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How to bring DirectLife to a direct halt

Last updated on May 14, 2014

imageThose planning to start 2010 on the right foot connected to a healthier body may have been interested in one of the accelerometers married to a monitoring Web site such as the Fitbit or the Philips DirectLife. However, only one of those is currently available as production delays have plagued the Fitbit and the pre-order backlog is scheduled to start shipping again after the end of January.

Enter the DirectLife, which lacks the OLED display of the Fitbit but is waterproof; Philips claims you can even swim with it. The company has also integrated the services of human coaches to help motivate buyers to keep using the DirectLife device.

But their services cost $12.95 per month. What if you want to keep using the DirectLife without their counsel, simply uploading your activity and self-monitoring as you would with the Fitbit, or share the information with your own fitness counselor or coach or doctor? Too bad. If you stop paying the subscription price beyond the four months of service included with the price of the device, the little white gadget turns into a (rather ineffective judging by its bantam characteristics) paperweight, and you lose the ability to upload data.

It’s unfortunate that Philips didn’t take the Fitbit route and enable self-monitoring for free as the Nike+ site also offers, particularly in this emerging device category that faces competition from smartphones and particularly for a target customer who has no problems finding excuses.. If the counselors are good – Philips says they are pre-qualified and they’ve gotten some good early reviews – then their value should be manifest for those who want to take advantage of them after a trial.

One Comment

  1. Modimum Modimum January 2, 2010

    Glad you clarified just what you can do with one of these without a subscription. Nada… Nice.

    Funny – as a Sonicare user I received an email from Philips this morning, and after poking around online decided I’d rather go with the fitbit. Even with the wait.

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