San-Francisco-based Jawbone – a company best known to date for its Bluetooth headsets – has launched a health-monitoring wristband aimed at helping people live healthier lifestyles. The ‘UP’ band works in conjunction with an iPhone app to track daily activity, sleep patterns and eating habits. It uses the MotionX mobile sensing platform already used in solutions such as the Nike+ GPS.

The band automatically measures and stores activity such as steps, calories burned, distance, pace, and active versus inactive time throughout the day. It also tracks sleep (hours slept, time to fall asleep, phases of sleep etc.) and food intake.

"UP is Jawbone's first step in giving people tools to become engaged as consumers of their own health,” said Hosain Rahman, Jawbone CEO and Founder. “It's a complete system designed to integrate seamlessly into one's total lifestyle, 24 hours a day, not just the few times a week people may work out. We integrated MotionX with our expertise in building sophisticated technology into small packages, which enabled us to craft a wearable and power-efficient band that beautifully disappears onto your body.”

The UP band will be available initially in the US for US$99.99 via Jawbone’s own website and Apple, AT&T, Best Buy and Target stores nationwide from 6 November. It comes in three sizes (small, medium, large) and seven colours (Dark Black, Dark Brown, Dark Red, Bright White, Bright Silver, Bright Red, Bright Blue). The app is available for free from the Apple App Store.

The firm said that, in conjunction with the band, the UP app for iPhone will provide a “holistic view of your health.” It features a ‘Me’ screen to get “a quick snapshot of your daily activity, how you are sleeping, and what you are eating,” and a ‘Lifeline’ feature that shows all of your prior activities (eat, sleep, move) on a continuous timeline.