Withings

Withings
Private
Industry Consumer electronics
Founded Issy-les-Moulineaux, France (June 2008)
Founder Eric Carreel
Frédéric Potter
Cédric Hutchings
Headquarters Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Number of employees
 20[1]
Website www.withings.com
Withings scale WS30

Withings is a consumer electronics company located in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. It was founded in June 2008 near Paris by three executives from the technology and telecom industry: Eric Carreel, co-founder of Inventel, and Sculpteo, Frédéric Potter, co-founder of Cirpack (both companies were bought by Technicolor SA in 2005), and Cédric Hutchings. Withings designs Internet-connected devices and describes its products as part of the Internet of Things.[2] In July 2013 Withings received $30 million investment from Bpifrance, Idinvest Partners, 360 CapitalPartners, and Ventech.

WiFi body scale

Withings' first product was the WiFi Body Scale, released in France in June 2009 and in the United States and Europe in September of the same year. The scale can measure both weight and fat mass and upload the data to the company's site over Wi-Fi. It also connects to various Health 2.0 services such as Google Health[3] and Microsoft HealthVault[4] as well as diet and exercise sites such as DailyBurn.[5] It received tech media coverage for its ability to Tweet the user's weight loss.[6][7][8][9] The company provides apps for accessing the scale data for Apple iOS, BlackBerry, and Android devices.

Other products

In September 2010, Withings received its first venture capital funding—US$3.8 million from Ventech, which Withings said would fund the development of the company's next two products.[1]

In January 2011, Withings announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that its second product would be a blood pressure monitor that connects to the iPhone.[10] There it also announced it will produce a baby monitor for use with smartphones and other connected devices which was made available to purchase in November 2011 across Europe and in February 2012 in the United States.[11]

At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in January, Withings unveiled its new product the world's first Internet Connected Baby and Toddler Scale which won a CES Innovations Award.[12] The Smart Baby Scale features two weighing configurations: the first is for weighing infants with a removable baby basket, and the second is the toddler scale that emerges once the baby basket is removed. Parents can access their child's weight readings from any connected device.[13]

Awards

Competitors

Direct competitors include BodyTrace, which makes a similar Internet-connected scale called the eScale, which uses GSM rather than WiFi to connect to the Internet.[18] iHealth Lab is another competitor that makes a competing iPhone-connectible blood pressure monitor.[19] Fitbit produces a range of wellness products: connected scales and different trackers with functions similar to the Pulse. Its online app enables data exchanges with the Withings one. Another competitor, focusing only on products with medical applications, is Qardio, they have a blood pressure monitor and a wearable ECG monitor.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Varza, Roxanne (2 September 2, 2010). "Withings scores 3 million euros for the tweeting wifi scale and more". TechCrunch. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ↑ "Withings - About - Vision".
  3. ↑ Golijan, Rosa (28 January 2010). "Withings Wi-Fi Scale Gets Creepier With Google Health Integration". Gizmodo.
  4. ↑ Sapieha, Chad (8 August 2010). "Keep track of personal stats with WiFi bathroom scale". The Globe and Mail.
  5. ↑ "DailyBurn Automatically Logs Weight/Bodyfat with New Internet-enabled Scales".
  6. ↑ Flatley, Joseph L. (11 November 2009). "Withings WiFi Body Scale integrates Twitter, launches in the US". Engadget.
  7. ↑ Sorrel, Charlie (11 November 2009). "Wi-Fi Scale Tweets Your Weight". Wired.
  8. ↑ Finley-Price, Wes (11 November 2009). "Wi-Fi scale tweets your weight loss (or gain)". CNN.
  9. ↑ Biggs, John (9 February 2010). "CrunchGear Reviews the Withings Tweeting WiFi Scale". TechCrunch.
  10. ↑ Murph, Darren (4 January 2011). "Withings fittingly debuts iPhone-connected blood pressure monitor at CES". Engadget.
  11. ↑ Baard, Mark (10 January 2011). "Baby monitor for iPhone provides pictures, too". The Boston Globe.
  12. ↑ "2012 Innovations Honorees".
  13. ↑ http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/withings-wifi-connected-baby-scale/
  14. ↑ "CES 2011: 2011 Innovations Honorees".
  15. ↑ Horwitz, Jeremy (January 7, 2011). "iLounge’s 2011 CES iPod, iPhone, iPad + Mac Best of Show Awards". iLounge.
  16. ↑ "Smartbabyphone, objet communicant grand public". APCI.
  17. ↑ "Withings, l'heureux gagnant de la catégorie Santé & Seniors". It'Night.
  18. ↑ "BodyTrace - eScale and Website".
  19. ↑ "iHealth Features".

External links