Les Shu | Evolving Consumer

Latest Reebok and Chapter Collaboration Goes Leather

Reebok has been introducing a slew of new athletic shoes that promote some sort of new technology (although the company has had to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against the company’s booty-building EasyTone shoes). I have been wearing Reebok’s RealFlex running shoes for a few months and I now swear by them. They have replaced my hipster Converse Chuck Taylors as my every day shoes. They are comfortable, lightweight, and great looking, and I plan to buy a new pair shortly.

But prior to the RealFlex I have never looked to Reebok for athletic shoes, and I’ve viewed them more as a purveyor of lifestyle kicks (still love and rocking my old Reebok camo sneaks). In this collaboration with Japan’s Chapter World, Reebok’s Alien Stomper resembles the shape of basketball high-tops but there’s a feel of luxury here: two types of leather with gold accents and a camouflage insole. This isn’t Reebok’s first relationship with Chapter World, but it’s definitely more subdued. You could step out in these on the court, but they’re better suited for the club, methinks.

Chapter World Official Website
[via Kicksonfire.com: Chapter x Reebok Alien Stomper]

GE Healthcare, Purdue and Notre Dame Develop Advanced CT Imaging, Promises Higher Clarity with Lower Radiation

Veo (Purdue) — In this image, the left shows image reconstruction using conventional CT imaging, and the right shows a scan using Veo. (Purdue University)

Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame have partnered with GE Healthcare to develop a new computed tomography (CT) scanning reconstruction technology they are calling Veo. The proprietary technology, according to the consortium, “enables physicians to diagnose patients with high-clarity images at previously unattainable low radiation dose levels.”

Invented in the 1970s, CT is an advanced version of spiral X-ray technology. While the technology has enhanced the ability of physicians to diagnosis diseases, patients are exposed to radiation during scanning. The Veo technology will help physicians get clearer images while exposing patients to less radiation.

“Conventional CT scanning takes thousands of views from different angles to ‘see’ organs and then creates a 3-D image of the person,” said Charles Bouman, Purdue’s Michael J. and Katherine R. Birck Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of biomedical engineering. “Veo takes radiographic images digitally that use less X-ray. A reduction in X-rays means the radiation dosage is reduced. Then, our computer algorithm uses model-based reconstruction more effectively so we can form a high-quality image with less radiation.

“Basically, Veo cleans up the noise or graininess and creates a sharper image,” Bouman added.

Read the full release after the jump

Panasonic Toughpad: A Rugged Tablet Inside and Out

We have covered a few portable rugged tablet computers here at KinecticShift, but these products aren’t exactly as sexy-looking or easy-to-use as Apple’s iPad. In fact, they are designed for mobile workers and more adept at actual productivity, running some version of Microsoft Windows. Panasonic’s new Toughpad line of rugged Android-based tablets may just finally deliver a device that balances play and work in a tough exterior.

Although it looks chunkier than many consumer tablets on market, the Toughpad looks like a tablet you wouldn’t mind throwing into your bag when compared to other rugged tablets available. When it comes to creating rugged devices, Panasonic has lots of experience in this department. The company has been making rugged computers under the Toughbook name for some time; the Toughbook line has a Windows-based tablet computer, as well. But the Toughpad seems better suited for carrying around, especially if you don’t need the full Windows operating system to get stuff done. And in the sea of Android tablets currently on the market, Panasonic’s stands out. Sure, you can wrap an iPad with a rugged case, but the Toughpad is a different breed of tablet computers with specific users in mind. Continue reading Panasonic Toughpad: A Rugged Tablet Inside and Out

Fitness Journal: Tips and Tricks for a Fit Thanksgiving (and Other Holidays)

Staying fit during Thanksgiving is a challenge for many of us, but attending these food-heavy family feasts doesn’t mean you have to gorge until you explode nor do you have to give up having fun in the name of fitness. Here are some simple things you can do to have a healthy Thanksgiving or any holiday celebration.

Prepare a Wholesome Dinner
If you are hosting a holiday dinner, you have the advantage of deciding what healthy foods to cook for you and your guests. Unless you have informed them of the menu ahead of time, keep in mind that your diners may be expecting traditional fixings, so you may not want to plan a meal completely around tofu or seitan.

