You can’t measure what you can’t track
By Lawrence I. Charters
October 20, 2012
The Aria Smart Scale allows you to not only weigh yourself, but keep track of the results. Rather than rely on your memory or the vagaries of notes scattered all around, the Aria scale transmits your weight, via Wi-Fi, to the Fitbit Web site, where you can securely (and privately) track your weight, and also see the results posted on your iPhone or iPad. The same Web-based or iOS-based application also keeps track of your activity, as recorded by the Fitbit Ultra wireless tracker. Both devices can also sync up with Microsoft’s HealthVault (if you so desire).
As a result, the next time you go to see your physician, you can provide mountains of information on your activity level and weight. Fitbit also allows you to selectively share this information with friends, for those who feel competitive.
The Fitbit Web client sometimes needs to be reset, and the iOS client seems a bit tardy in picking up measurements, but these are annoyances rather than fatal flaws. All in all, the Area scale is a splendid piece of technology, especially when combined with the Ultra activity tracker.
Update
A recent network change required that I re-register the Fitbit Aria with my Wi-Fi network. Unfortunately, this requires using not only an iOS app, but the Fitbit website, and the URL built into the process is unencrypted — and won’t work with modern networks or browsers. This effectively kills the use of the “smart” features of the scale, as it can no longer talk to anything else.
Fitbit, so far, has been silent on the subject.