Gadget | Evolving Consumer

DeLorme to Introduce Award-Winning inReach Two-Way Satellite Communicator

If a product wins a Best of Show honor for a product that isn’t even out yet you know it is probably something special. DeLorme, maker of GPS and satellite communication technologies has been honored with an Outside Magazine Gear of the Show award and GearJunkie.com Best of Show award for the new inReach two-way satellite communicator.

From the early reports this device is the next best thing to Captain Kirk’s communicator and it utilizes a number of unique advantages compared to other satellite communicators. This device relies on the market-leading Iridium satellite network, so inReach can deliver two-way text messaging with full-pole-to-pole global coverage and message delivery confirmation. It also provides remote tracking.

When paired with either an Android smartphone or a DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w handheld GPS, the inReach lets users send and receive 160-character messages to and from family and friends. Messages can also be posted to Facebook and Twitter. In case of emergency, inReach users can send messages describing their situation so that responders can come prepared. Continue reading DeLorme to Introduce Award-Winning inReach Two-Way Satellite Communicator

Road Bike Grips Heat Up!

For years motorcyclists or snowmobile riders have had the option of heated grips to warm their hands during times of colder weather. If your hands get too cold, the ability to control your ride can be made much more difficult and become dangerous. Coming this September, A’ME Grips is introducing their new Heated Road Bike Wrap for cyclists. This unique product will be a nice cold weather option for road cyclists, cyclocross riders and bike commuters; and provide a comfortable hand temperature to improve blood flow reducing fatigue and maximizes dexterity and performance. Continue reading Road Bike Grips Heat Up!

Inspired by the USA Pro Cycling Challenge to Climb Some Colorado Mountain Passes?

After watching the great coverage on Versus or NBC of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (UPCC), you may be inspired to come out to Colorado and tackle some of the highest, paved passes in the country. One of the great cycling experiences in the state of Colorado is climbing in the mountains, but it is difficult to pick your routes with just a road map. The state has a tremendous selection of canyons, passes and mountains to ascend with some of the most breathtaking views imaginable. Over the years my wife and I have been drawn to climb many of the passes and “classic climbs” in the state. We started in the San Juan mountains of southwest Colorado climbing Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain.

(Video after the jump)

Continue reading Inspired by the USA Pro Cycling Challenge to Climb Some Colorado Mountain Passes?

Go Deep With This HD Pocket

Summer may be winding down, but there is still time to hit the beach. Most cameras don’t play well in the water, but now you can record those fleeting moments of summer, and time in the sand and surf with the new Vivitar DVR 690 HD underwater digital pocket video camera. While a sleek camera, it might still have you feeling almost like Jacque Cousteau.

The camera is sleek, easy to use and offers waterproof features with a built-in microphone and speaker, and even includes an SD memory card slot. The HD camera, which is available now for $59.99 also features 4x zoom capability so you can get your close ups.

The camera also comes with software so you can upload your underwater adventures to Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, Picasa Albums, Photobucket, and YouTube, so you can remember what it was like when life was a beach.

Vivitar Official Website

Transforming Laptop – More Than Meets the Eyes

The popularity of “Transformers” is a mystery to me, as I don’t exactly get why a robot would want to “transform” into the shape of a car or airplane. What’s wrong with being a robot? But when it comes to computers, transformers make a lot more sense.

GammaTech proves this fact with its newest mobile, rugged and convertible Durabook, the U12C. This computer is both regular laptop with a full-sized keyboard and is a tablet computer with LCD touch screen. It is ideal for on-the-go field technicians, mobile professionals, journalists who don’t work in a press room and just about anyone who needs to take their computer on the go.

