Category: Equipment

Blaze a Virtual Bike in the Bike Lane

Back in 2009 there was LightLane, which provided a virtual bike cast as an image just ahead of you while you rode. Now there is Blaze, a handlebar-mounted laser that projects a personal bike lane marker. Developed by University of Brighton student Emily Brooke in the U.K., her concept could do what LightLane never did – that is actually make it to critical mass.

While Ms. Brooke still has yet to bring her product to market as well, it seems like a winner to use. The battery power Blaze essentially projects a bright green laser image, which is bright enough to be seen in daylight, of a bike onto the road ahead, warning drivers that you could be in their blind spot. Brooke reportedly consulted with road safety practitioners, Brighton & Hove City Council, the Brighton & Hove Bus Company as well as psychologists who specialize in driving.

Brooke’s idea reportedly won her a place on the Entrepreneurship Program at Babson College in Massachusetts, and hopefully this would be enough to make sure that future riders don’t win the “door prize.”

[Via BikeBiz: A bike lane on your handlebars]

Nike Goes to the Moon – Sort of…

This week Nike Golf announced that its latest shoes for the US Open, the Lunar Control golf shoes will be available to the public. Traditionally these shoes are usually only created for Nike’s tour athletes, but this year everyone can take a swing at getting a pair.

The Limited Edition Nike Golf Shoes were created and developed with insight from the number 10 golfer in the world and US Open contender Paul Casey. These shoes deliver just the right combination of stability and comfort, while still be the lightest-weight performance shoe on the tour – and they look good too!

The shoes feature Flywire construction; offer ultra light, springy Lunarlon cushioning, and feature waterproof performance leather by Sadesa, so you can hit a full 18 holes without making your feet like they’re on a walk to the moon!

Nike Lunar Control Men’s Golf Shoes Official Retail Site
[ Via BeSportier: Limited Edition Nike Golf Shoes : US Open Lunar Control]


Bluetooth Goes For the Heart

Heart rate monitors are great devices that truly can aid and improve training. But I’m one who has been called “heartless” and it has nothing to do with my sinister demeanor. It has to do with the fact that traditional RF based heart rate monitors just don’t work well with me. This happens to some of us, and it is downright annoying.

But now The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced the finalization of two new developer specifications for connected vital sign monitoring devices that will make use of the short range wireless technology. The specs call first for a health thermometer profile, and more importantly for me, a heart rate profile

Both of these will be part of the upcoming Bluetooth 4.0 release, and will feature Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) as well as increased transfer speeds. SIG has also noted that Bluetooth could enable connectivity in medical device technology that provide vital sign monitoring and interaction with wireless devices, including Bluetooth 4.0-enabled smartphone.

Recently Dayton Industrial unveiled a heart-rate monitor that will leverage Bluetooth 4.0, and this low energy heart rate chest belt features energy efficiency technology that the company claims will enable it to run an average of 1.5 years on a single coin cell. That’s a real plus, because while I might not be so heartless I am pretty cheap!

Dayton Industrial Official Website
Bluetooth SIG

The Force Will Be With These Shoes

Remember how Anakin Skywalker was all melted and eventually become Darth Vadar with that black suit. That has nothing to do with these shoes exactly, but it is hard not to think of that scene when we read about the ForceShoes and see that these are basically high-tech sandals.

In truth the shoes, which were developed by researchers at the University of Twente’s MIRA research institute in the Netherlands are designed to measure precise force and movements when someone walks. These were develoed as a means of facilitating the rehabilitation process from people who have suffered a stroke or had degrees of paralysis on one side of the body. As those patients have often had to learn to walk again, it can be a difficult experience and these shoes can analyze how said patient walks or what forces are exerted to the ground.

Wireless connections transmission data gathered from four sensors modules located throughout the shoe’s soles, and each of these measures the force and movement. While these aren’t commercially available, we hope that these will help patients in the very near future. May the force be with these shoes!

