How important is information to an athlete? Today knowing details like heart rate and recovery during training can make all the difference in performance when it comes time to compete. Runners have long been told not to turn their heads as they break stride, but given the vast amount of information on the wrist it is sometimes worth taking the eyes off the course to keep the eyes on the prize.
Cyclists meanwhile compete with all sorts of information including heart rate, power output, distance traveled and much more on handlebar mounted devices. But swimmers are pretty much left in the deep end when it comes to getting the most basic information. That is about to change as the Swimmer’s Talking Heart Rate Monitor can provide that heart rate through audible cues. Additional images
While consumer GPS units have long been “rugged” some specialized field devices have lagged behind. But recently Trimble introduced its next generation of GNSS devices for GIS field applications, including the Trimble Juno 3B and 3D handhelds. These specially computers offer positioning, imaging and communications in a single package.
This week Panasonic announced that will re-enter the European mobile phone market with a waterproof, dustproof phone called the Eluga. While pricey – as much as $650 in American currency – the phones will utilized the Google Android OS.
There is a saying the close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades, but it soon close could be enough when it comes to providing light for bicycles. Right now there are two ways to get light to shine the way – either have it powered by a battery or utilize a dynamo-powered light that works by utilizing the motion of the bike itself. The latter is green, but can still slowly wear down the tire and it requires extra effort for the rider.
Admit it – there are times when you just want to throw your phone. You know you shouldn’t do it but it would feel so good. At last week’s Toy Fair The O was awarded the Popular Science Best of Toy Fair 2012 award for making a way to throw the phone and even make a game of it.
UV light is a common method for purifying water, but there aren’t too many portable options. One is the 
Accessories-maker Snow Lizard Products has introduced what could be the perfect rugged case for the iPhone 4 and 4S: the AQUA TEK S. The tank-like case not only gives your iPhone waterproof protection, but a built-in batter and solar charger gives your iPhone an extra boost of power (with these devices getting more and more power hungry, that’s welcome, especially if you’re outdoors without access to a power outlet).
How important is sleep? For many the lack of quality sleep can mean being sluggish during the day, but it can make all the difference in the world between a good performance and a great performance. Now Zeo, a sleep management company, has announced that it has teamed up with Athletes’ Performance into a training program aimed at elite and professional athletes, as well as military personnel.
Motion tracking devices have made some major strides in the last couple of years, and now InvenSense, a provider of motion tracking technology, announced this week the availability of its MotionFit System Developers Kit (SDK). This promises to help accelerate design and commercialization of wearable sensor devices for the growing fitness and remote health monitoring markets.
Rugged cameras are the thing this season and Pentax Ricoh Imaging has unveiled its new line-up, which includes the Pentax Optio WG-2 and Optio WG-2 GPS digital compact cameras. Both models are waterproof to 40 feet, and of course are dust-proof, shock resistant to a drop of five feet and are freeze-proof to 14° F.