Global popstar and former Spice Girl Mel B has teamed up with BLAZE and Fitness First to spice up the fitness video game market with a range of new products for the Nintendo Wii. The erstwhile Scary Spice began her relationship with Fitness First last year, when she became the not-so-scary face of National Fitness Week, and followed up with a workout DVD titled “Totally Fit.” Now she’s jumping into the video game arena with a range of products, with the first being released next month. Continue reading BLAZE Gets Scary With Fitness First for Wii Based Products
While the general economy in the United States seems to be barely moving, Elasco, Inc. is just wheeling along. The company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deltron, has seen a significant increase in the sales of its high performance roller skate wheels. And we thought roller skates were as dead as disco.
But in fact Elasco has increased sales of its proprietary polyurethane wheels to existing quad skate OEM customers by 116 percent this year. Although part of this could be that consumers are replacing wheels on old skates, as roller skating as a retro activity is catching on, the other part of the equation is that roller derby is also hot again. Continue reading Wheels Keeping on Turning and Turning
How many calls came into question during the recent World Cup competition in South Africa? In just about every competitive sport, referees must call who crossed the line first, or if the ball was inside or outside of a line. Many sports have addressed the issue. Tennis uses a Hawk-Eye technology that films and replays the ball play in question. Cycling uses cameras on the finish line and transponders on each bike. Football draws a digital line in the replay to measure the ball and distance it’s traveled. More technology is on the way.
If you can’t get out to the ballgame, but still want to root, root, root for the home team you can do so from home of course, but it isn’t quite the same. You’re always stuck watching what the TV director wants you to see. That is until now. This year AT&T and WGN-TV are offering a new TV app that lets users view up to four different camera angles of the Chicago Cubs home games at one time. Users can choose from the main WGN-TV Chicago game broadcast as well as six alternate camera angles. This gives viewers the ability to feel like they’re in the stands at Wrigley Field. Continue reading AT&T U-Verse Offers Multiview of Cubs Games
With a list of benefits including improved blood circulation, increased muscle strength and flexibility, better range of motion, better core conditioning and stability, faster recovery enhanced metabolism, increased bone mineral density, reduction of the stress hormone cortisol, elevation of Human Growth Hormone and improved lymphatic flow, who isn’t in line to order a Power Plate exercise machine? You stand on it in a few poses while it vibrates and you’ll achieve all of the above. We’ve never seen an exercise machine that has all the answers before… Oh wait, we have seen this on early Saturday morning infomercials.
We’re not saying this or any Saturday morning infomercial exercise machine has no benefits, but they make big claims. This machine is reminiscent of those old vibration fitness machines from the 1940s. There is some diversity to this machine, it’s a little more than stand and vibrate. You practice poses, and later models come with resistance bands and floor mats. The Power Plate Pro5 AlRdaptive has multiple user settings so a whole household can use the machine calibrated to each user. It is something to look more deeply into before you spend money and take up space in your home. These are the type of machines that ultimately influence people to give up when they don’t work.
When singers Jan and Dean sang about sidewalk they probably never could have envisioned the Sport Technology Flowboard, but unlike the traditional four-wheeled skateboard that we’ve come to know and love (and at times loath after ending up in the ER during finals week), this one uses 14 wheels! The idea behind this unique design is that the it provides riders with vastly greater flexibility in leaning and turning, thus making it far more like an actual surfboard or snowboard than the average skate deck.
According to the company the Flowboard can allow riders to lean up to 45 degrees, which is quite a drastic set up from the typical 25 degrees that you can get from a regular skateboard. The wheels and layout also allow for more curving, which can be a very good when going down hill at speed. Now the board probably can’t handle the half-pipe quite the same way, but it would be fun to watch someone try!
The new Polara golf balls probably wouldn’t have kept Tiger Woods from straying, but they probably could help you shoot straighter. These specially designed golf balls utilize “self-correcting technology” to reduce dreaded hooks and slices by up to 75 percent according to the company. The result should, at least in theory, keep you on fairway and out of the rough or woods, even if it won’t keep a certain pro out of the dog house.
