Gadget | Evolving Consumer

Carry a Reservoir on Your Back

Dehydration on the trail is not an option. One, maybe two bottles tucked into cages on your bike only supply so much fluid. A backpack hydration system such as the Osprey Packs Hydraulics line Raptor Series gives you 2- and 3-liters of H20. The Raptor Series is focused on mountain biking and trail running, giving you a few pockets to stash gear in a streamlined design. Osprey puts a great deal of design into its pack.

Start with the water reservoir. Three of the four Raptor styles come with 3-liter reservoirs; the streamlined Raptor 6 has a 2-liter capacity. The reservoir is built with a plate that aligns with the contours of your back so the water doesn’t barrel. You won’t feel the shape of water as it all buckles at the bottom of the tank while you ride. The framework of the straps are constructed by perforated molded foam to create a lightweight and flexible support. The same foam is ridge molded to create a ventilated back panel. Lightweight webbing adds reinforcement surrounds both the straps and back panel. The A LidLock helmet clip straps through the vent holes on your helmet — when you’re off the bike — so the two stay together and ready to pick up and go. The bite valve rotates to an open and closed (no leak) position, and has a magnet so the sip portion stays in a handy location on your sternum strap instead of flying around with every bump on the trail.

Features are too many to go into. Research, trials, and serious evaluation went into the development of the Raptor Series hydration packs. Every pocket, strap, and tab is built for a specific need while the unnecessary bits of a backpack were left out to keep the pack lightweight and streamlined for a more enjoyable ride.

Osprey Raptor Series ($79 to $119)

The Pocket Knife Redesigned

This is not your father’s Swiss Army Knife. The Switch is a customizable tool created by crowd source product design company Quirky. The Switch is the framework of a multi-blade pocket knife and 18 tools you can insert into the frame. The tool comes with three interior axles. The small blade holds two-to-six attachments; medium holds four-to-10; and the large axle holds seven-to-13 tools. You can configure those you need from the attachments including a standard knife, pliers, scissors, nail file, tweezers, thin flathead screwdriver, Phillips-head screwdriver, eyeglass Phillips-head screwdriver, eyeglass flathead screwdriver, wood saw, serrated blade, corkscrew, combination bottle opener and flathead screwdriver, combination can opener and wire stripper, pen, magnifying glass, LED flashlight, and 1GB USB memory stick. Phew, that’s a tool for MacGyver. Set up the Switch for IT duty, or take a few tools such as the knife, wood saw, serrated blade, LED flashlight and a few other tools for your outdoor activities like your next camping trip or Kayak excursion.

New Bluetooth Spec Announced

While Wi-Fi and WiMAX get all the big hype, there is another popular wireless protocol that is still going strong. That of course is Bluetooth, the PLAN (or personal local area network) protocol. And now the technology is getting a Dick Tracy worthy makeover ala watches. These have been around for a while, but soon could be replacing other wireless technologies for broadcasting short distances.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced that the forthcoming Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0 will feature powerful low energy mode that could have new applications for health, sports and fitness as well as for security and home entertainment. This could mean that Bluetooth technology could be used for heart rate monitors, cycle computers, running computers and other devices that currently work on RF protocols. The benefit of Bluetooth is that it could send the information up to 200 feet, rather than just a few dozen inches. It could also work to transfer information from a monitor to a computer after a workout.

It could also be more reliable than RF, and for anyone that’s tried to get a heart rate monitor or cycle computer to sync right without interference knows how that can help make a work out all the more enjoyable.

Cycle Computing Gets a New Design

In the bright sun, in a competitive road race, it can be difficult to read your cycle computer. And even harder to change the display. The Polar CS500 remedies that with a large diamond-shaped display and rocker switch operation. The computer mounts to any bike with a reinforced composite metal dual lock bike mount. In the mount the computer can be adjusted with the tap of your thumb with the two-way rocker switch. Toggle the display to track speed, distance, cadence, heart rate, calories burned, incline, altitude, ascent and descent and temperature. What the CS500 lacks is a GPS reading, which competitive cycle computers from Garmin and other manufacturers provide.

The CS500 is compatible with Polar’s W.I.N.D. technology, which eliminates the issue of data drop-outs or cross-talk between cycling computers and also includes 2.4 GHz transmission. The computer can be customized and used on up to three different bikes, and has a drink reminder that alerts you to hydrate on those long rides.

A bit pricey, the CS500 is for serious riders, mainly those who race. The base set includes the handlebar unit, WearLink W.I.N.D. fabric chest strap, CS speed sensor W.I.N.D., and Dual Lock Bike Mount for $319.95. The CS500 cadence set is $359.95, the Power Output Sensor W.I.N.D. is available as a separate accessory for $359.95, and DataLink, which connects wirelessly to your computer can be added on for $54.95.

Polar

GPS Tracks Pace During Run, Not Turns

GarminForerunner110mw — Garmin Forefunner 110 tracks progress on your workouts so you can keep your eye on pace.

