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Velocomp’s iBike Powerhouse System Hits Market

July 17, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Velocomp has delivered its iBike Powerhouse to the market just in time to train another generation of Tour de France hopefuls along with the much more likely crowd of weekend riders looking to step up their game.

The iBike Powerhouse is a portable computerized cycling fitness system that runs on either an iPod Touch or an iPhone and is designed to adjust automatically to an individual user’s exercise goals.

The system features power measurement and analysis technologies and features that monitor your efforts and provide feedback and updates that are automatically-adjusted based on a number of goal-oriented cycling plans that the company provides.

A user simply selects from any of the four to six week goal-based programs that the application features and it will set up a program that is designed to help you reach your goals with a series of rides that vary between 45-90 minutes long.

The plans, which include programs such as “iSlim, ”“CycleMax,”“ Express Fitness, ”“Brazilian Butt,”“ Weekend Warrior, ”and“ Zero to 20 miles also, allow a user to set their skill level so that a couch potato and a potential racer do not have to follow the same regime. Included in the information and feedback for each program are videos from cycling coach Hunter Allen that provide tips on overall cycling and how to improve your performance.

The iBike Powerhouse comes with a water/shock resistant case, a set of electronics for your bike that register your cycling performance and a wireless speed sensor. A handle bar mounting system also ships with the app so that a user can clearly see what is required for the current workout session. The iBike Powerhouse kit has a MSRP of $279 and comes with two workout programs, iSlim and CycleMax while additional programs are available for $9.99

Sports feedback is a very competitive field, with players from Nike, Garmin to all of Ant +’s customers and many in between trying to grab a piece of the market. Velocomp has a well rounded offering that has gained critical acclaim and should be able to carve out a nice niche for itself.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, Cycling, Garmin, iBike, iOS, Nike, Outdoor Activities Tagged With: iBike, Velocomp

Nike Launches New Runners’ App after it Reengineers its Running Site

June 25, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

If you are a runner and like to share your information there always seems to be a new app around the corner designed to do just that. However a new app that has been released might have an advantage over many of its rivals in that the company that developed it, Nike, might have made the shoes you are running in. For that matter they may have made your entire outfit.

The company has launched an app called Nike Running App for Android that among its other features can link runners into the nikeplus.com site that the company has redesigned prior to the release of the program.
In many ways the app does just what you would expect, and want, from a runners’ app. It tracks performance, provides easy access to running statistics, has an in-run navigation system with a GPS map as well as provide the sound track for your runs.

It enables a user to connect directly to Facebook or Twitter and provide run summaries that can include shoes used, terrain and total mileage. The GPS feature also records the weather for runners based on location.

The nikeplus.com site claims 7 million runners and the redesign was enacted in order to make it more digitally friendly, with much more of a social media focus, according to Nike as well as becoming a motivational tool for the runners. The key feature to motivate is called “Next Moves” that presents a range of challenges for the runner and then provides a dynamic bar showing how well the runner has performed on the challenges.

When I was looking at the Nike web site I was surprised at how many people I knew were registered, including one person that I would have bet only ran when they heard the bell from the ice cream truck out in front of their house. So maybe the motivational messages really work!

Filed Under: Apps, Nike Tagged With: Nike

TaylorMade the Big Hitter in Social Media at U.S. Open

June 14, 2012 by James Raia Leave a Comment

The U.S. Open, refreshingly void of title sponsorships in its logo or direct marketing, still has plenty of affiliated brands, some of which have strong social media activities at the event, some of which do not.

CallawayGolf and adidas reference the tournament with their respective apparel lines and contracted athletes.

The shirts Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson have chosen to wear in each of championship rounds, are featured on the adidas site presuming, of course, the golfers will play in all of the rounds.

CallawayGolf company’s Facebook page also features a post and link to the hole-in-one made by Alvaro Quiros during Wednesday’s practice round on the 288-yard par 4 seventh. It’s only 30 seconds and doesn’t show the shot, but rather the golfer’s reaction.

But it’s TaylorMade that likely has the biggest social media presence among the manufacturers represented at the U.S. Open.

Twenty-two golfers in the field — Retief Goosen to D.A. Points and Tim Herron to Martin Kaymer — all sponsored by the company, have direct Twitter links listed on the right-hand side of the company’s home page.

And on the left-hand flank is a steady stream of Twitter posts from tournament fans. The feed was active from the first pairing of the opening round Thursday morning and continue throughout the day with a new post at least every few seconds.

James Raia is a California-based journalist who writes about sports and leisure. Visit his golf site at golftribune.com

Filed Under: Golf, NBC Sports, Nike, TaylorMade Tagged With: TaylorMade, U.S. Open

Nike and Microsoft Team for Fitness App on Xbox

June 5, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

The connected athlete just got a bit more connected today as Nike has entered into a partnership with Microsoft that will see the development of games for the Microsoft Xbox that uses the Nike+ technology.

The alliance was announced at the E3 show in Hollywood and the first program to be developed will be called Nike+ Kinect Training and the target date for release will be this year’s holiday season. And it will be exclusively available on Microsoft’s Xbox platform. It is currently estimated that there are 67 million Xboxes worldwide.

The program will connect users wearing shoes or a wristband that has Nike+ technology. Using the Kinect camera in the Xbox a user goes through a set of physical tests and the data is recorded and a personalized workout program is generated.

