This month, Under Armour announced a full wearables portfolio to match its collection of聽fitness apps. The company's聽new聽hardgoods suite, called HealthBox, debuted at the聽Consumer Electronics show and includes a smart running shoe, and a聽heart-rate-monitor聽band,聽chest聽strap, and wireless headphones.听

The running shoe is what caught most people鈥檚 attention. Dubbed the , it costs $150 and can track run duration, splits, and distance鈥攁ll without your smartphone (unlike Nike+, which is just an app since they discontinued the hardware). You run, come home, connect to the Under Armour Record app,聽and聽the data will聽upload automatically. There鈥檚 no GPS聽and Under Armour聽isn鈥檛 talking about measuring stride and gait, but we figure that鈥檚 coming in a version down the road.听

The ($80) is straight forward and resembles all the other chest straps on the market. But the聽 ($180) is intriguing: Under Armour聽is marketing its ability to accurately track resting heart聽rate instead of activity-based heart-rate (for the latter you鈥檙e supposed to pair it with the chest strap for better accuracy).听Most fitness trackers measure聽resting heart rate because it's聽a good way to monitor stress,聽recovery, and general cardiac fitness, but few emphasize that ability.听Focusing on the need for a chest strap during real exercise is a good move (chest straps are still generally more accurate than聽wrist-based monitors), but it might dissuade buyers who want the convenience of just the band.听罢丑别听 ($250) also track heart聽rate: in my testing, I've found聽that heart-rate tracking headphones are almost as accurate as聽chest straps and much聽more accurate that watches.听听

Under Armour partnered with multi-billion dollar electronics giant Harman to build the headphones聽and cell maker HTC to build the band, which allowed the company聽to pump their trackers out quickly and ensure high-quality products right from the start.

The next logical step, of course, is for UA to start embedding fitness sensors in its clothing. No word on when that will happen, but we expect sometime soon.听

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Glue an action camera to your helmet and, if you crash, it could go through the lid like a rock through butter. Last spring, Sweet Protection announced its Grimnir, the first helmet certified to protect you from your action cam in a fall. And now a slew of other companies are following suit, with snowsports lids that let you capture video without compromising safety. 听听

BRG Sports, owner of both Giro and Bell, is set up to become a leader in this space. In December, the company announced it will embed cameras made by surround-view camera-maker 360Fly聽in the shells of its current helmets. Not only is the helmet built around the mount, the spherical camera has a lower profile than other action cams, which means it鈥檚 less likely to catch in case of a crash.听

For 2016, the tech will appear in Giro鈥檚 Edit snowsports helmet and a few motorcycle options from Bell.听

The 360Fly camera can shoot both 360-degree, 4K footage, as well as conventional 16×9 video. It pairs with , which lets users edits, upload, and share content from their cameras directly to social media. The camera also has a built in GPS chip, barometer and altimeter functions, and an accelerometer.听

The 360-degree footage could even help riders avoid accidents on the hill in the first place.听

The live-video feed features what 360Fly calls Proximity Detection, which can 鈥渘otify the rider of potential oncoming dangers that are outside the rider鈥檚 natural field of vision.鈥� That capability could be great for motorcyclists, giving them a version of the blind-spot-detection technology that鈥檚 already in many cars. In the next year, Giro and Bell plan to roll out the same technology in bike helmets. 鈥淲e鈥檙e most excited about applications that are not immediately apparent, including the use of 360-degree camera technology for the creation of a helmet that enables riders to have greater situational awareness,鈥� says Greg Shapleigh, vice president and general manager at Giro Sport Design.

All of which is very nifty. But we have at least one reservation, at least on the cycling front: weight.听

The 360Fly itself weighs about five ounces鈥攁bout the same as a GoPro Hero 4 with housing. Ditch the case of the 360Fly (by embedding its guts in a helmet) and we hope the whole device gets more balanced, so that you don鈥檛 notice any added heft to your helmet.