“U12C is designed so it can be easily used in the most demanding professional environments,” says Jen Chen, GammaTech president. “Mobile professionals should have access to fully featured, convertible notebook computers that are rugged enough to stand up to grueling conditions. The GammaTech U12C has answered the call for dependability in mission critical situations.” Continue reading Transforming Laptop – More Than Meets the Eyes

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

IDEA: NewYu Helps Users Get Fit to a New You

This week at the IDEA Show in Los Angeles attendees were given a chance to see a product that could help make a “new you.” The NewYu Connected Fitness Monitor and Services is a comprehensive system for monitoring and managing wellness goals all day long. It tracks exercise and everyday activities, providing wearer’s with information on how many calories were burned.

It utilizes motion detection and advanced pattern recognition technology that detects and identifies specific body movements, the small and lightweight NewYu easily clips anywhere on the torso or to the pocket. It can monitor basic activities including walking and running, but also more complex fitness workouts with bikes, elliptical and step machines, and even keep track of activities like cleaning, cooking and shopping. The result is a complete picture of calories burned throughout the day – not just while working out. Continue reading IDEA: NewYu Helps Users Get Fit to a New You

Multiuse Headlight

As summer comes to an end dusk comes a little earlier. This means night time riding is picking up as well, and here is where a little illumination can ensure that you get home safely. River Rocks Designs has introduced a new affordable wearable light for cycling, hiking or even for spelunker helmets.

The TecTrek Headlamp is hands free and compact. It features a weather proof O-ring polycarbonate casing, with a l125 lumen LED light that is ideal for dark inside and outdoor activities. The light features multiple color modes – including red for night vision retention or emergency use, blue for fluid tracking, and green for night map reading. The red can also be switched to repeat to be used as single light.

The headlamp also allows for an adjustable focus, from long range to wide field soft light, and can be dimmed when the brightest light isn’t needed. It can run on full power white light for more than four hours, or low setting for over 20 hours, and green for greater than 100 hours! About the only downside is that it runs on AAA alkaline batteries, but at $34.99 it still sounds like a great deal and a good way to shed some light on your nighttime activities.

River Rock Designs, Inc. Official Website

Panasonic Gets Tough With New Tablet

Tablet PCs maybe great for taking on the go, you can do some web browsing, snap and view pictures and even use it as a GPS device. But the iPad and other tablets are so delicate that taking out in the backyard is roughing it. For real adventures you need something that can stand up to a bit of dirt, dust and all the other things the great outdoors has to offer.

Panasonic has introduced such a device in the Toughbook H2 tablet, which runs Windows and has an Intel Core i5-2557M vPro processor running at 1.7GHz. It weighs in at 3.5 pounds so it isn’t feather light, but it is still compact enough for those long treks. More importantly it offers 6.5 hours of battery life and has a fast charging hot swap battery option. Panasonic puts 4GB of RAM inside by default and it has a 320GB HDD for storage. The machine can also be fitted with a 128GB SSD. Best of all, the machine features aTransReflective Plus 10.1 inch screen that can be seen even in backlit, and it supports dual touch with a digitizer and works as a touchscreen.

This is more of a business machine for field workers, but we could see it making its way to the “civilian” market too. It offers GPS, 2MP camera and even an RFID reader. The biggest downside now, besides the hefty price of $3,559, is that the H2 is only available with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as Gobi 200 3G, but 4G will be available later this year. But this very much could be the beginning of truly rugged tablets.

[Via Geeky Gadgets: Panasonic Toughbook H2 Rugged Tablet Computer Debuts]

Magellan Adds DigitalGlobe to Help eXplore the World

Adventure travelers and those who like to get off the beaten path and see the world will now know where they’re going, even when doing exploring in distant lands. Magellen GPS has announced a new series of worldwide satellite and aerial imagery-enhanced maps for its Magellan eXplorist and Magellan Triton handheld GPS units. These new maps provide Magellan handheld GPS users with high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery from DigitalGlobe, a leading provider of earth imagery solutions.

Globe trekking travelers can now get detailed and precise overhead pictures of their surroundings while on the go, and this is meant to help users discover nearby environmental features during outdoor activities. This can be used for hunters for pre-season scouting, and for identifying game funnels, while anglers can use to locate new fishing holes. Geocachers can spot obstacles before encountering them, while hikers and outdoor enthusiasts can get a preview of surroundings to make sure they don’t miss something truly special.

