Until very recently, people who try to lose weight swear by calorie counting and going to the gym.

However, with the development of hardware such as smartphones and tablets it seems that software developers have found a way of helping dieters monitor their weight loss.

The application is in the form of a new type of scales called the Aria Smart Scale, which allows users to weigh themselves then send the results via WiFi to the online server of a company called Fitbit.

Interestingly the results are published and can be viewed by everyone, not just the user. While on one hand publishing this information is perhaps an intrusion of a person’s privacy, on the other hand some experts think that by doing so it could make some people actually do something about their weight.

That’s the hope anyway. However, Fitbit do say that the default setting is private, so the choice is up to the consumer.

Fitbit is a company with a track record of inventing fitness devices. The Aria Smart Scale is the latest in a long list including Fitbit Ultra, which is effectively a pedometer, counting the number of calories you burn during the day.

The Aria Smart Scale goes on sale from this May.