There鈥檚 no word on price yet, as the first products won鈥檛 debut until the 2016-2017 winter season.听

Still, we鈥檙e bullish. Embedding a camera within a helmet, rather than affixing it on top, will make skiers and riders safer. And it鈥檒l look a lot less dorky, too.听

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A couple of weeks ago,聽I stopped聽at outside San Luis Obispo to discuss upgrading my 1991 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia camper. Founded over a decade ago by a VW fanatic named Lucas Valdes, GoWesty鈥檚 46 employees have created a sort of ground zero for the #vanlife movement鈥攁 full-on skunkworks, with engine upgrades, suspension components, electronic and liveability innovations unimagined when VW鈥檚 American campers were still rolling off the assembly line more than a decade ago. Drooling over a mud-splattered, 25-year-old, four-wheel-drive Syncro Westy they were working on, I asked project manager Ted Ingle about reports that VW planned to unveil a new camper van at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a little nervous about it honestly,鈥� he replied.

I could see why. Volkswagen hasn鈥檛 sold campers in the United States since 2003. No other American manufacturer has offered a van camper with a classic poptop, either (a poptop is the sleeping area that pops out of the top of the van and allows you to stand up to cook breakfast or change into a wetsuit). Americans have thus held onto their VW鈥檚, relying on vendors like GoWesty to keep them alive. In other cases they鈥檝e migrated to expensive 聽or a small handful of options from聽other manufacturers.

Flash forward to this week.听Having now seen the Budd-e, which was unveiled Tuesday, I鈥檓 guessing Ingle has breathed a sigh of relief. Despite VW press releases and a slick retro video proclaiming the dawn of a new camper or Microbus, the VW Budd-e is positively neither.

So what is it? Well, judging by VW鈥檚 , it鈥檚 an electrified cross between a Honda Element, Kia Soul, Tesla, an iPad, and . It鈥檚 cute in a futuristic iMac meets Tron sort of way, with sweeping, sturdy lines, neon and LED light bars, and a cool slide-out rear storage area. There鈥檚 a ton of interior room,聽thanks to a floor-level mounted battery pack that also gives a super low center of gravity and promises upwards of 300 miles on a charge. It will feature all wheel drive, thanks to electric motors front and back, and it looks like it may even have鈥攐r have room for鈥攁 solar panel in the roof. There are聽serious safety features, too, including a high-resolution camera and a Star Wars-esque 3D-map-based collision avoidance system.

In the driver鈥檚 seat, it鈥檚 a technological tour de force as well. You just聽swipe at the air for a door handle, and, thanks to ludicrous connectivity with the so-called Internet of Things, Budd-e will let me monitor my front-door camera聽and unlock the door for friends聽if I鈥檓 not home. One spokesman for LG聽described the following scenario. 鈥淵ou get into your car, your home will go into 鈥榓way鈥� mode, putting appliances into eco-friendly modes and activating the security system. The home will be ready for your return by understanding the time of arrival through the car鈥檚 navigation system. It will be the perfect temperature, your favorite music will be playing and your robot vacuum cleaner will have run.鈥�

In short, Budd-e could be the Big Brother you never had.

But here鈥檚 the thing: While Budd-e might be a game changer in the world of electric transportation, it鈥檚 a disappointment to VW lovers like me who hoped for a simple, functional, iconic people-mover that actually hearkened back to VW vans of the past. Back in 2001, VW perfectly captured this retro-future aesthetic when it unveiled an updated聽 concept. To the disappointment of millions, that van was canceled.听Budd-e seems to mark VW鈥檚 final exit from the traditional camper van market here in the U.S.听(You can still buy a regular old camper van like they've always made in Europe.)