The DigitalGlobe images are available to Magellan users for virtually any area on the planet, from well-traveled parks and sites to more remote and rarely visited locations. The new DigitalGlobe-enhanced maps are compatible with the following Magellan handheld GPS units: eXplorist 310, eXplorist 510, eXplorist 610, and eXplorist 710; and Triton 400, Triton 500, Triton 1500 and Triton 2000. Continue reading Magellan Adds DigitalGlobe to Help eXplore the World

Speedo Counts Laps With AquaCoach

Cyclists rely on cycling computers to track speed, distance and even cadence, while heart rate monitors can track calories and workout intensity. Now Speedo and Pool-Mate swimming computer Swimovate are partnering to develop the AquaCoarch watch, which can provide swimmers automatically detect not only laps, but also the strokes used, along with distance, speed and number of strokes, as well as calories burned during a workout.

This watch is water-resistant (but of course) to 100 meters or 328 feet, and can work in any pool over 15 meters (49 feet) long. It can remember up to 50 swim sessions too, so users can compare their latest workouts. The key to this device is that it features an accelerometer along with custom algorithms that can count individual strokes while keeping track of laps by detecting the pauses that occur when swims do the flip thing to change direction.

(Video after the jump) Continue reading Speedo Counts Laps With AquaCoach

Is Motorola Going to Give Nike+ a Run?

Motorola has seen many bumps in the road. Once a dominant player in the mobile phone space (and a title sponsor in the world of professional cycling), the company has many times seemed down for the count, but now it appears it could be up and running again and ready to sprint against Nike.

Rumor has it that Motorola is looking to take on the Nike+ SportWatch. Online images suggest a “tricked out nano watch,” one which has been described as an “all-in-one fitness and music personal fitness device” along with GPS for “accurate performance tracking.” So far the device hasn’t actually been made public, and has no actual name (MotoActive is one rumor). The word is also that this watch can sync to a PC for post workout analysis. All this is based on an apparent online survey to help name the name – which is where MotoActive seems to have come from.

What is interesting is that this seems to be a multi-use monitor and music player, with some interesting music features. We are hearing that the “smart music player” can compile a list of songs based on the tunes that help you sweat your best. Let’s hope that doesn’t mean that it downloads “Let’s Get Physical” and “Eye of the Tiger” for you!

[Via Engadget: Motorola considering Nike+ SportWatch contender?]

Carbon Fiber – Not Just for Aircraft and Bikes

What’s not to love about carbon fiber? The truly space age material that made big waves in aerospace and of course racecars, and has become the standard material for many high-end bicycle frames, as well as seeing use in surfboards, golf clubs and countless other fitness products. Now the same material is starting to head to the world of fashion, and because it looks good and is quite rigid and durable, the material is ideal for protecting those high-tech toys in a high-tech way. This is the idea behind Smartt Mate, a new back cover for the iPad 2 from monCarbone. Unlike leather or even plastic covers, the carbon fiber Smartt Mate is light-weight and will help protect the case from scratches, and as a carbon fiber is UV resistant, can help from discoloration from sunlight.

“It’s rare that you see a new material like carbon fiber transforming categories and claiming new ground in the competitive world of design and fashion,” said Ming Chen, Managing Director of monCarbone. “We’re watching the hallmark of good design as it happens – discovery of something truly new and trend-setting andd its adoption by discerning people as a way to express themselves through fashion that stands out for all the right reasons.”

The Smartt Mate covers the rear and sides of the iPad 2 with no unnecessary cutouts. It is just 0.35mm (less than 0.023 inches) thick, and weights just 40g, while there are still 690,000 carbon fiber strands with each cover. It is available in classic colors including Mystery Black and Mystery Black – with special edition colors including Luminous Silver and Parisian Champagne – to be announced soon. Sounds “smartt” to us.

monCarbone Official Website