'Nike+iPod': The Work Out Kit

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Technology and exercise have traditionally not made a good pair. The former tends to keep you white, bony and highly sensitive to outside light, the latter produces an athletic, attractive petrol pump attendant once their sports dreams fail. But could that be all set to change…

Apple, in conjunction with favourite Michael Moore target Nike, has announced the Nike+iPod Sports Kit, a rather novel way of getting the geek out of the bedroom. The system uses a sensor, which fits into the insole of a specially made Nike trainer, to communicate with a receiver that plugs into the dock connector of an iPod nano.

The sensor then tracks data such as time, distance, pace and calories and transmits it to the nano which displays it onscreen while a voice over regularly updates you with the details. A ‘Nike Sport Music’ section will be added to the iTunes store with workout mixes, podcasts and even audiobook style advice downloads from athletes including Lance Armstrong and Paula Radcliffe.

An imminent firmware update will add an optional ‘Nike+iPod’ menu item to nanos everywhere and while only one trainer will be available from launch (the Moire – above), a vast array of styles will appear soon after. The whole shebang will launch in July and prices appear very reasonable with the sensor costing just $29 and the Moire boasting a modest RRP of just $100. How they translate on these shores remains to be seen.

So will it get the geeks out the bedroom? Probably not, but it may just make failed jocks computer literature enough to get off the pumps and onto a supermarket counter.

Link:
Nike+iPod Homepage