The Fitbit for Fitness

It seems everyone wants to be fitter. From new years resolutions to gym memberships to costly diets, most everyone is looking for a way to loose weight and gain muscle. If this is you, the Fitbit might be right up you alley. 

The Fitbit is a slim gadget with OLED display that clips on to you anywhere, from jean pocket to shirt collar depending on what your comfort is. The motion sensors within the clip monitor the length and intensity of your daily physical activity, as well as distance, steps taken and calories burned. Even while you sleep the Fitbit counts how long it took to fall asleep, how many times you woke up in the night, and how long you were actually asleep for. 

So how does this help you? Coupled with PC/Mac compatible software, the Fitbit stores the information from your daily routine and allows you to see where your routine is good, and where it could improve. What’s more is the Fitbit website also helps you track calorie intake to help awareness at an even higher level, alongside family and friends. 

Apple's Newest Accessory?

Apple might be getting on the wearable electronics bandwagon with designer Gopinath Prasana’s new iPod concept design, tentatively called the “iBangle.” Taking the miniature size of current iPod Nanos to the next step, the iBangle is a thin metallic bracelet the houses all the normal iPod controls and features in a convent wearable form. 

"The Swimmer's iPod"

It’s been a frugal summer for most, but luckily swimming is still on the agenda. Especially with Michael Phelps’ recent race for Olympic gold, swimming is a hot sport. But in between those races you may have noticed Phelps’ seeming addiction to his iPod, with those token white earbobs popping up every time the camera pans to him.

With the recent jump into the pool, Speedo is just one of many companies that has taken the iPod a bit further.

The Aquabeat is just one of many MP3 player designed for the pool. Instead of purchasing a bulky waterproof case for your iPod, the Aquabeat lets swimmer’s hear their favorite tunes without the worry of destroying an expensive piece of equipment. With a 9-hour battery and a 1GB memory, the Aquabeat hardly reaches the iPod’s memory capacity, but is accommodated to a swimmer’s needs. With features like buoyancy for easy retrieval in the pool, additional waterproof headphones, and a shorter headphone wire, the Aquabeat is tailored for its target audience.

The Aquabeat is a Speedo-designed MP3 player, quite a stretch for a company more known for its swimwear and athletic clothing than its electronics. The player costs $150 and comes with headphones and a carrier case, but no apparatus for attaching the player during a swim.

Other rival players include the

Freedom From Wires, At a Price

You’re sitting there, or perhaps jogging, listening to your favorite playlist when the cord to your headphones gets snagged. It’s happened countless times to me, at the gym, on the handlebars of the bike, even when it’s just in my pocket. Somehow those flimsy little wires will get snagged.

But salvation has come with the advent of wireless headphones. Wireless is everywhere these days, from your Wi-Fi to new wireless eclectic buses, why not put it where it really counts? Using a Bluetooth receiver that plugs into your iPod or MP3 player, these beauties are able to transfer your music without the tangles of a cord.

For someone as prone to tangled cords as myself, I was excited to try them. After a bit of research, I decided to invest in the Logitech FreePulse,

Nike+ SportBand

These days technology is being used in all sorts of ways to help us improve our lives. In most cases electronics are implemented make everyday life move faster, with convenience being the main. Nearly every modern product, in some way, is designed to make things easier for the consumer. But despite all the innovations, one area that remains relatively consistent is that of exercising. Let’s face it, running, in and of itself, is a rudimentary aspect of exercise and short of having a machine work those muscles for you, it isn’t getting any easier. Well, that isn’t precisely true...

Take the Nike+ SportBand, for instance. This watch-like device gets strapped to your wrist and monitors distance, pace, time, and the amount of calories burned. The SportBand accomplishes this feat by using a detachable LINK that is then placed in the Nike+ ready footwear. The LINK itself can be plugged directly into your PC via USB. The running data can then be uploaded to the Nike+ community where further options become available, such as progress tracking, either against oneself or others. The website offers dynamic graphs that depict runner’s stats and can display weekly and monthly totals. You can tell already that Nike really wants to become your digital coach and trainer. So it comes as no surprise that in conjunction with the release of Nike+ SportBand, Nike is also launching Nike+ Coach.

Nike+ Coach will offer a variety of tools for your disposal, for beginners to more advanced runners. For those just starting out, the coaching system provides training programs for 5km, 10km, half-marathon and full-marathon. For those looking beyond introductory training, the system also provides editable training programs that allow advanced runners to tweak settings to optimize results.

Other features of the online system include the ability to set virtual goals which other community members, friends or otherwise, can compete towards. Over the next few months Nike plans to introduce team-oriented programs that allow members to monitor the performance of others within their team as well as providing a system for competition between teams.

All in all, Nike is asserting itself as a powerful ally in any exercise routine and the SportBand further integrates itself into your running lifestyle. And while it won't make running any easier, it will keep your goals in sight, giving you the motivation to work harder and run faster.

Turn Signal Jacket

Bicycle safety is an increasingly pressing issue. As the global community begins a lumbering shift into the greener means of mobilization, the number of pedallers on the city streets is only going to increase. The streets themselves are already rife with dangers and with the decreasing quality of the average driver’s skills, dangers are only going up in frequency. Of crucial import to bicycle safety is visibility and communications or visibly communication. And that is the subject of Leah Buechley’s signal jacket.

Often times it is not easy for bicyclers to communicate with drivers, even with the obvious hand signals in place. What Leah Buechley’s signal jacket design hopes to improve is a heightened level of communication between cyclist and driver. She does this by employing one of the primary means of communication between drivers: the signal light. By embedding LEDs in arrow patterns on the back of a jacket, Buechley creates a highly visible means of informing drivers of your decisions. The device itself is powered by a LilyPad Arduino, a sewable computer chip also designed by Buechley (a very productive student it seems, seem bottom for link).

The design, as intriguing as it is, presents a few difficulties. Firstly, many cyclists need to, you know, transport stuff. And since most Raleighs don’t offer ample trunk space, a backpack is generally required; effectively concealing the very devices intended to be relied upon for safety and communication. Secondly, many serious cyclists have their own biking apparel, which they are partial too. Limiting their choices to one simple jacket may be a turn-off. However, each of these issues could be remedied either with a LED signal-indicating backpack and/or a preference for safety over fashion.

Leah Buechley is a PhD student at the University of Colorado and her homepage can be reached here: