tanita

CES: Tanita unveils wireless body fat monitor for kids

LAS VEGAS--Childhood obesity is a concern throughout most of the U.S., and yet most scales are not child-specific, nor do they take body fat measurements.

So Tanita's BF-2000 IronKids Wireless Body Fat Monitor, for children ages 5 to 17, is an intriguing concept. Just unveiled at CES this week, the monitor is set to be released in March for $150.

Company reps tell me the monitor uses alternating current signals to measure body impedance (a process known as biometric impedance) for body fat calculations. The whole process takes about three seconds for a reading.

Tanita is actually releasing … Read more

Measure the depth, quality of your sleep at night

This just in from Japanese health monitor manufacturer Tanita, a sensor mat that monitors the quality of your sleep.

The device is called Sleep Scan, and the idea is simple enough. Place the mat beneath your mattress and it tracks your body motion, breathing, and heart rate throughout to provide a sleep score.

Sleep Scan stores data on a secure digital high capacity (SDHC) card, and Tanita suggests that the 2GB SD card can store about 500 sleep cycles of data, unless you're like me and turn over like meat on a stick every five minutes, in which case … Read more

A scale for the Iron Man in your family

Those callous souls who gave their poor mums a Wii Fit for Mother's Day should take note: They can even the score between parents by giving a similarly subtle hint to dad this weekend. But why not be a little more creative?

Tanita is pushing its "BC-558 Tanita Ironman Segmental and Full Body Composition Monitor" as an ideal Father's Day gift. It's especially useful for those vain fathers who spend too much time at the gym and flexing in the bathroom mirror, because this scale measures the body by segments--as in arms, legs, and the … Read more

The Cadillac of kitchen scales

A few days ago we ran an item noting the faux pas of giving a Wii Fit as a Mother's Day gift and suggested sarcastically that a scale be included to round out the package (pun intended). Some disagreed with our post and, we fear, may actually make matters worse by doing just that.

For those misguided souls we have another unsolicited suggestion: Rather than a scale used to weigh Mom, here's one for the kitchen instead that's a little more subtle. Tanita's stainless steel KD-400 is supposedly the Cadillac of kitchen scales, "designed to … Read more

A machine that's worth its weight in fat

We should have seen this one coming after learning of Matsushita's plans to make slimmed-down massage chairs. Now another Japanese company has developed what appears to be the ultimate fat-analysis machine.

Tokyo-based Tanita--whose slogan is "the body fat experts"--has gone well beyond its bevy of smart scales to produce "a precise electronic, abdominal fat meter that can measure the amount of fat deep inside of you, even around your organs," according to Popgadget. The AB-101 does seem more civilized than being assaulted by those inhumane calipers, but it still looks like a cross between … Read more