Worth the Weight

Photo courtesy of Wahoo Fitness

WIRED

Measures BMI as well as weight. Logs weigh-ins for up to 16 different users, and internal memory stores data even when their iOS devices are not present. App tracks each person’s progress toward meeting each one’s preset weight goal via time-based charts. Bluetooth pairing happens in-app. Nice glass look.

TIRED

Somewhat pricey, after all, for its simple task. Weight range is used to identify each individual, so multiple users within the same weight range need to identify themselves. Basic app, and it’s iOS only — an iPhone 4S, a 3rd gen iPad, or a 5th gen iPod Touch or later is required.

It used to be simple to weigh myself. I’d climb on my bathroom scale and my current weight (let’s not talk about it) would appear in an inch-wide window.

But times have changed. Now when I stand on a scale, I see not only my weight but also my body mass index (BMI) score, both displayed on a comparatively large 3-inch LCD screen. My scale also connects wirelessly to my smartphone, where an app keeps track of my pound-reduction progress (or lack thereof) by automatically generating charts and graphs.

It’s not that Wahoo Fitness’ Balance Smartphone Scale is any more difficult to use than a regular scale. It works as expected — just step on it. And at $80, it’s not too outrageously priced. It’s just that there’s more data generated, and there are more ways to study and dissect said data. That makes tracking your weight — and your progress losing it or gaining it — more accessible, provided you’re OK with relying on technology even more than you already are for your health routine.

We’ve seen several of these Wi-Fi-enabled and Bluetooth-enabled scales recently. They pair with your smartphone and talk to an app, a social network, or a cloud-based service (or all three) to help you track your body stats. Withings makes a good one, as do Fitbit and other health-tracking product manufacturers. Wahoo’s scale is intriguing because it has a couple of features that make the scale very easy to use. First, there’s the app itself (which is iOS only for now). The scale and the phone sync to each other via Bluetooth, but the pairing happens directly through the app, not in the iPhone’s Bluetooth menu.

Also, there’s no need to schlep your iPhone or iPad into the bathroom to sync your weight and BMI measurements to the app. Each time you step on the scale, your stats I are shown on the LCD display and also locked into the scale’s internal memory. So if your phone isn’t near the scale, your weigh-in gets saved, and the next time you open the phone app within the scale’s range, any weights saved on the scale automatically get mass-uploaded to your phone.

The Balance can save the results of up to 130 weigh-ins and allows for up to 16 different user profiles. Profile setup is simple. First, you enter your identifying initials and your current weight range, your goal weight, and your height, which is needed to calculate your BMI. The weight range is used to identify the particular user, and the scale will automatically recognize the particular person who steps on the scale and display their initials on the LCD screen. If two or three people using the scale fall within the same weight range, they’re out of luck — the scale won’t be able to recognize which user it is, and the weighee will have to manually select their profile if their weigh-in is to be properly logged. This can be a pain for users who live with somebody possessing a similar body type if they both want to use the scale.

If this is a deal-breaker, I would suggest checking out the Healthometer Body Fat Scale. At half the price, it measures and maintains a progress record of body fat percentage, BMI, hydration, and bone mass for up to four individuals. There’s no app, so you don’t get any of the charts or graphs unless you make them yourself, but you don’t need a smartphone to use it.

Wahoo’s scale performed well in my tests. Whenever my phone was within 30 feet of the scale, the scale’s Bluetooth indicator appeared, even when the app wasn’t open. Launching the app, I got an immediate readout of each weight along with a cumulative date-based table showing the day-to-day changes. Since it uses the latest Bluetooth spec, it’s capable of operating at very low power — it runs on only two AAA batteries. Also, I like the look of it. It’s an unobtrusive 13-inch square of clear glass on top of a white plastic foundation. There are no visibile buttons, just one switch on the belly that toggles between pounds and kilogram readouts.

The Balance works with a number of other apps, though none offer much more than the Wahoo Wellness app, which is already pretty basic. But if you want to share your weight with others like a coach or a “fitness buddy,” the scale can upload your data automatically to registered accounts at MyFitnessPal. Of course after I let the Balance measure my BMI for a week, I’m not quite ready to share. That would be TMI.

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Worth the Weight

Photo courtesy of Wahoo Fitness

WIRED

Measures BMI as well as weight. Logs weigh-ins for up to 16 different users, and internal memory stores data even when their iOS devices are not present. App tracks each person’s progress toward meeting each one’s preset weight goal via time-based charts. Bluetooth pairing happens in-app. Nice glass look.

TIRED

Somewhat pricey, after all, for its simple task. Weight range is used to identify each individual, so multiple users within the same weight range need to identify themselves. Basic app, and it’s iOS only — an iPhone 4S, a 3rd gen iPad, or a 5th gen iPod Touch or later is required.

It used to be simple to weigh myself. I’d climb on my bathroom scale and my current weight (let’s not talk about it) would appear in an inch-wide window.

But times have changed. Now when I stand on a scale, I see not only my weight but also my body mass index (BMI) score, both displayed on a comparatively large 3-inch LCD screen. My scale also connects wirelessly to my smartphone, where an app keeps track of my pound-reduction progress (or lack thereof) by automatically generating charts and graphs.

It’s not that Wahoo Fitness’ Balance Smartphone Scale is any more difficult to use than a regular scale. It works as expected — just step on it. And at $80, it’s not too outrageously priced. It’s just that there’s more data generated, and there are more ways to study and dissect said data. That makes tracking your weight — and your progress losing it or gaining it — more accessible, provided you’re OK with relying on technology even more than you already are for your health routine.