[Via Gizmag.com: ForceShoes enable extremely precise tracking of how their wearer walks]

Recall: Magicshine Lights… So Hot, They’re Smokin’

Back in October 2010, Datseplots Inc., DBA GeoManGear, received a consumer complaint regarding a lithium-ion battery for the Magicshine series of lights that are made in China and sold through GeoManGear in the U.S. The consumer reported that a small fire had occurred in the battery pack for his Magicshine light. Upon investigation, two other similar reports came in from other consumers that did not include bodily damage, but did include property damage. GeoManGear took these reports seriously and investigated. They found that there was an issue with some of the battery parks in the Magicshine Series I and II lithium-ion batteries sold with the Magicshine 900 Lumen (MJ-808), 1400 Lumen (MJ-816) and tail light (MJ-818); they immediately stopped production on the Magicshine lights and initiated a recall. Continue reading Recall: Magicshine Lights… So Hot, They’re Smokin’

BodyMedia Announces new API

BodyMedia, the maker of body monitoring devices, has announced a developer API (Application Programming Interface), which should encourage developers to explore and discover new applications to help people know their bodies and improve their lives.

To meet these goals BodyMeida has partnered with Mashery, an API management and strategic services company, to create new apps, either within the existing lifestyle management platform or to apply the unique BodyMedia technology into new spaces, which could include gaming, fitness, entertainment or social networking.

“We want to take our unique data right from the Armbands of our consumers and put it directly into the hands of developers to discover new uses and markets,” stated Ivo Stivoric, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, BodyMedia, Inc. “Our goal is to enable more people to leverage the powerful BodyMedia tools to expand the positive impact of body monitoring.” Continue reading BodyMedia Announces new API

E3 2011: adidas Teams With THQ

Trade shows such as the Electronic Entertainment Expo are known to get gamers up and running – that is running to see games and to get to appointments. The rest of the time gamers need some urging to get that much activity, but now adidas is set to team up with THQ to bring the popular miCoach interactive athletic training system to video game consoles.

The new collaboration is set for release next year, and will allow gamers to train using the miCoach hardware, including heart rate monitor (or any ANT+ compatible monitor), which will connect to the THQ’s new video game title for the Kinetic for Xbox 360 or PlayStation Move via miCoach Pacer and miCoarch mobile app.

“We’re taking our successful miCoach line and broadening its reach to an even larger audience, who we hope will find motivation and inspiration from adidas and our roster of star athletes,” said Simon Drabble, Director of miCoach BU for adidas. “In simple words, this combination of console technology and training for sports supports everybody to become better athletes, regardless of their fitness level.”

Players will get an onscreen trainer to guide them through hours of on-screen training and motivating game experience. The system will get gamers toned up beginning next year.

miCoach Official Website
THQ Official Website

Mini Drome Heads to Glasgow Scotland

The Red Bull Mini Drome, which is currently the world’s smallest velodrome, will make its way to Glasgow, Scotland for an indoor racing competition.

This is the first time the Red Bull Mini Drome has visited Scotland, and on June 25, the Barrowland Ballroom will play host to a race, where 100 randomly selected riders will compete in a single timed race of 10 laps. The fastest 32 will venture to the finals. Fixed gear bikes and helmets are required.

The purpose built track was designed and engineered in Germany by Velotrack, the team who built the tracks at the Atlanta Olympics and Delhi Commonwealth Games. It actually maintains racing dimensions in the smallest possible size to enable a single pursuit. This is the second time the track has visited the UK, and was used in a London competition earlier this year.