You can serve a traditional meal but apply some adjustments. For example, you can cook lean turkey breasts instead of the whole bird, eliminating the dark meat. You can use a grain such as quinoa for the stuffing instead of bread, and amp up the sweet potato while cutting out white potato. The Mayo Clinic has a list of healthy recipes you can try, and you can find other recipes at sites such as Epicurious and the Food Network. Continue reading Fitness Journal: Tips and Tricks for a Fit Thanksgiving (and Other Holidays)

Bushnell Turns Flashlight into High-Definition Viewing

It seems like the term “high definition” is used quite liberally in marketing these days. What’s normally associated with television and imaging is used loosely with everything from radio (although the “HD” in HD Radio doesn’t actually mean high definition) to cosmetics (however, Max Factor may have started using that term way before HDTVs came into the picture). Basically, the use of the term “high-definition” is to convey a sharper view or something more enhanced. Bushnell gives the HD treatment to one of its newest flashlights, the HD Torch ($110), a flashlight that produces a 165-lumen output and evenly distributed square beam of light.

The HD Torch is made out of rugged, waterproof, aircraft-grade aluminum with a scratch-free finish, and it’s powered by two 3-volt lithium batteries for 1.5-hour of continuous use. Unlike a regular flashlight that produces what Bushnell says is “non-uniform irregular ‘blobs’ of light,” the HD Torch outputs a uniform square of light that the company calls “High Definition Illumination.

While we don’t doubt the brightness of the flashlight, the use of “high definition” seems somewhat of a stretch. Consider that office projectors can produce lumen outputs in the thousands and that a compact fluorescent light bulb emits around 1,500 lumens, the flashlight doesn’t seem that high def to us when compared. However, it’s much easier to carry this flightlight in the outdoors than a projector.

Bushnell Official Website
[Via BeSportier: High Def Flashlights : Bushnell HD Torch]

Hands On: PUR One-Click Faucet Mount Water Filtration System

Everyone knows that the key to good health is to stay hydrated—they don’t call it the “source of life” for nothing. Recommendations vary, but you should drink at least 16 ounces of water an hour or two before an activity, and then drink more afterward. (Water is the best source for hydration. Experts will recommend a sports drink to replenish sodium and potassium after an intense workout, but that’s a story for another day. We are talking strictly water here.)

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re lucky enough to have water accessible at all times; if you want a drink, you can pour yourself a glass from the kitchen faucet. People who dislike the taste of tap water will hit bottled waters. More than $100 billion U.S. dollars is spent on bottled water worldwide and people consume around 50 billion bottles a year in the U.S. alone, but bottled water is environmentally unfriendly and a big expense to produce and consume. Despite having some of the cleanest tap water in the world here in the U.S., people still hit the bottle.

An alternative is to implement some sort of filtration system at home, either a water pitcher with filtration or a unit that can be attached to a faucet. They utilize filter cartridges that must be replaced every few months, and they aren’t inexpensive (think of it like razors or inkjet printer cartridges). (There are also even pricier units built into your sink or water cooler-style units). But compared to bottled water these systems are convenient, easily accessible and much more affordable. The folks at PUR recently sent us their One-Click Faucet Mount Water Filtration System to try out. PUR states that the One-Click filters out 99 percent of lead, trace pharmaceuticals, and microbial cysts, as well as reduces taste and odor of chlorine and other contaminants. Here’s our 3-month experience with it. Continue reading Hands On: PUR One-Click Faucet Mount Water Filtration System

Alabama Schools Employ Wii to Combat Childhood Obesity

Sales of Nintendo’s Wii are down and the popularity of the gaming console isn’t as explosive as a few years back (you can now actually find one in stock, and for much cheaper), but the Wii is still name-checked as the first successful console to bring fitness and video gaming together. The Wii Fit accessory and “game” can be found in millions of homes (albeit also collecting dust is many households), and it is frequently referenced in popular culture. Despite the success it has achieved to date in getting people off their sofas, the Wii Fit doesn’t actually deliver the level of intensity a traditional exercise provides.