We’ve seen several of these Wi-Fi-enabled and Bluetooth-enabled scales recently. They pair with your smartphone and talk to an app, a social network, or a cloud-based service (or all three) to help you track your body stats. Withings makes a good one, as do Fitbit and other health-tracking product manufacturers. Wahoo’s scale is intriguing because it has a couple of features that make the scale very easy to use. First, there’s the app itself (which is iOS only for now). The scale and the phone sync to each other via Bluetooth, but the pairing happens directly through the app, not in the iPhone’s Bluetooth menu.

Also, there’s no need to schlep your iPhone or iPad into the bathroom to sync your weight and BMI measurements to the app. Each time you step on the scale, your stats I are shown on the LCD display and also locked into the scale’s internal memory. So if your phone isn’t near the scale, your weigh-in gets saved, and the next time you open the phone app within the scale’s range, any weights saved on the scale automatically get mass-uploaded to your phone.

The Balance can save the results of up to 130 weigh-ins and allows for up to 16 different user profiles. Profile setup is simple. First, you enter your identifying initials and your current weight range, your goal weight, and your height, which is needed to calculate your BMI. The weight range is used to identify the particular user, and the scale will automatically recognize the particular person who steps on the scale and display their initials on the LCD screen. If two or three people using the scale fall within the same weight range, they’re out of luck — the scale won’t be able to recognize which user it is, and the weighee will have to manually select their profile if their weigh-in is to be properly logged. This can be a pain for users who live with somebody possessing a similar body type if they both want to use the scale.

If this is a deal-breaker, I would suggest checking out the Healthometer Body Fat Scale. At half the price, it measures and maintains a progress record of body fat percentage, BMI, hydration, and bone mass for up to four individuals. There’s no app, so you don’t get any of the charts or graphs unless you make them yourself, but you don’t need a smartphone to use it.

Wahoo’s scale performed well in my tests. Whenever my phone was within 30 feet of the scale, the scale’s Bluetooth indicator appeared, even when the app wasn’t open. Launching the app, I got an immediate readout of each weight along with a cumulative date-based table showing the day-to-day changes. Since it uses the latest Bluetooth spec, it’s capable of operating at very low power — it runs on only two AAA batteries. Also, I like the look of it. It’s an unobtrusive 13-inch square of clear glass on top of a white plastic foundation. There are no visibile buttons, just one switch on the belly that toggles between pounds and kilogram readouts.

The Balance works with a number of other apps, though none offer much more than the Wahoo Wellness app, which is already pretty basic. But if you want to share your weight with others like a coach or a “fitness buddy,” the scale can upload your data automatically to registered accounts at MyFitnessPal. Of course after I let the Balance measure my BMI for a week, I’m not quite ready to share. That would be TMI.

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Tinder May Not Be Worth $5B, But It’s Way More Valuable Than You Think

Photo Illustration: WIRED

Word that IAC reportedly spent $500 million to buy another 10 percent stake in Tinder, the popular dating app, was met by most of the tech world with a healthy dose of skepticism. After all, could a site that’s just 20 months old with no revenue model to speak of really be worth $5 billion?

The answer, of course, was no. Shortly after Bloomberg reported the story Friday, Sam Yagan, CEO of IAC’s Match Group, which includes IAC’s online dating companies, told Forbes that while he could confirm a deal was made, “this valuation is nowhere near the truth.” Tinder, for its part, has declined to comment.

To be sure, $5 billion is an insane number. According to the market research company IBISWorld, the entire online dating industry is just $2 billion. In order to be worth more than the entire industry and then some, Tinder would have to do a whole lot more than give its dating app away for free. But the suggestion that Tinder isn’t worth anything because it has no revenue model, is just as far off base. Tinder, with its 10 million active daily users, is fundamentally changing the way that a massive number of people behave, and as a result, it’s probably worth a whole lot more than you think.

Full disclosure: I met my boyfriend on Tinder. But while you might think that colors my view of the situation, it also gives me unique insight into where Tinder succeeds and other dating sites fail. It starts with effort. Tinder requires next to none. Sign up with your Facebook account, look through other users’ photos, swipe right if you think someone’s cute, and left if you don’t. If you both swipe right, congratulations! You can start chatting. If you don’t, no harm. The other party never got notified that you expressed interest, anyway. In other words, Tinder eliminates the fear of rejection.

“Tinder’s really doing something that has been the Holy Grail for online dating: it becomes fun,” says Mark Brooks, a consultant to the Internet dating industry.

Other sites like OKCupid and Match.com have never been able to hack the rejection problem. They haven’t simplified the process much, either, still prompting users to fill out those long and antiquated dating surveys. The process is a drag. Rejection is disappointing. And the fact that you’re doing it anyway only plays into the lonely stereotype that the online dating industry has had such a tough time shrugging off.

Tinder has made the difficult process of meeting a total stranger seamless, exciting, and perhaps most importantly, mainstream. It’s not uncool to scroll through Tinder with friends, and your non-single friends are all dying to “play” for you. It may be the first dating technology that people in relationships actually wish they needed.

It’s also important to remember that the app has a stellar user interface. It takes sophisticated technology to make something so simple. If IAC sees use cases for that technology in some of its other companies, that makes Tinder an even more precious asset.

So the fact that IAC would dedicate a sizable chunk of money to keep Tinder close, revenue or no revenue, is not all that surprising. Match.com, Brooks notes, has reached a point at which it can only really grow through acquisition or by targeting audiences that would never join dating sites to begin with. Tinder users, many of whom would scoff at “real” online dating, are one such audience.

“IAC’s not valuing Tinder based on what it’s worth. They’re valuing it based on what they’ll lose if they don’t own it,” says Brooks. “If Tinder can own mobile and own the younger demographic, then IAC is owning the future with Tinder. It’s an international phenomenon.”

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