[Via BikeRadar.com: “World’s smallest velodrome” coming to Glasgow on 25 June”]
Red Bull Mini Drome Official Website

GPS Device Adds Camera

Over the years we’ve seen GPS added to smartphones and many digital cameras now offer GPS tags. But now Garmin, the maker of satellite navigation technology, sees that turnabout is fair play. The company has announced the addition to the GPSMAP 62 series of rugged outdoor handheld devices – a built-in 5 megapixel camera with automatic geotagging to capture the highlights of any adventure and allow you to share the locations or navigate back to that site. GPSMAP 62stc and GPSMAP 62sc were unveiled at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, CO, capping a week of exciting new Garmin outdoor handheld announcements by Garmin that included innovations in the popular eTrex, Rino and Astro families.

In other words this is a GPS device with a build camera. Continue reading GPS Device Adds Camera

Polar A Best Company – No Surprise

We’ve covered a few Polar products recently, and we have long known and respected the company’s dedicated to quality. So it comes as no surprise to KineticShift that Polar was named as a “Best Company to Work for in New York for 2011” by the New York State Society for Human Resource Management, Inc., the Business Council of New York and Best Companies Group.

Polar ranked 22 in the under 250 employees group, and the award honors companies who excel in workplace policies, practices, philosophies, systems and demographics and perform well in an employee survey that measures their experiences. Continue reading Polar A Best Company – No Surprise

Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor Ready to Get All Wet

Heart monitors are ideal for training, and more and more runners and cyclists swear by them, but swimmers have sort of been left high and dry when it comes to a training aid. Not any longer, Polar has announced a new heart rate monitor that promises to get all wet. The Polar FT7 is ideal for the gym or out in the wild, and it can work well in the water as Polar is the only company that produces transmitters that broadcast a signal at a 5 kHz frequency, which means heart rate data is received while swimming.

The FT7 features a soft, flexible fabric strap that made with a patented heart-sensing fabric developed by Numetrex, while the monitor offers zone alarms, daily alarms, time and date. The FT7 will download all exercise information to the free Polar personal trainer software with an optional Polar Flowlink device.

In addition to telling you the number of calories burned, the EnergyPointer will tell if the main effect of your training is fitness improvement or fat burning. It offers button-free operation of the wrist unit and provides graphical target zone indicator. The Polar FT7 is available now (MSRP $119.95), and as we noted, this one works in the water!

Polar FT7 Official Product Website

Polar USA Rolls Out Suite of Technology Accessories With New Computer

There is no denying that training computers have typically had very specific uses. What is good in the water isn’t so good on the bike, but Polar USA looks to change the way the game is tracked with its new RCX5 training computer. It builds on the company’s decades of experience, and this new device combines Polar heart rate tracking accuracy with features that make it ideal in the water, on the bike and even on the pavement as you pound out each and every step.

The device, which is now available in “smart black” and will available in “striking red” later this year, is includes sport profiles that are essential for multisport and triathletes. It allows users to quickly switch between sports during training, so no time or training data is lost between swims, rides or runs.

“Triathlons are one of the fastest-growing sport segments in the United States, and we understand better than anyone in the market that multisport athletes demand data, whether they are training for their first regional event or chasing a lifelong professional pursuit,” said Jeff Padovan, President, Polar USA. “The Polar brand has been an established name among elite athletes for more than 30 years, and we are proud of the loyalty and knowledge we’ve built within the ‘tri’ market specifically. The RCX5 is the realization of everything we’ve been hearing that ‘tri’ users require to get to that next level, packaged in a new, sleek design.”

The RCX5 features a ZoneOptimizer that adjusts to personal heart rate zones based on the user’s current physiological condition to optimize just the right level of training intensity; plus Race Pace that lets the wearer set a target time for certain distances to see how far ahead or behind on a course the user is at a given time; and even a Training Load feature to let a wearer known when he or she has recovered enough for the next session.

The RCX5 is available in multiple product sets for running, cycling and multi-sport use. There is even a WearLink+ Hybrid transmitter that can ensure transmission in the water via a comfortable, fabric chest transmitter that transfers data both in 5 kHz and 2.4 GHz.

Training may never be the same again.

Polar RCX5 Official Website