Category: Consumer Electronics Show

CES 2012: Garmin Approaches Golf

This week at the Consumer Electronics Show Garmin has wanting to get outside and take in 18 holes instead of walking the show floor. The company is showing off its new Approach G6 GPS unit, designed for those heading out to the golf course. The device is slim and sleek, and perfect for hitting the links.

It features a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, so users can play an entire weekend on a single charge. It will come preloaded with 25,000+  worldwide courses – with no subscriptions required.

Other features:
·Free course updates available, no subscriptions required
·Innovative software with layup arcs and larger on-screen numbering
·Scoring capabilities include Stapleford, Match Play, Skins and Handicap
·Tracks fairways hit, GIR, putts per round, how far you hit each club

With the Approach 6G the competition won’t see you coming!

Garmin Official Website

CES 2012: Smart Thinking to be Green

We’d hate to be in the plastic water bottle business right now, as it doesn’t seem like anyone has much positive to say about the products. While the water is good, the problem is that the bottles tend to end up in landfills or worse floating in the Pacific Ocean in that big mass of plastics!

But at the Consumer Electronics Show this year some companies are doing something about it. These include GreenSmart, which is introducing a line of stylish and very eco-friendly computer sleves and bags. The company notes that more than 800,000 bottles have been recycled already – and in all honesty after this year’s show they’ll likely have a lot more. So it is good to see a company like GreenSmart being smart about what can be done about it!

The line includes MacBook and laptop sleeves, backpacks, messenger bags and even wine and water carriers. And the latter ones can even help reduce how many water bottles end up in the ocean!

GreenSmart Official Website

CES 2012: iBike Trains for iBike POWERHOUSE Release

With a handful of apps, the iPhone doubles as a cycling computer, but a new app and companion case from iBike will offer custom readings depending on the user’s goals. One such app-plus-case is the iBike Cycling Computer. The iBike POWERHOUSE is what the company is calling an “intelligent cycling computer” that automatically adjusts to exercise goals.

Those exercise goals offered by iBike POWERHOUSE include “iSlim,” “Express Fitness,” “Brazilian Butt,” “Kid Fit,” “Weekend Warrior,” “Zero to 50 miles in 3 weeks,” and “Healthy Heart.” The program guides you through a series of 45 to 90-minute bike rides. During each ride, the user is coached to pedal at specific levels of effort. Continue reading CES 2012: iBike Trains for iBike POWERHOUSE Release

CES 2012 Preview: Wahoo Blue in the Tooth

We’ll be interested to get a closer look at the Wahoo Blue HR Bluetooth heart rate monitor that will be officially unveiled at next month’s Consumer Electronics Sow. It will reportedly connect with an iPhone 4S as well as other devices that are Bluetooth Smart (4.0) ready. Video and full press release after the jump

CES Preview: United Health Group Experts to Speak at Digital Health Summit

The New Year is less than a week away, and the Consumer Electronics Show is just a week later. It is a time for many to think about a healthier lifestyle, and UnitedHealth Group will be at the Digital Health Summit at CES in Las Vegas to offer expert advice. Press Release after the jump

CES 2012 Preview: Map My Cardio

There are apps to map your ride, and now there is an app for iOS to map your training. At next month’s Consumer Electronics Show attendees will get to see the new Cardio Mapper app, which can connect and read data from Bluetooth Smart (formerly Bluetooth 4.0) , and SmartHRM WiFi.

CardioMapper is designed to help users with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), and includes an interval coach that tells when to increase or decrease intensity, as well as offering full real time and post exercise analysis including: calories, duration, pace, speed, and of course distance. The app utilizes the iPhone’s GPS to track a user’s route while running, hiking, or biking and thus provides metrics including speed, calories burn, and distance.

Additionally, CardioMapper is the first iOS App approved by Apple that supports BLE Heart Rate Monitors, and connects with the newest dongle-free devices such as the SmartHRM and Bluetooth Smart 4.0 (BLE). Live pulse data will graph heart beat rhythm to match your heart.

The new CardioMapper 1.0.0 app is available now from the Apple App Store ($1.99), for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It could be a map to a new level of fitness.

CES Innovations Award Winners: Oregon Scientific and Gaiam

While the Consumer Electronics Show is still a month and a half away, it is already awards season. Oregon Scientific, designer and worldwide marketer of person electronics, and Gaiam Inc., have announced that their button-free, touch-screen heart rate monitor the Gaiam Touch is a recipient of of the prestigious International CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Award in the Health & Wellness category.

