Can a little gadget in your pocket improve your fitness? I'm Fred Fishkin with technology BootCamp, a report on gadgets and gear. Philips calls it DirectLife. It is a tiny monitor that you wear...that includes an accelerometer for tracking a variety of movements. You plug it into a PC or Mac to keep track of your progress. Greg Soderberg is a director with the New Wellness Solutions group at Philips...

"You can wear it around your neck, on your belt or clipped to your waist or in your pocket. It'll capture the motion and it will convert it based on the individual's personal health biometrics, to actual activity calories burned. So what we're doing is giving insightful feedback on how active or inactive they might be throughout the day."

A starter package that includes the device and four months of online monitoring sells for about a hundred dollars. That includes the services of a real life coach who can provide motivation via email. You can find more info at www.directlife.philips.com. You can find us at BootCamp.com. I'm Fred Fishkin.