Gizmo Guy: Apps for applying yourself

Heard about the scam some corporate fitness program participants have been working? To hike their daily walking scores without trying, these fakers have been attaching their Fitbit step tracker to a doggy's collar or a hamster wheel!

But for those who take health tech seriously, some new tools that Gizmo Guy has tested do a body good, earning rewards far more helpful than an "Outback dinner for two."

Scale the heights.

A leader in connected health technology, Withings aims to shock you into more righteous behavior with its fourth-generation scale called Body Cardio ($179.95). As in past models, just a few seconds of standing still on this ultra-sleek, WiFi-linked scale offers accurate measures (and app tracking/sharing) of weight, body mass index, body composition (fat, muscle, water & bone mass), and standing heart rate, along with the day's weather forecast at a glance.

There's more. When you open the Withings' companion Health Mate smartphone app to study the nicely graphed findings, you'll find a measure dubbed Pulse Wave Velocity never calculated before on a consumer item, it is claimed.

Traditionally available in clinical environments to assess patients with high blood pressure or other chronic diseases, PWV offers a helpful snapshot of your heart health.

First popping up on the app screen after five days of standing measurements (and calculated "in the cloud,") PWV tracks the time it takes for blood to flow from the aorta in the heart to the vessels in the feet. The higher the propagation speed posted (adjusted for age), the more likely you suffer from stiff arteries or high blood pressure.

Pulse Wave Velocity can then be improved with more exercise (the Health Mate app also integrates your daily step count, calculated by your smartphone) and through a weight-loss program. Just measuring weight daily is a big incentive to keep chipping away at it, say dietitians.

For those into tough love, PWV also can be lowered by limiting or avoiding salt and/or alcohol, quitting smoking, drinking less coffee, and trying to control stress and anxiety. Withings highly recommends doc visits and doesn't want to be the last word on care.

Brusha, brusha, brusha. Used regularly, the new Waterpik Complete Care 5.0 will do your mouth proud, maybe save you from becoming an in-dentured servant or a candidate for root canal and crowning - not as regal as it sounds.

This $99.99 package combines both a Waterpik Water Flosser and a Sonic Toothbrush in a compact machine that saves counter space and eliminates the need for multiple power outlets. Shareable with a mate, WCC comes with two brush heads and five water-directing flossing tips and has a 90-second water (or mouthwash) dispersing tank sufficient for two treatments.

2016 upgrades include three sonic brush agitation modes: clean, whiten, and massage. While the flosser blows out a shocking amount of food stuff, old school string flossing should still be part of your daily routine, said two (out of two) dentists I surveyed.

Hear, here. Do friends and strangers comment on your music when you're wearing earphones? If so, you're cranking the volume too loud, doing harm that will likely lead to tinnitus (permanent ear ringing), or pricey hearing aids.

Noise reduction earphones that shut out the world's din and serve high-resolution music at a safe volume are the better way to go. An apt example is the just-sprung Bose QuietComfort 35 - the original noise canceling headphone inventor's first around-the-ear model with Bluetooth wireless tech. Primo priced ($349.95) and comfy, QC35s offer 20 hours per battery charge of wireless communication with a music-feeding smartphone or tablet situated as far as 40 feet away, in my testing. If smaller, in-ear phones are more your liking, wait for the novel Bose QC30, coming in September, which will introduce user-variable noise reduction. Worked well in a brief test.

Another "safety sake" option is the non-isolating Trekz Titanium Bluetooth earphones from Aftershokz ($129.95 at www.Brookstone.com). These things sit right in front of your ears, not on them, resonating some of the music into your head via bone conduction. This alt-tech saves your hearing while maintaining a sense of place. But the bass response is a bit off and the contact buzz takes some getting used to.

Can we butt in? After recently reviewing the Toto automatic 350e Washlet toilet seat (look mom, no toilet paper!), I was clued by users that the Washlets' pulsing water action also eases constipation and hemorrhoid suffering. Don't doubt it. And another reader, James Lin of www.bidetking.com, pressed me to try on for size his "40 percent less expensive" (at $499) house brand Alpha bidet washing seats. A nice match for a relatively inexpensive ($199), clean lines toilet such as the Kohler Cimarron Comfort Height, this fresh contender is not as low slung as the Toto and does without some of the latter's frills, like a presence-detecting motorized seat and automatic "e-water" bowl cleansing. A user must make do with three settings each, rather than Toto's five, for water flow speed and temp, and seat and air drying temp. But when push comes to shove, the Alpha dog gets the job done. And the new contender's butt-warming electric seat is more comfortable, making it tempting to linger a while.

takiffj@phillynews.com

215-854-5960@JTakiff