Never mind all that. Public school officials in Alabama still see the Wii Fit system as a way to combat childhood obesity in the state. The “Wee Can Fight Obesity” program uses the Wii Fit Plus Bundle and EA Sports Active games as a form of exercise three days a week during phys-ed class for third graders. The one-year program is rolled out to 30 schools, and was in 30 different schools the previous year; the goal is to expand the program to every elementary school.

The program puts a different spin on what is exercising. The kids don’t view it as torture in school, but as playing. Children are exercising and shedding pounds without ever thinking of it as physical activity. While the Wii Fit will never offer the benefits of true exercising or activity, it does give kids a positive spin on the dreaded P.E. class. Importantly, the Alabama program recognizes the threat childhood obesity poses and is doing what it can to address the issue.

[Via The Birmingham News: ALABAMA PUBLIC SCHOOL TURNS TO WII TO HELP FIGHT CHILDHOOD OBESITY]

Ford Unveils Radical Bike Concept With Formula One Tech

The big auto shows—Detroit, L.A., Tokyo, Geneva, etc.—are where car manufacturers show-off dreamy, almost-out-of-this world concepts; many will never make it into production, while some will morph into practical variants, but they showcase the direction a carmaker is taking and new technologies it is using. These concepts tend to be of the four-wheel variety, however, Ford’s newly unveiled vehicle at the Frankfurt Motor Show this month isn’t what’s usually shown on the show floor.

Behold Ford’s beautiful E-Bike Concept. It has the recognizable two-wheel frame of a traditional bicycle, yet it has lines and accents that evoke a modern car. According to Ford, the E-Bike is an exercise in translating Ford’s “design language” to a bicycle and demonstrating “Ford’s electric mobility competence.” Ford recognizes major growth in the electric bicycle market and sees e-bikes as a major part of urban transport in the future. Continue reading Ford Unveils Radical Bike Concept With Formula One Tech

Siren Introduces SUP Board with ‘Unique, Fast Design’

For those intrigued with surfing but find it intimidating, stand up paddleboarding or paddle surfing (SUP) may be an alternative that’s easier to learn and offers an excellent workout. SUP is also popular with women, and Siren, the company that designs boards specifically for women, has introduced the Hot Pursuit Down-Wind Racing SUP.From Siren: “Building upon its collaboration with Channin Surfboards and CS Composite Engineering, Siren has created a unique and fast shape that caters specifically to the down-wind SUP racing arena.

The product of rigorous R&D and beginning as a 3D model based in proven hydrodynamic theory, a lightweight polystyrene core is precision machined and finished to exacting tolerances before being laminated with carbon fiber in an ultra-high modulus epoxy matrix. This shell is then sanded, painted and clear coated before entering the post curing phase. The 12.6 x 28 x 4.5-inch result is a nimble stand-up paddle board that is as fast as it is stable. Continue reading

Glacier Computer Introduces Rugged Windows-based 7-inch Tablet

When one thinks of table computing, Apple’s iPad or one of the many Android-based varieties come to mind. Heck, maybe even a BlackBerry PlayBook or a now-defunct HP TouchPad. But try to think of a rugged tablet, and you may be hard-pressed to come up with any. In truth, rugged portable computers have been around for a long time, but they aren’t exactly the chic portables that you currently see billboard ads for. Take Glacier Computer’s new T507K, for example.
Continue reading

Sony Ericsson Xperia Active for Android-Loving Fitness and Outdoors Buffs

It’s a given that cell phones tend not to play well with the Earth’s elements, but whether it’s summer at the beach or a bike ride down a muddy trail, Sony Ericsson’s good-looking Xperia Active smartphone is designed to take a beating.

Rugged cell phones aren’t new, and the Xperia Active also isn’t the first rugged Android-based smartphone, either (Motorola and Casio have them). But the Xperia Active targets those with a fitness-focused lifestyle. Besides being water- and dust-resistant, the Xperia Active is ANT+ compliant for use with other compatible products such as exercise equipment and pulse monitors. Other sporty features include a Gear Kit that comes with an arm case, wrist strap, and headphones with ear straps; fitness-related apps; GPS, barometer, and compass functionality; and a screen that’s usable even when your fingers are wet.

