Gadget | Evolving Consumer

Signal to Turn – On the Back

Cyclists don’t always stand out to drivers, and even when riders try to signal this isn’t so easily understood by those in the car. The Safe Enjoy Interact Light (SEIL) system is a water-resistant LED light grid that can mount directly on a backpack. It can be controlled wireless via Bluetooth to a lever on the handlebar mount.

On a single charge the light should be good for hours, providing plenty of time for commuters to ride to work and signal lane changes and more. Designer Myung Su Lee is now looking to Kickstarter to get the SEIL Bag on riders’ backs. Video after the jump

May the Fitbit Force Be With You

It won’t give you Jedi (or Sith) powers, but the Fitbit Force is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to fitness trackers. This tracks your steps, distance you’ve traveled and of course calories you’ve burned. It also monitors the length of activity, the quality of sleep, as well floors climbed via an altimeter. There is a clock and stopwatch, and ability to sync all this data to a mobile phone via Bluetooth. The new Fitbit Force also makes it easy to read on an enhanced blue OLED screen.

Fitbit Force Official Website

Nike Refuels

While Adidas announced this week that it was entering the smartwatch market, Nike also made big news with the unveiling of its second-generation version of the Fuelband.

The Nike+ Fuelband SE features small tweaks that promise to offer improved performance. The iOS app has been updated as well, but we are still waiting for an Android one to follow. As with the original model it will track the intensity of workouts, count steps, monitor sleep and display progress in real time.

You’ll be able to get refueled starting November 1.

Nike+ Fuelband SE Official Website

Head Smart

iriver might just be on to something. The company has launched the world’s first smart exercise headset, the iriver ON. This Bluetooth headset can continuously monitor real-time heart rate, physical location and workout data via a sensor in the earbud.

It is powered by PerformTek Precision Biometrics, a state-of-the-art sensor technology that continuously measures real-time biometric data with a high degree of accuracy and consistency. This actually provides more data than other personal monitors, and includes heart rate, distance, speed, VO2 max (aerobic fitness level) and calories burned. Video after the jump

Adidas Gets Going With GPS Watch

This week at the GigaOM Mobilize conference in San Francisco Adidas introduced a smartwatch. This reportedly features GPS connectivity to track athletes, while it can also monitor heart rate and provide feedback to a user via Bluetooth to the screen or even headphones.

The new Adidas device is set for a November 1 launch.

[Vai GigaOM: Adidas jumps into wearable computing, announces new $399 smartwatch at Mobilize]

Klear It Up

When taking a mobile phone or tablet to the great outdoors you often bring some of it home with you. The SmartKlear from LensPen will have you erase the grim and grease from touchscreens. It features a cleaning pad that is impregnated with the same carbon compound used in other LensPen products designed for camera lenses and binoculars. This means no liquids, cloths, or sprays.

There are about 300 cleanings per pad, so you can take the phone with you and know you can get it clean when you get home. Continue reading Klear It Up

Playground Power

Kids seem to have a lot of energy, and perhaps playtime can mean power time. Empower Playgrounds has developed a merry-go-round that generates electricity. The company president Ben Markham came up with the concept while in Ghana, where he took part in an 18-month stint volunteering.

According to reports a healthy 8- to 12-year-old can generate about 150 watts of energy per hour whilst vigorously playing, so Markham took this idea and created playground equipment that can utilize this power.The equipment is designed to turn a windmill generator with more than 70-percent efficiency, and the power can be used to help provide power that can be stored for later use by the school.

Empower Playgrounds
[Via Fast Company: A Merry-Go-Round That Turns The Power Of Play Into Electricity]

Hunt GPS

The thrill of the hunt is only thrilling so long as you aren’t lost in the woods. The new Magellan eXplorist 350H GPS for Hunters will ensure that you find your way. It features pre-loaded detailed base maps with contour elevations and Game Management Units (GMU), Digital Globe satellite imagery for virtual scouting ability, hunting specific waypoints, hunting geofences and a rugged, camouflage exterior.