The Gaiam Touch features fashion-forward colors and a comfortable, slim design which is two millimeters thinner than any other heart rate monitor on the market. It is available with a chest strap, allowing for continuous heart rate monitoring, or as a strap-free model for on-demand heart rate monitoring, while the strap-free Gaiam Touch utilizes ECG technology, requiring only a touch of a finger on the monitor’s sensor for an accurate heart rate reading. The strap model operates in digital and analog modes and tracks fat burned. Both strap and strap-free models easily track calories burned and heart rate data. Other features include stopwatch, zone alarm, clock and calendar functions. Continue reading CES Innovations Award Winners: Oregon Scientific and Gaiam

Fitness Technology Looks to be Big Business

According to a recent survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association, fitness technology – the stuff we like to cover at KineticShift – is big business. The sports and fitness category now represents a $70 billion annual business in the United States, with hot product categories including activity-tracking armbands, waterproof mp3 players, GPS-enabled HD cameras, high-tech heart monitors, gesture recognition and full-body tracking user interfaces for games and sports simulators, high-tech sport goggles with GPS locators and many others.

“Technology has changed the game for everyone from professional athletes to weekend warriors,” said Robin Raskin, founder of Living in Digital Times, and organizer of the FitnessTech Expo and Summit at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show.

The upcoming CES in January will also continue to see the marriage of tech and fitness as TV personality and fitness guru Jillian Michaels will discuss the impact of digital innovation along with her recent partnership with Pittsburgh-based BodyMedia. Continue reading Fitness Technology Looks to be Big Business

CEA Get on Health and Fitness Track

While it had already been announced that Health and Fitness will be a tech zone at January’s 2012 CES trade show in Las Vegas, the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) announced that it will be getting on tech track to better health at the upcoming 2011 CEA Industry Forum. At the event, which is scheduled for October 23-26 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California, will include the Health and Fitness Tech Track.

Highlights of the program after the jump: Continue reading CEA Get on Health and Fitness Track

CES 2012: Digital Health and Sport and Fitness TechZones Returns to Las Vegas

Fitness is not a fad, at least not with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). This week it was announced that the Consumer Electronics Association’s International CES will feature dedicated TechZones on the exhibit floor in the areas of technology innovations in healthcare, fitness and other lifestyle-centric areas.

This will include the return of the Digital Health and Sport and Fitness TechZones, which will be produced by Living in Digital Times when the show runs Jan. 10-13 in Las Vegas. Continue reading CES 2012: Digital Health and Sport and Fitness TechZones Returns to Las Vegas

myTREK Treks Over to iPhone and iPod Touch

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Want to monitor your pulse but want to ditch the bulky chest strap? Scosche Industries has released its myTREAK pulse monitor and app for for iPhone and iPod touch. The Scosche myTREK, an International CES Innovations 2011 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree, allows users track their pulse, calories burned, distance, speed, pace, store past workouts and much more.

“At 24 Hour Fitness, we know that fitness tools can be very useful in helping people achieve their goals; whether it’s to lose weight, run a faster marathon or to get healthier,” said Bill Quinn, senior vice president of merchandising, 24 Hour Fitness. “We are excited to be a Scosche launch partner for the new myTREK pulse monitor and offer our members another option to support them with their fitness journey.” Continue reading myTREK Treks Over to iPhone and iPod Touch

Bluetooth World Cup Kicks Off

Time for the world cup, but it isn’t football or rugby. It will however, likely change the playing field of technology, as it is the Innovation World Cup.

This week the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced that it is once again looking for ideas and prototypes in the areas of health care, sports and fitness, automotive, entertainment, and more, that use Bluetooth technology version 4.0, for this year’s edition of the Innovation World Cup (IWC). This competition is now in its third year, as the trade organization contest calls on developers, entrepreneurs and students to submit concepts for applications making use of the low energy feature of Bluetooth v4.0. Continue reading Bluetooth World Cup Kicks Off

U.S. Digital Health Industry to Triple in Total Revenues Says Study

A healthy America could mean healthy profits for the digital health industry. These are the findings from a new Parks Associates forecast, which sees that U.S. revenues from digital health technology-enabled solutions and services will exceed $5.7 billion in 2012.

The study, titled “Delivering Quality Care to the Digital Home: 2010 Update,” shows that revenues in this space hit $1.7 billion in 2010, and further notes that this is a growing market. After all, there was the CES 2011 “Fitness TechZone,” which showcased digital innovations including apps, while numerous companies have gotten on board with the idea of digital health. Continue reading U.S. Digital Health Industry to Triple in Total Revenues Says Study