I, along with many people, love VW vans of the past because they were built on the promise of freedom, self-reliance, adventure, and the wonders of the world beyond the windshield. Models like the Microbus and Vanagon were engineered with particular brilliance鈥攖heir cab-forward designs featured cavernous interiors and seats that turned into comfy beds. Plus, they were easy to fix. The best models,聽of course, were the campers that offered rotating seats, a stove, sink, refrigerator and that iconic poptop bed. These vehicles were infused with the soul of their sandal-wearing, backpack-toting Teutonic designers. Across the pond, they would come to personify America鈥檚 own wanderlust, inspiring a fierce devotion, hell,聽an entire movement, that grows to this day. Budd-e unfortunately聽offers none of these things, and likely never will.

Chris Dixon is the author of . He鈥檚 owned five VW vans and has written about them for 国产吃瓜黑料 and The New York Times.听听

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According to sales numbers, Fitbit bested Apple last year to remain the top fitness wearable in聽the market: through the third quarter of 2015, Fitbit delivered 4.7 million devices compared to Apple鈥檚 3.9 million, .听

Now the company wants to step up its style game.听, which debuted Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show, looks less like a sportsband and more like a timepiece, an obvious move to attract buyers who want to wear their devices beyond聽the gym.听Apple鈥檚 beautiful聽Watch shook up the wearable world when it went on sale last spring, competing head-to-head with models from companies like Garmin, Sunnto, Polar, LG, and Fitbit. Garmin鈥檚 wearable sales alone sunk from about seven percent of the market last year at this time to about four percent. Whatever might be said about the Watch (short battery life and limited fitness functions) it鈥檚 supremely wearable.听

The thing is, our聽early look at the Blaze, which goes on sale this spring, is promising.听The device聽gets a color touchscreen,聽with three side buttons to control it,聽mounted on a slim chassis. That touchscreen鈥檚 usability is key, as tabbing through menus via buttons is onerous. It keeps the continuous heart-rate monitoring of Fitbit鈥檚 other top-end models.听As with the Apple Watch, users can swap the Blaze鈥檚 band, with options including聽a silicon rubber sport strap ($30), a leather strap ($100), and a metal bracelet ($130).听It's water resistant, which basically means it's splash-proof. Fitbit is offering the Blaze in three sizes: small, large, and extra-large.听

A few other cool tech upgrades include: the Blaze鈥檚 ability to automatically track exercise (with the Apple Watch, users must start a workout); sleep tracking (although there鈥檚 debate over how useful this is); and GPS聽when paired with a smartphone. There鈥檚 also text-message forwarding (but no capability to聽reply to messages) and music control.听

Our big gripe: Lack of memory space. Unlike the Watch, the Blaze doesn鈥檛 have enough memory for onboard music storage or third-party apps (think Strava). It can guide you through Fitbit鈥檚 own , but if you want something more specialized, look elsewhere.听Finally,聽the price is right: $200.听As comparison, the Watch starts at聽$349.

Investor concerns aside, this is a damn good watch. Whether it can compete in Apple's territory聽remains to be seen.听

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Improving your posture is key to becoming a better runner. Trouble is, that's not easy to do unless you have a coach. Lumo (creator of聽the ) wants聽to fix that problem with its new line of workout wear.听

The clothing, which includes a set of tights for women ($169) and shorts for men ($149), is embedded聽with a 聽at the base of your spine聽that's about the size of an energy gel. The sensor constantly measures聽metrics, such as聽the rotation of your pelvis and the up and down movement of your torso. With this data,聽it can watch for聽things pelvic drop (which tells聽you if you slouch or have tight hips)聽and bounce (how much time you spend going up and down versus聽forward). The clothing analyzes those聽numbers, then聽provides live coaching聽via the smartphone app and Bluetooth headphones. If you鈥檇 rather run in peace,聽the clothing has onboard memory,聽so you can eyeball how to improve your form after each effort.听听

