib. AFib is an electrical problem in the heart where the upper chambers, called the atria, beat erratically which causes the heart to beat in an irregular rhythm.

AFib affects more than 33.5 million people globally and increases the risk of serious heart conditions like stroke. Users can now hold their fingers to the stainless steel ring on their Fitbit while being still for 30 seconds to get a reading that they can download and share with their doctor to help detect such problems.

Fitbit is driven by the desire to make the world a healthier place, which includes heart health.

The launch of the ECG App marks an important milestone in helping Kiwi users achieve better outcomes for their overall health.

Fitbit Sense is available at selected retailers including JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Noel Leeming and Fitbit.com.

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The post Fitbit Receives Regulatory Clearance in NZ for ECG App appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

If there was ever a time to keep one’s health in check – it is this year.

2020 has seen a deadly epidemic spread around the global, infecting every nation and at the time of writing this, still is.

As we all scramble to keep ourselves safe, tech companies do their best to aide our wellbeing.

The only smartwatch manufacturer who has always had our best interests at their core is Fitbit.

Having just released their new range of Fitbit smartwatches for 2020, I received their new Fitbit Sense.

Fitbit smartwatches can connect to either Android or iOS (Apple).

Android used to be the less restrictive between the two mobile OS’ however Apple have improved after the last couple of years and using the Fitbit Sense on either was an almost similar experience.

Similar in size and shape, but slightly heavier than last years Fitbit Versa 2 the smartwatch is designed to be worn constantly.

The up to a week long battery ensures that it’s got you in check when you’re awake, when you’re at work, when your exercising, resting and sleeping.

Once I charged up to full (which took a whole 10 minutes – yep flat to full in 10 minutes) the Fitbit Sense and me became as one.

I was conscious that the battery had an approximate 7 day life. I suspected that with the amount of moving about from place to place that I do and the insane amount of notifications that I receive it may not be able to make that length of time before needing a charge up.

It did, actually it exceeded expectations. After one and a half weeks the Fitbit Sense’s battery died.

Notifications came through as expected with SMS’ appearing directly and other ones (such as emails) requiring me to swipe up to check.

The Fitbit Sense has a built-in mic. Here is where the Apple restrictions come in though. On Android I am able to speak in to the Sense, on iPhone I can answer the call but then need to grab my phone and speak to the caller there. Also on Android you can quick reply to messages – Apple says no to this.

Fitbit smartwatches are designed to keep tabs on your inner health. The Fitbit Sense will check and alert if there’s something not right with your heart bpm, it will keep tabs on your blood oxygen levels too and your breathing – in-fact this has been tweaked since the last Fitbit smartwatch releases for signs of Covid-19.

Aswell as all of this and a very in-depth sleep record which monitors your deep sleep time, R.E.M. to a granular level, the new Fitbit Sense will also monitor your skin temperature and stress levels via a on-wrist EDA Scan.

For the ladies, Fitbit Sense will track your menstrual cycles. To enact this you will need to record and log your cycle, then Fitbit sense app takes care of the rest and warns you when it your period is getting close, and irregularities and so on.

All of your vital stats are available from your wrist with swipe through menus. For a more detailed look and history, this is where you’ll need to open the Fitbit app on your smartphone. This is also where you can customize your Fitbit Sense with a vast library of watch faces, mostly all free.

Fitbit Sense is also designed to work with Spotify. Rock out while you tune out and control your music from the smartwatch.

The Fitbit Sense comes with one month free trial of Fitbit Premium. This is a subscription service where user generated content for workouts, diet and more are shared and accessible to all that have a subscription.

Without the subscription you can create your own goals and exercise regimes as you wish – including swimming as the Fitbit Sense is up to 50 meters water resistant (not salt water).

For those of us who have smarthomes with Google or Alexa, keep tabs on your favourite personal A.I. assistant on the go as Fitbit Sense is both Google Assistant and Alexa compatible.

Fitbit smartwatches are the only wearable that is solely focused on your personal health. It’s no addition as we see with others, the usual functionality of a smartwatch is the addition to their wearables where health and wellbeing takes prime place.

If you workout, if you have health conditions, or just want to keep track of your own personal wellbeing Fitbit Sense is the obvious choice.

Fitbit Sense is like having a personal medical, fitness coach and well being instructor with you at all times.

The post Fitbit Sense Smartwatch Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.