Jawbone手環：運動好伙伴

????UP手環與其他同類產品相比最大優勢在于設計。它看起來更像首飾，而不是笨重的健身設備。無論在產品質量還是設計上，UP手環都繼承了Jawbone一貫的優點，而Jawbone正是靠這些贏得了無數贊譽。

????更重要的是，UP手環是Jawbone進軍新領域的重要產品，同時也是Jawbone為打造其產品生態系統而邁出的重要一步。紐約咨詢公司Caffeine的首席執行官迪恩?卡拉奇菲爾德稱：“我最喜歡Jawbone產品的設計，真的非常出色。而且它們源自美國軍方，很有悍馬之類的風格，是正統產品。這些因素為Jawbone的產品帶來了光環效應，使他成為了一家‘酷型’產品提供商。”

????在公司剛起步時，Jawbone（當時叫“Aliph”）為美國軍方下屬研究機構——美國國防部高級研究計劃局開發了一項噪音抑制技術。不過拉赫曼和Jawbone的另一位創始人亞歷山大?阿塞利發現了公司業務在個人消費市場的潛力，于是他們在2006年發布了第一款Jawbone藍牙耳機，由瑞士工業設計師和Jawbone首席創意官伊夫?比哈爾聯袂打造。Jawbone是一家私營企業，目前并未公布銷售數據。

????UP手環能否成功的關鍵在于消費者是否接受99美元的售價。一方面，UP手環的售價和Jawbone的頂級產品不相上下；另一方面，一些消費者也許并不認可99美元的價格，因為很難界定UP手環的產品門類。消費者是否喜歡UP應用程序的用戶界面也是一個未知數。卡拉奇菲爾德稱：“用戶界面首次真正成為決定一個品牌成敗的關鍵。”

????然而，看空Jawbone可能非明智之舉。Jawbone已經開發出了諸多其它公司沒有想到的熱門產品。現在，它似乎正躍躍欲試，準備進軍一個潛力巨大的新市場。

????譯者：項航

????One of UP's major advantages compared to other devices is its design. It looks more like jewelry than clunky exercise equipment. It sports the same high build quality and design sensibility of the company's other products, which have won numerous awards.

????More importantly, UP marks an important product for Jawbone as it continues to branch out into new areas. It's also a another step toward creating a potential ecosystem of Jawbone products. "What I like about what Jawbone has done is that their design is brilliant and they have a military heritage like Hummer, so they have a legitimacy," says Dean Crutchfield, CEO of the New York-based consultancy Caffeine. "They're creating a 'halo' for Jawbone as a provider of cool [products]."

????In its earliest incarnation, Jawbone (then "Aliph") worked on noise-cancellation technology for DARPA, the U.S. military's research arm. But Rahman and his cofounder Alexander Asseily saw the consumer potential in their work and eventually released the first Jawbone Bluetooth headset, crafted by Swiss industrial designer and the company's chief creative officer Yves Behar in 2006. A private firm, the company does not release sales data.

????Key to UP's success will be whether customers balk at the $99 price point. On the one hand, it falls in line with the premium pricing of company's products. On the other, some consumers may be skeptical of a $99 device that isn't as easily categorized. How users like the UP app's interface is another unknown. "For the first time, the interface really becomes a critical part of the brand," Crutchfield says.

????Betting against the company may be unwise. Jawbone has racked up a string of hits that others might not have seen coming. Now, it seems poised to capitalize on a potentially sizable new market.