While I鈥檝e disliked other sensor-laden clothing I鈥檝e tested, mainly because of bulky batteries and clunky apps, Lumo seems to have addressed those聽complaints. The data its clothing provides is useful to聽any runner聽and its data-delivery system is smart. And the stuff is actually comfortable: Lumo collaborated聽with 聽(Lululemon鈥檚 manufacturer) on聽fit and design聽and with聽聽(which聽has worked with Apple and聽other tech leaders)聽on hardware.听鈥淭echnology is most successful when it鈥檚 invisible and fits with everyday life or habits,鈥� says Monisha Perkash, Lumo鈥檚 CEO. 鈥淲e鈥檙e used to wearing clothes. So we believe the future is integration.鈥�

Both Lumo pieces will run for a聽month on one charge and can be washed聽with the battery in place. As far as I know, it's the only smart聽clothing with that capacity. If all these details hold true when the products launch in March, Lumo could be the first brand that聽gives us what we want from wearable tech: barely-there awareness of gadgetry, but聽insights that let us reach our full fitness potential.

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We鈥檝e written about the Recon Jet. And on Monday, Massachusetts-based electronics company Kopin that could make smart sunglasses鈥攚hich tend to be bulky, awkward, and hideous鈥攎uch more wearable.听

Now, Garmin鈥檚 getting into the game, too, with its , a device that clips onto bike glasses to display data from the brand鈥檚 Edge computer.听

The one-ounce Varia Vision weighs about half of the Recon Jet and it鈥檚 much smaller, thanks to the fact that its computing horsepower is managed by the Edge. The device can clip to either the left or right temple of any pair of shades, a big advantage for Garmin, as it let buyers effectively turn whatever sunglasses they want into a heads-up display. The one-size- and one-look-fits-all approach of the Jet, and Google Glass, is a weakness of both products.听

The Varia Vision fires off turn-by-turn navigation in your field of vision (so you鈥檙e not gazing down at a computer screen), and pairs with Garmin鈥檚 Varia rearview radar聽to warn you of incoming traffic.听It鈥檒l also alert you of calls or texts, bounced via Bluetooth from a paired phone. All your usual cycling metrics will be visible and customizable, too. Like the Recon Jet, users control the device via a tiny touch pad on the body: swipe for menu changes and tap to select sub-menu options.听Garmin claims Varia Vision has eight hours of battery life and is fully weatherproof.听

The device goes on sale this spring for $400. Add in the cost of an Edge bike computer and the聽Varia radar and you鈥檙e looking at near $1,000 for the whole system, so we anticipate Garmin bundling packages to reduce costs.听

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Most heart-rate monitors聽capture just聽some聽of your heart beats,聽then create an average to provide workout data. That system聽works just fine for training, but Qardio wants to make it even more accurate with its new聽,聽which captures every single beat,聽plus your respiration rate (how fast you breathe in and out),聽giving users a much more robust way to measure how their heart responds to exercise.

It's so good that聽the聽chest strap has pending* FDA approval:聽which means the data could聽be used by doctors to give wearers medical advice. It's the first step toward bringing high-level heart-rate monitoring聽to people outside of a lab setting.听鈥淲e see how your heart is responding to the workload at a lab-quality level,鈥� says Alexis Zervoglos, Qardio鈥檚 chief business officer.

Theoretically, all this additional information will help amateur聽athletes build better workouts. For example, with the ability to track聽every heartbeat and their聽respiration rates, users聽can measure their聽V02 max聽much more accurately. Users can also watch聽how quickly聽their heart rate returns聽to normal after exercise鈥攌ey in determining proper聽recovery.听What's not clear yet is whether Qardio's companion app will be robust enough to help users聽parse all this info聽without the help of a trainer.听

In addition to heart-rate, the Core聽uses an accelerometer and gyro聽to watch聽running form (are you slouching?) and measure聽cadence. The same sensors also monitor oscillation聽(to optimize stride length), and respiration and stress聽levels.听There鈥檚 onboard memory, too,聽so you can exercise without bringing your phone along, and the battery's good for up to two days.

