Welcome to our new section, Weighing In… where we will take a look at gadgets and trends and let you know why you may or may not be interested. Though not intended as ironic, our inaugural gadget happens to be a scale…..

WiThings WiFi Body Scale

Cost: $159

Concept: This small “scale” will not only read your weight, but it will also calculate your BMI, body fat percentage and lean muscle mass percentage. Then it will connect with Twitter and publish your weight.

Pros:

  • Allows you to track your progress on a private web site and connect with others, in the event you are working with a support group to lose weight.
  • There is also “personalized multi-user monitoring” in the event more than one person is using the scale.

Cons:

  • Fat percentage is gauged by a method called bioelectrical impedance, which has many variables that effect accuracy. The very best method of establishing body fat percentage is a submersion tank.
  • Though the scale will establish your BMI (Body Mass Index), that is a less-than-perfect gauge of weight-related health as it doesn’t distinguish between “fat weight” and “muscle weight”.
  • Publish my weight on Twitter? Not an attractive option.

Verdict: A lot of bells and whistles for a scale. If it motivates people to team up to lose weight and track it over the internet, then I think it is a worthwhile investment. I would stick with a traditional scale and simply send my buddies an email.