Beneath its ruggedness is a full-featured Android smartphone that runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It’s powered by a 1-gigahertz processor and features a 3-inch, 320×480 display with what Sony Ericsson calls the Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine. You can shoot videos in high definition, and you can download apps as you would with any Android phone. It’s slightly on the thick side, but what you sacrifice in size you get in protection (it is lighter than an iPhone 4, however, which is good news for those who don’t like being bogged down by stuff).

No pricing or market announcements have been made, yet, and there’s a chance it could never make it onto our shores. If it does, look for it in the third quarter of this year.

SONY ERICSSON XPERIA ACTIVE

Ambitious Floating Pool Concept Will Allow New Yorkers to Swim in River, Fuhgeddaboudit!

New Yorkers know that swimming in the local waters is a quick way to catch some nasties. But if a project called the +Pool (pronounced “plus pool”) gets built according to plan, the city’s inhabitants could soon find themselves swimming in one of the rivers as soon as 2012.

Of course, you won’t actually dive straight into the river itself. The idea for +Pool is to create a public pool that floats on the river, while the pool’s water will be water from the river that has been filtered through the walls. (A similar floating pool exists in Berlin on the Spree River, but doesn’t have an ambitious filtration concept.) The tri-layer filtration walls removes things such as wildlife, debris, algae, bacteria, and viruses. Four sections comprise a cross-mark design that allows the 9,000-square-foot pool to be divided for, say, a kid’s pool and a lap pool; two modules can also be used as an Olympic-length pool.

Architect Dong-Ping Wong and designers Jeffrey Franklin and Archie Lee Coates IV came up with the idea in June 2010 during a hot summer, who lamented that New Yorkers can’t enjoy a swim despite being surrounded by water. The +Pool concept has already generated lots of interest from various parties, including engineering firm Arup. The designers have spent the past months on research and, working with Arup, studied the feasibility of the filtration system, which Arup has deemed possible.

The idea now needs to enter actual testing of the filtration system by building a filtration wall. The designers are using Kickstarter to help fund the testing phase. If they can raise $500,000, they can build a full-scale mock-up of the wall, but are currently hoping to raise $25,000 to begin the testing process (creating the primary-but-crucial filtration layer). As of this writing, the project has raised more than $35,000 through Kickstarter with eight more days to go, so there’s still time to invest. Eventually the team hopes to pass their tests, win approval from the city, and build it by 2012.

+POOL

+POOL KICKSTARTER PAGE

Polk Audio Introduces Its First Performance Headphones

polk_performance — Polk Audio UltraFit 2000 Sports Headphones

Sports- and fitness-centric headphones aren’t anything new. Go to any shop that sells headphones and you’ll most likely find a pair with the word “sport” on the packaging. Many of them are just ordinary tinny-sounding speakers rebranded and repackaged for the “active lifestyle.” But Polk Audio’s new performance headphones might be something worth looking into and not an exercise in clever marketing.

Available in the fall, Polk Audio’s new performance lineup includes sports headphones and noise canceling headphones designed for exercise and fitness (as well as those who don’t participate in any activity, naturally). The UltraFit sports headphones are available as in-ear, on-ear and in-ear canal models that come in a variety of colors. They feature water resistance, iPhone/iPod controls, Kevlar-reinforced hinge points for durability, and comfortable non-slip materials in the ear area. For its two UltraFocus models, Polk Audio designed active noise cancelation for an in-ear model and an over-ear version. No water resistance or Kevlar here, but features include comfortable design and iPhone/iPad controls.

Polk Audio makes good stuff. We have tested their products in the past and know they put lots of effort into making great-sounding speakers. But we have only known Polk Audio for their home speaker products, and, as this is Polk Audio’s first step into the performance headphone market, we’ll reserve any opinion until we actually test one out. But if the headphones are anything like their home speaker products in terms of build and performance, the UltraFit and UltraFocus products might be some of the few legit sports headphones available.

POLK AUDIO Official Website