Price still hasn't been announced, but our guess is that it will be competitive聽with the highest-end trackers from companies like聽Polar,聽Garmin, and聽Suunto. At 7.3聽inches wide,聽3.4聽inches high, and a half-inch thick, it's bigger than most heart-rate chest straps. But when I tried it on at聽CES this week, I聽found it surprisingly comfortable.听

Bottom line: This much data is likely overkill unless you're training hard. But if you are looking to fine-tune a fitness plan, it would聽be a very valuable tool.听

*This story has been updated to reflect a change about FDA approval.

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There are a lot of drones at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show. So many, in fact, that they warrant their own UAV section. But the most compelling drone we saw was the , a $500 unit with pro-level functions.

First, like a doggedly persistent pet, it follows you everywhere. Its job is to film you doing awesome things鈥攏o cameraperson needed. How this works is the really cool part. Most similar systems rely on a signal from another device (say, your smartphone), but interference or a dead battery can sever the connection.

Trace had a better idea. To set up the FLYR1, the user takes a selfie that the drone鈥檚 1080p camera then encodes. Once the photo is stored in its memory, you become the drone鈥檚 master and it identifies you as 国产吃瓜黑料 Film Subject-in-Chief.

The FLYR1 also has an auto-return system. When its batteries are low, it will fly back to the spot you designated as 鈥渉ome.鈥� One less issue for you to worry about as you capture awesome action footage.

Speaking of footage, once you鈥檙e done filming, the FLYR1 streams the video to your phone. (If you have a strong enough signal, you can also livestream your footage directly to the web.)

Of course, maybe only one tiny portion of your downhill run was sick鈥攖he rest was kind of lame. That鈥檚 okay, because the FLYR1 can automatically create your own personal highlight reel comprised of the best footage. How? The drone has an auto-learn function that measures ascent and descent speed, acceleration, and more, and it uses that data to pinpoint鈥攁nd film鈥攖he moments when you鈥檙e kicking ass. At least that鈥檚 what Trace claims. If the function works as intended, it will drastically reduce editing time.

Battery life will initially be limited to 30 minutes, says Trace. But the batteries will be removable, so you can hot swap to keep the party going. Because Trace views FLYR1 as a stepping-stone, it鈥檚 also anticipating ways to change perspectives. For example, a flyer could use a device to tell the drone to follow him from a greater height (good for mountaineering and climbing). Trace is also working on a way to program multiple drones to follow a single user at once.

One final point: Trace says its neither a camera company nor a drone company. It鈥檚 a content company. (That should sound familiar to devotees of GoPro Founder and CEO Nick Woodman.) Trace is working on other platforms as well, from auto-follow RC cars and skateboarders to a submersible called the Divr. And, of course, it鈥檚 partnering with fitness app makers to develop software to overlay health data (heart rate, watts, pace, etc.) over video.

The FLYR1 will be available late summer.

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It seems like a new fitness tracker comes out every day, rendering the one on your wrist obsolete. Magellan鈥檚 Echo Fit aims to combat that planned obsolescence. 聽

The ($129.99, or $179.99 with Bluetooth Smart heart-rate monitor) is designed to evolve with the fitness apps it uses. Essentially it acts as a face for compatible fitness apps (the company signed up 20 as of this writing, and aims to grow that number soon). Data from those apps appears on the Echo Fit鈥檚 screen so you don鈥檛 have to whip out your phone every time you want to check speed or distance. The idea is the Echo Fit, like your smartphone, will get more advanced as the apps evolve. 聽

It currently works with popular sport apps including聽, , , Jog Note, , , , , , , , and . Magellan is also working to sign up a few ski apps.

You鈥檒l need your smartphone with you to make the Echo Fit work, which is one potential downside of the system. But we鈥檙e still fans. In on-the-floor demonstrations, both Wahoo Fitness and Strava apps synced seamlessly to the smartwatch. I could start, stop, and pause my workout and access real-time data鈥攁ll without touching my phone.

The app makers are even able to design an interface specifically for the Echo Fit, so the watch changes its look as you change apps. It can also display incoming texts and call data, show emails, send Facebook alerts, and more.