Then activity is recorded over a month and a reevaluation is made. As a user makes progress in getting in better shape the program evolves to raise the bar on their workouts. The program is capable of providing real time feedback to help keep workouts in line with goals.

Multiple users can share a video and work out at the same time by using the Xbox network. You forgot to work out? No problem as you can set it up to send reminders to your phone (apparently only if it is a Windows Phone).

The effort is expected to help expand the Nike brand, and as part of that effort the program will feature the ability to integrate with Facebook so that a user can share results on the social network.

In other Xbox news Microsoft has released a software program that enables tablets and smartphones to connect to the Xbox console and allows them to be used as a second screen. Called Smart Glass it can be used on devices powered both by Microsoft’s Windows family as well as operating systems from rivals such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Microsoft, Nike

Nike Unveils New Golfer Performance App, NG 360

May 23, 2012 by Paul Kapustka 4 Comments

The ever-elusive golfing social media market has a new entrant, from one of sport’s biggest names: Nike today unveiled its NG 360 app, which is designed to be a one-stop shop for golfers who want to improve their game, their golf fitness, and to connect with like-minded friends.

Available only for the iPhone (Nike golf’s Twitter stream said an Android version is due soon) the NG 360 app (for Nike Golf 360) is, according to Nike, a place to “Track your rounds, dig deep on stats, get feedback on your swing from pros and your friends, and access golf-specific workouts. NG360° is a clubhouse, practice tee, gym and pro shop — all in one, and always with you.” The app is free for download from the iTunes app store.

Though many have tried to tap the millions-strong market of golfers who clearly love to track, talk about and most importantly, buy things to improve their games, nobody yet has come up with a Facebook-type winner where everyone wants to be. Some of that, no doubt, is due to the fact that for many people, golf is an escape from work, which now means their phone. Sure it sounds great to have a cool golfing app right there in your pocket but it’s so close to email that it may get ignored by golfers who are instead enjoying the sunshine and a cold beverage.

Nike also seems to have a kind of badge/reward system in place to honor golfers who are getting better, but not having played with the app, I wonder if there is too much going on here. I for one would kill to have just a simple place to record scores, and perhaps to access them via the phone from the cloud whenever I am out on a course. It’s unclear how the NG 360 performs at simple things. Time and some user feedback will likely tell, quickly.

Where Nike may have an edge over past and current efforts to tap the golfer-social-media-stats market (like Callaway’s new gizmo) is in its innovative twists, one to let you record your swing in video and another to allow professional instructors to help you improve your game. Like many things, NG 360 sounds great as an idea. Now let’s see if Nike’s marketing can find success in a field where many have failed.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Golf, Nike, Outdoor Activities Tagged With: Callaway, Golf, NG 360, Nike

Looking for More Than a Heartbeat? Pyle’s GPS Sports Watch Could Help

March 15, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

There a number of sports watches that tell you how fast you are going, and even where you are and estimate how many calories that you have burned off so far in your workout. Now Pyle wants to take that one better by adding in a heart monitor

The Pyle GPS Sports Watch features a 2.4 GHz digitally coded wireless Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) chest strap that is designed to allow athletes to track information regarding workouts including maintain heart rate in specific zones.
The $138 watch is designed to serve for more than simply a device to track a heartbeat or show you where you are on the map, although those are nice features.

It is designed to be more than simply a joggers accessory- it has four main functions. Compass, Time Mode, Navigation and Workout Mode, depending on the preferred usage.

The compass mode is slightly different in navigation in that it tells users the direction of an object or location from a certain point, and it also provide directions in azimuth as well.

Workout Mode is designed to work with Navigation Mode and together they record and display the user’s current performance, including speed, distance traveled, coordinates, workout duration, heart rate, calories burned and other information.

The watch has the flexibility to have four settings for target heart beat rates preset- Health, Fat Burn, Aerobics and User and a user can have the watch sound alerts when they are above, in or below their preferred zone.

In addition to the modes listed here, the GPS Sports Watch can monitor four target heart rate zones, including Health, Fat Burn, Aerobics and User, and even offers audio alerts to inform users when they are above, in or below their preferred zone.

The GPS Sports Watch is water resistant up to 30 meters under water and comes with a built-in rechargeable lithium polymer battery. The software that ships with the watch has the ability to help users with their workout analysis, route planning and training summary reports and can provide a post-workout breakdown.

The HRM chest strap features a special conductive contact pad to retrieve heart rate stats and the adjustable elastic band keeps the monitor in place while remaining comfortable and breathable during sweaty workout routines. Once the strap and the watch are successfully paired, the heart rate data will automatically be transmitted to the watch display for quick and easy viewing.

Of course this is a very competitive field and one that looks to get even more so as Nike and Ant +continues to push Nike + technology. Sports watches with GPS are available from a range of companies including Garmin, Motorola and Timex.

Filed Under: Apps, Garmin, Nike Tagged With: Garmin, Nike, Pyle

Velocomp’s iBike Powerhouse System Hits Market

Nike Launches New Runners’ App after it Reengineers its Running Site

TaylorMade the Big Hitter in Social Media at U.S. Open

Nike and Microsoft Team for Fitness App on Xbox

Nike Unveils New Golfer Performance App, NG 360

Looking for More Than a Heartbeat? Pyle’s GPS Sports Watch Could Help

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