From Gizmodo: The Best Bike Lock
Leave a bicycle locked up on the street, and a pro with the right tool can spring it faster than you can buy a Slurpee. We’re not bike thieves—not even close—and we were able to slice through cheap locks with $20 bolt cutters and a hacksaw, on our first try. Continue reading Weekend Reading List (6.30.2012): Battle of the Locks, Tracking Slams, Tour Preview, Tour Winning Bikes
Nike is finally bringing its popular Nike+ Running app to the Android ecosystem. The app, which was originally released in 2010 for iOS, connects to nikeplus.com and lets runners track, share, and compare their runs using their smartphone.
Nike has simultaneously updated the iOS version of the app to version 4.0 and it too has assumed the Nike+ Running name. The GPS-enabled app now includes a widget option that lets you start a run from your phone’s home screen. You can also configure a list of “power songs” to start playing when you need a little motivation on the track.
Like most fitness apps, Nike+ Running lets users share their workout data on Facebook or Twitter. A new feature also lets you record the shoes you run in along with your cumulative mileage for that specific pair of shoes. Video after the jump
MSN is introducing MSN Healthy Living, a new health and lifestyle website that will feature wellness content from respected brands including Prevention, Health.com, MayoClinic, Harvard and EatingWell. This is also a spin-off of MSN Helath, but with a redesign that includes an emphasis on wellness. The idea is help readers live more healthy and proactive lives
Sounds like an idea we might have had!
Consider this the “main course” for fitness buffs who want to compare stats with others. MapMyRide has unveiled the Courses feature that should inspire some (hopefully friendly) competition) for users of the service on iPhone, BlackBerry and Android.
The Courses offers four categories including climbs, descents, member create routes, and actual stage races events. As with Strava the “fastest rider” in any of these can get social medals, but it is also more than just having the best time. With all the official courses there is also a new monthly point system, complete with leader board that track event leaders, those with the most points in climbs and descents, the “guru” or person who rode a course the most times, and even the fastest times. For those who want to just push themselves there is the ability to track personal bests. Continue reading MapMyRide Adds Courses
While the Olympic trials are underway gamers can get a chance to go for the gold beginning this week. SEGA of America announced the release of London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3.
The game will offer single and multiplayer completion and will feature support for the Kinect for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move.
This will allow gamers to get off the couch and not just watch the events but see if they have the stuff to go all the way. There is even an Online Multiplayer mode that allows players to show their National Pride as points go towards a global leader board.
So if you didn’t qualify for the games, don’t have a plane ticket to London and can’t wait until July 27 to watch it on TV, now is your chance to go to the game.
Designing a completely new suit for swimmers isn’t so much about going back to the drawing board as it is about going back to the desktop, and the Aqualab. That isn’t some “Bat Cave” secret base for lackluster super hero Aquaman, but it could help competitive swimmers see gold in London in a few weeks. This was also the center of a simulation that helped the designers of the revolutionary Speedo Fastskin Racing System, which utilized the engineering simulation software ANSYS.
When worn together as a complete system, a Fastskin suit, cap and goggle can reduce full-body passive drag by up to 16.6 percent, improve oxygen economy by up to 11 percent (enabling the athlete to swim stronger for longer), and reduce active body drag by up to 5.2 percent. And to help make this possible Speedo looked to ANSYS. Continue reading Fastskin Swimsuit Comes from the Aqualab
There seems to be no shortage of iPhone cycle computer apps. Most of these utilize GPS to track speed, distance and even elevation. What they can’t generally track is the cadence of the pedal stroke.
But now Wahoo Fitness has introduced the Blue SC Speed and Cadence Sensor, which works with the iPhone 4S and new iPad. It can be paired with cycling apps such as Cyclemeter and Strava, or of course Wahoo’s own Fitness and Odometer app. The add on hardware attaches to a bike just like any other cadence sensor but in this case transmits directly to the handset via Bluetooth 4.0 technology. It is available now for about $60 for those looking to watch their spin a little more closely. Continue reading Wahoo Gets in Cadence for iPhone 4S
This week Microsoft and Nike announced that Nike+ Kinect Training would be coming this holiday season. Rather than just another fitness game, this would offer new connectivity between the Nike+ software system for fitness tracking and the Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360.
“This experience gives you access to the same assessment, training methods and real time feed that we provide our elite athletes,” said Stefan Olander, head of digital spots at Nike. Video after the jump
We knew the Hawkman could catch some air, but now comes word that Tony Hawk is teaching science – sort of. Actually Tony Hawk: Rad Science is a new family-friendly exhibit at Lawrence Hall of Science on the UC Berkeley campus.
This presentation teaches visitors about physics through skateboarding of course, and re-creates the typical skate park or empty pool while including footage of Hawk doing what he does best. The exhibit features more than 20 interactive experiences where visitors of all ages can understand how a man on a board can do what he does. Some of these allow parents and kids to “ride” stationary boards – and this teaches how center of mass needs to be placed to perform those tricks. Safety is also emphasized at the exhibit in the experience called “Wipehout Ambulance,” which details how inventions such as helmets, kneepads and wrist guards help keep riders from taking a ride in the meat wagon.
The exhibit will run through early September.
While all eyes in the world of video games maybe on Los Angeles and E3 this week, last week i-Surfsimulators – who have been making surfing simulations since 1992 in their native Hawaii – have announced the launch of a new line of portable event systems that provide virtual “waterless” surfing, including two-player-on-screen interactive games.
The software was designed so that it can be easily custom tailored by anyone who has access to any standard PC – no programming skills needed. And while i-Surfsimulators is about events, we think that if this company talked to those at E3 it could easily be converted into a game worthy for home play as well.
We’ve heard of distance learning and even distance training, but now a Michigan State University study suggests there is a benefit to virtually training to go the distance. The study suggests that the presence of a moderately more capable virtual partner can significantly boost the motivation – by as much as 100 percent – to stick with an exercise program.
Essentially this is akin to having a friend who continually pushes you, and the research out of Michigan State University’s Department of Kinesiology shows women taking part in cycling exercises exercised twice as long when working with a virtual partner, results the authors said can be used to help people meet physical activity recommendations. Continue reading Virtual Trainer Helps Real World Training
Who needs a trip to the clubhouse to share their time on the green? The Golf GameBook app for iOS and Android allows golfers to record and share golf performances, photos and scorecards, and post them to the GolfBook Clubhouse or directly to social networking sites such as Facebook. Users can comment on friends’ games in real-time, use it as way to set up tee times and see who can make a round. With the app friends can even create leagues and tournaments. The only drawback is that users might tend to watch their handsets as much as the ball!
The U.S. Preventive Medicine’s Macaw has won in the Mobile Applications: Health, Wellness and Fitness category of CTIA’s Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards. Winners were announced earlier this month at the CTIA Wireless 2012 trade who, and the awards are in its seventh year, honoring the industry’s most innovative wireless products and services in the areas of mobile apps, consumer electronics, enterprise and vertical markets and infrastructure. Video after the jump