We dig that the Echo Fit uses a coin-cell battery, so it doesn鈥檛 need to be recharged constantly. The device can also pair with a heart-rate belt and capture that data鈥攔egardless of whether or not you run with an app that syncs heart rate. Available by early spring.

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The Consumer Electronics Show proves that wearables are getting more pervasive and more immersive, with brand-new 360-degree cameras and sensors that monitor your heart rate 24/7. Here are some of our favorite new wearables for 2015.

Fitlinxx Ampstrip Glue-On Heart-Rate Monitor ($150)

This little paste-on heart rate monitor was one of the most interesting devices at the show. Smaller than a dollar bill and only a few business cards thick, it鈥檚 designed to stick to your rib cage and provide constant heart rate monitoring. The company claims you鈥檒l forget you鈥檙e wearing it. The Fitlinxx Ampstrip is made of a super-flexible rubber with an adhesive backing that wears off after about five days, when you鈥檒l replace it with a new one. Officially available in May, you can also get one in March on 聽for $119.

Gymwatch Coach ($199)

Germany’s claims it can prevent bad gym form. Strap it on your arm or leg, and the watch鈥檚 memory鈥攍oaded with more than 900 exercises鈥攁utomatically detects which workout you鈥檙e doing. Its accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer record your motion, then an iOS or Android app coaches you with audio and visual prompts.

While Gymwatch is debuting as a self-coach for strength-training workouts, it has an open interface, which means other developers can design new software to analyze an athlete鈥檚 form while skiing, surfing, swimming, and more.

Bragi Dash Tracker-Earbud-MP3 Hybrid (Preorder for $299)

罢丑别听 is part fitness tracker, part earbud, and part MP3 player. The wireless buds nest comfortably in your ear (during our brief look at CES, no amount of jumping could jar them free) and track everything from pace and distance to heart rate and oxygen saturation.

Bragi is focused on not just step counting but also interpreting data. Sensors detect聽heart rate as well as blood oxygen levels, which, according to the company, allows the Dash to determine when you鈥檝e gone from an aerobic to anaerobic state. It鈥檒l also coach you to slow down (depending on your workout goal). The Dash could even be customized to the wearer. Because it contains accelerometers, the earbuds can send information to the wearer based on where you鈥檙e looking. Gaze at the sky and get a weather report. Gaze at your shoes and hear a report on cadence, split, and pace. And this is just the tip of where Bragi鈥檚 going. Delivery begins in April.

360fly Camera ($499)

Surround video is all the rage this year. We like the 360fly, which weighs just 138 grams and easily fits in the palm of your hand.

The uses a single hemispherical聽camera, rather than three; this allowed the company to reduce size, weight, and processing capabilities. (Surround cameras that use three cameras rely on software to autostitch the images together.) The company embedded a patented multiaxis accelerometer in the camera, effectively giving it the potential to be a little fitness tracker. Expect to see developers overlay fitness data on the 360fly video at some point.

To watch 360-degree immersive video, you need either virtual reality goggles (like Oculus Rift) or at least more ways to easily upload the footage to sites like Instagram.听Available for pre-order today, the camera will be released this spring.

Cycliq Updated Fly 6 and Fly 12 Bike Lights (From $249)

first integrated a camera into a bicycle taillight with its Fly 6 ($249). The camera-light hybrid debuted with a wide field of view that washed out at the edges, which wasn鈥檛 all that useful when it came to reviewing license plate numbers of the car that buzzed the rider. The updated Fly 6, on the other hand, captures a narrower, sharper field of view. Run time, at more than five hours, is also exceptional.

The company also released a front light called the Fly 12 ($399) that shoots five hours of 1080p video. (You鈥檒l get an even longer recording time if you run it without the 400-lumen light.) Cycliq has added overlaid guidelines to the video that show how close a rider is to the edge of the road鈥攐r how close a driver came to hitting the cyclist.

For bragging rights, users can overlay Strava data directly over the video. Available in November, but you can .

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