The company that has made its business in helping people find their way is now looking at helping users find their way to better fitness. This week Magellan announced its new Magellan Active Website for fitness activity tracking. And to help users get there the company has released its new Switch and Switch Up crossover GPS watches.
Magellan Active’s Dashboard is designed to help multisport athletes from a single location for viewing all of their performance activities. Users are provided with total control of data and given the ability to quickly search through all of their activities with a range of filters. Activity analysis is easy with summaries, lap comparisons and easy-to-read maps and charts. Multisport athletes can further record each segment on their Switch GPS watch, upload the data to Magellan Active, and then view all of the segments with a single view. This ‘True Multisport’ experience presents multisport activities naturally with a single view of the entire activity and the ability to drill into each segment such as swimming, biking, running and transitions. Continue reading Magellan Gets Active and Switch’s Up
We’ve seen a few new “upcycled” bags recently, which make good use of old tubes and other materials. Timbuk2’s new bags aren’t using upcycled materials but they could instead power UP a device, as the bag maker has teamed up with Joey Energy. 
We’ve seen a number of waterproof cases for the iPhone and iPad, and we’d suggest to users of those devices to seriously consider such aftermarket products. This week it was reported that Apple has gotten patent approval for a water-damage detection system. The patent reads:
Having a monkey on the back is usually equated to a serious problem that won’t go away. But having a Solarmonkey on the back could actually solve a problem of juicing up digital equipment while on the go – thus solving a rather annoying (if not exactly serious) problem.
For those who like the look of a traditional watch – and there are a few of those people out there – yet want a timepiece that does more than just tell time, the Casio Pathfinder PAW5000-1 could be one to consider. It features an integrated digital compass, altimeter, barometer and thermometer, along with Tough Movement, which means that it checks and corrects the hand positioning (if necessary) at the 55 minute mark of the hour.
Last week we noted that Sony was diving into the rugged camcorder space, and now JVC has announced the GC-XA1 ADIXXION, a pocket sized camera the is just .28 pounds and is freeze-proof, dustproof and waterproof to five meters (16.4 feet), while being shockproof to two meters (6.5 feet).
Cycling computers can do it all these days, but that’s not always a good thing. Cyclists – especially at the pro level – aren’t all generalists or general classification riders. There are sprinters and there are climbers too, and the latter could use some specialized equipment.
While the wearable HD video camera market already has many strong contenders Sony looks to enter the area with a camcorder that will reportedly feature Sony’s SteadyShot image stabilization technology.
Much has been made about the possibilities of what can be used with brainwaves, including in tracking responses during fitness sessions, most of the interfaces seem to be far more geek than chic. While working out should be about the working out and not a fashion show, brainwave interfaces can often be too cumbersome to use while working out.
We often wonder how the castaways on Gilligan’s Island managed not to break that small radio. We know from one episode that it had rechargeable batteries, but it still seemed to be pretty tough for its day. Today those taking a three hour tour, or deciding to trek into the wilderness might consider something more durable.