Kiwi Move lifestyle tracker aims to free people from their smartphones

Wearable technology was everywhere at last week’s Consumer Electronics Expo (CES), but there was one device that seemed to stand out for numerous tech journalists.

PC Mag, Gizmag and Mobile Syrup all sang the praises of the Kiwi Move lifestyle tracker as one of the most underrated and forward-thinking products of this year’s CES. If it works as promised, it could replace many of the fitness trackers currently flooding the market, plus some of the functions you’ve come to rely on your smartphone for.

Debuted at CES, the Kiwi Move is a small, approximately 1-inch square device that clips to your clothing and tracks an assortment of aspects of your life. It measures sleep, activity, and steps walked, much like the other fitness trackers from FitBit, Jawbone and Nike. But unlike the fitness trackers, the Kiwi Move features an open API that would allow it to control just about any device which can receive instructions from the Internet or a smartphone, CBC reports.

"It goes so much farther than activity tracking and glorified pedometers," Ashley Beattie, graduate of Hamilton's McMaster University and co-founder of Kiwi Wearable Technologies, told CBC. "These are little computers we're using to enhance our lifestyle."

Through WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, the Kiwi Move could control your lights, thermostat or coffee maker without you needing to think about it. The companion app for the device has you set simple “if [blank], then [blank]” commands to tell the device what it should be tracking and when. This could mean it starts tracking fitness stats when it detects that you’re at the gym, or to automatically set the thermostat down five degrees when you leave the house. Watch how it works in this video from Kiwi Wearables:

Kiwi Move’s anticipated launch in 2014 appears to be well timed, as this year seems to be shaping up to be the year of wearable tech. In a list of tech predictions released for the year ahead by Canadian consulting firm Deloitte today, wearable tech was ranked as the second most important to watch for this year:

"Global sales for all categories of wearable computers in 2014 will exceed $3 billion," Deloitte said in a press release. "Some wearable devices will be better positioned for success than others, with smart glasses likely to sell 4 million units at a price point of about $500, for a $2 billion market."

The Kiwi Move is available for pre-order now on the company website, http://kiwiwearables.com/, for $99. It is expected to ship July 2014.