The Polara golf balls are now available in two different models, including the Polara Ultimate Straight with a two-piece construction with 386 dimples, and the Polara Super Straight with a three-piece construction and 386 dimples. Each of these dimples – and there are more of them then in all the Shirley Temple movies combined it seems – is designed with a very specific purpose, and just enough difference in over all shape to help keep the balls flying straight and level. Continue reading Shoot Straight With Polara Golf Balls
Try some stretches before you try this at home and pull something
Think you have what it takes to throw down with Jackie Chan or Jet Li? Chances are you probably aren’t at their level and never will be. So what is an aspiring Kung Fu master to do? You could spend the next few years training, honing your skills and doing all that Karate Kid styled “wax on, wax off” stuff. Or you could fake it and show off your skills in a video game. Of course that means sitting on a couch, which we don’t recommend. As an alternative to just more button mashing, there is the Kung-Fu Live fighting game, which will let players show off their badass fighting skills for the PlayStation Network this fall. The game is currently being developed by the Virtual Air Guitar Company, a Helsinki-based independent game producer and computer vision specialist. And yes, virtual air guitar does sound a bit redundant to us too. Continue reading Kung-Fu Live Lets You be the Next Karate Kid
Today pre-season football training isn’t just limited to weight lifting, running sprints and hitting the tackling dummies. Elite athletes are looking for that special edge to become faster, smarter and stronger, because this edge can truly mean the difference between winning and losing. Now it looks like many NCAA athletic programs and other performance institutions around the country are casting an eye on sports vision training equipment. Who knew that eye-hand coordination could be something you could actually use as part of your training, but that’s exactly what Dynavision D2 can bring to the field or court. Continue reading Eye-Hand Coordination Gets Serious Attention From Dynavision
Helmets should be top of the list for new gear, as football season gets ready to kick off. Concussions are an ongoing problem, and many teams use reconditioned helmets rather than new ones, which exacerbates the problem. There’s no complete safeguard for preventing head injuries for players who choose to go out on the field, but every little bit helps. Xenith, a company founded by a Harvard grad who played as quarterback on the varsity team, has a new design to help cushion and protect the head. Continue reading Xenith X1: Building a Better Brain Bucket
Earlier this year Adidas unveiled its miCoach system, which put sensors on a runner’s shoes as well as a device on the arm to measure distance, pace and even stride rate. Users could get a lot of information, and could even sync the data to a website. Now the company has taken the next step by introducing a miCoach application for the iPhone and BlackBerry that is meant to work as a virtual personal and real-time trainer.
As with the miCoach devices, this app utilizes GPS capabilities, where real-time pace-based coaching and tracking is provided. The app essentially transforms a smartphone into a personal guide complete with voice coaching, personalized and sports-specific training regimes, workout calendar and workout feedback. The app also monitors, manages and analyses progress over time. Continue reading Adidas Brings miCoarch to iPhone and BlackBerry
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is currently co-chair and trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will offer the keynote address at the upcoming 2010 mHealth Summit to be held November 8 – 10 in Washington, D.C. Gates will address the potential of mobile technologies to improve health outcomes in the developing world. This interactive discussion will take part on November 9 at 1:00pm ET. Continue reading Bill Gates to Keynote 2010 mHealth Summit
Ki Fit armband device knows when you've been walking, it knows when you're awake.
My workout doesn’t feel complete if it’s without a heart rate monitor. It’s like driving without a seatbelt. But even my trusty heart rate monitor is somewhat lacking in the data it provides. The Ki Fit, available in the U.K., is a device worn on your arm, and tracks all kinds of movement and body chemistry to give you more information than how hard your heart is pounding during a sprint.
The Ki Fit system tracks calorie burn; physical activity; steps taken; sleep duration and sleep efficiency. Through a subscription to Ki Fit Online Activity Manager, you can analyze the data along with a food log and other reporting. Certain functions such as the physical activity and calorie count are measured by an internal accelerometer. Another sensor can detect your hydration and sweat levels.