It even ships with a one-year subscription to Digital Globe satellite imagery that gives hunters the ability to “virtually scout” a future hunt location from the comfort of home, where a satellite view of the area intended as hunting grounds is provided. Hunters can then quickly identify areas of interest such as game funnels, potential feeding areas, and suitable glassing locations. The areas of interest can be marked and waypoints loaded into the eXplorist 350H, ready for the field along with an area of Digital Globe satellite imagery.

Hunting-specific waypoint icons can also be used to mark animal tracks, rub marks, water and food sources while in the field and are readily accessible on the Magellan eXplorist 350H, so users won’t have to type in information. Points marked in the field can be even be uploaded back into Magellan’s VantagePoint software application on a computer, allowing any hunter to build up their own hunting specific database over time. The geofence feature of the Magellan eXplorist 350H will further automatically alert hunters when they are approaching any GMU boundary to ensure that they stay within the area that they are permitted to hunt.

The eXplorist 350H is ready for the hunt, but will you be?

Magellan eXplorist 350H Official Website

PUSH It and Then Some

Salt ‘n Peppa comes to mind when we say “Push it,” but fitness company PUSH could be joining the band – well not the hip hop trio of course. The PUSH Band is an app-enabled wearable fitness tracker that can provide in-training tracking as well as analyzing strength performance.

It utilizes scientifically-validated metrics to visualize an athlete’s training performance. The Band part communicates with a PUSH App and can plan workouts, optimize training routines, review collected data and share results. Post-workout it can breakdown the metrics and wallow you know what you accomplished, while also monitoring progress in real time to help reduce the risk of injury by “over doing it.”

Users can compare performance with others view the live view feature, which makes it possible for coaches and trainers to access performance results as well. Users will be able to “PUSH” themselves a bit further beginning next spring when the devices will be released.

PUSH Official Website

CES To See Expansion in Digital Fitness Area

Fitness is on the rise – at least at the annual CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show). The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced that there will be 30 percent growth in the digital fitness footprint at the 2014 International CES. This will be produced in a partnership with Living in Digital Times, where the Fitness Tech will focus exclusively on the newest technologies for the sports and fitness enthusiast. It will expand to 11,500 square feet and will showcase more than 75 innovative companies.

According to CEA’s semi-annual report, the market for fitness technology is predicted to grow nearly 25 percent in 2014. CES will showcase the latest developments and discoveries across the digital fitness category. FitnessTech will feature hundreds of products, services and solutions that use technology to make workouts and outdoor activities fun, safe and effective.

The 2014 CES will run January 7-10, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

CES: Fitness Tech Official Website

ParaShoot 2.1Takes Aim

While there are a number of sport cameras on the market, ParaShoot 2.1 – which is being developed via an Indiegogo project – is a wireless HD camera that could be worn or used anywhere. Footage captured on this one could be shared wirelessly yet securely via the cloud. This camera is small enough that it fits in the palm of your hand (as shown above)( and weighs less than two ounces.

It can record 720 HD video at 30fps, and offers a 100 degree wide angle view. It runs on a 700mAh Li-ion battery and includes a built-in microphone. It isn’t being rolled out to be the most durable or high resolution camera but it is there to capture all those other moments in life. Video after the jump

Serious Headlight

Fenix doesn’t mess around when it comes to providing some illumination, and the new HP25 features two individual Cree XP-E LEDs; one that is a spot light while the other is a serious flood light. Each light has its own control, and these are designed to be easily found by touch.

The 90-degree flood offers four variances while the spot offers three, and with click the brightness increases, so you won’t find yourself blinding everyone in a dark room when you power this one up. Of course for the ultimate illumination there is the ability to combine the flood and spot where each generates 180 lumens! The Fenix HP25 features an IPX-6 rating for waterproofing so it will stand up to rain and even some downpours, so this one is ideal for those who want to hike at night or really need to find something around the campsite after dark.

Fenix Official Website

Speak Up

“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you! That’s because I’m wearing headphones that block the outside world.”

We’ve all been there in one way or another, but Lou Tortola of Windsor, Canada is looking to change this with the AudioPLUX speaker system for cyclist. Tortola is now looking to Kickstarter to develop these speakers, which are meant to be “away from the ear” while still providing solid audio quality.

The idea is that these won’t suppress ambient sounds, but will still let you enjoy the tunes. Video after the jump