When your feet hit the road, you have different demands on GPS than in your car. You don’t need turn-by-turn directions, you need data. Speed. Distance. Devices for runners are sometimes bulky, sometimes difficult to use. Garmin is about to release its Forerunner 110. This GPS device is a watch, and just about the size of an average sport watch or heart rate monitor. It’s packed with featuers.

Forerunner 110 has GPS and a heart rate monitor. Once you set it at the beginning of a run it tracks where you go on your run and your heart rate. From this data it calculates your pace, distance run, calories burned, and stores the information until you upload it to your profile on Garmin Connect. You can track your training progress, look back on a whole season of running, or just see where you’ve been by keeping data on your profile. This is one addition to the standard heart rate monitor we like.

Garmin Web site

Garmin Forerunner 110
Garmin Connect

British Boot Camp on Your iPhone

BMFMyFitnessInstructor — Workout in your own time and location with My Fitness Instructor.

It’s a proven fact that some things are better with a British accent. These include political speeches, the evening news, and of course romantic comedies. Soon to be added to that list: fitness instruction. British Military Fitness, a company founded by a retired British Major as an alternative to “the lycra clad, Swiss ball using, water fountain world of gyms,” is releasing a My Fitness Instructor app for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch this week.

My Fitness Instructor delivers custom workouts to your iPhone so you can conduct your workout anytime and anywhere, fitting with the company’s belief that the world is your gym and your body is your running machine. Each workout will be different from the last. You can choose from a number of instructors and select your workout goals. Begin your workout. An audio clip will play where the instructor walks you through each of a number of exercises such as crunches, twistsets, leg lifts, and other moves. If you aren’t sure how to do the move, you can watch a video demonstration. My Fitness Instructor from British Military Fitness gives you a disciplined workout with the freedom of when you want it.

British Military Fitness

My Workout Instructor App

Garmin Offers New Edge for Tour of California

Going off for a long bike ride can be enjoyable, even if you’re not sure of your final destination. But there are times when knowing where you are going is crucial, and for those times a reliable GPS device is a must. To help you on your way Garmin has introduced the new Edge 500, a new nuvi navigation device that features designed inspired by the iconic orange and blue patterns of the Team-Garmin-Transitions.

The new Edge 500 in both argyle and black and white versions will be introduced at the Tour of California this year, while the argyle nuvi models will sold exclusively during the race from May 16-23. The Edge 500 ($349.99 MSRP from the official site) is ideal for racers or just those who want to keep their bikes as light as possible. The device is a mere two ounces, but still features a high-sensitivity GPS receiver that needs no calibration, and thus can be easily swapped between bikes. It connects wirelessly to third-party power meters, and can track speed, distance, time, GPS position, elevation, calories burned, and even climb and descent. This info can be displayed and reviewed post-ride at Garmin Connect.

The device further uses a barometric altimeter to pinpoint changes in elevation, and it can further be paired wirelessly with Garmin speed/cadence sensors. It features 18 hours of battery life, so it will probably be going long after most of us have called it a day as well!

And finally for the pro wannabes, in April Slipstream Sports and Felt Bicycles will be giving subscribers to Garmin’s fitness newsletters a chance to buy a team replica Felt F1 (the model the pros will be riding this season), completely built by the team mechanics and packaged with the argyle Edge 500.

Team Garmin-Transitions
Slipstream Sports

Curling Goes High Tech

Today marks the beginning of the action sport of curling in the 2010 Olympic Games. OK, we’re joking about the action, but the truth is that the sport has also gotten some high tech aids this year. The Edmonton Sun ran a feature this week that notes how the Canadians are using various advances such sensors, along with high-speed cameras to help.

Clearly even a sport using nothing more than a “rock,” brooms and ice can go high tech in the new millennium.

Wind Simulator Helps Skeleton Riders Fly

Riding a thin board down a track made of ice, and doing it headfirst would be enough to scare the life out of you (And we say this with absolutely no disrespect to Georgian luge racer Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was tragically killed last week at the end of a training run. Our condolences go out to his family and his teammates).

Maybe that is why this sport is called the “skeleton,” which was permanently added to the Olympic Games in 2002. The sport evolved from a form of tobogganing called cresta sledding, and dates to the 1880s. The difference today is that riders only use their bodies to guide the sled, instead of using skates to help steer. The U.S. Olympic skeleton team prepared with help from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York where engineering professor Timothy Wei and his team built a special custom-made simulator to help understand wind resistance. But they should know against a highly trained athlete, resistance even of the wind variety if futile.

We wish all the skeleton and luge riders safe runs!

Via Scientific American

Bell Canada Offers Exclusive Olympic Themed Phone

Even if you never make the podium – or even see the games in person – you can feel the Olympic spirit with the Samsung Omnia II touchscreen smartphone. Available to our friends to the north from Bell Canada, this handset was designated the Official Mobile Device of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The i8000 Omnia II is a Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional powered handset, and it further lets users get in on the action with Samsung’s Wireless Olympic Works (WOW) communications platform, which provides real-time information on the games.

Other features of the OMNIA II:

5megapixel camera with dual LED flash
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth v2.0
MicroUSB port
GPS receiver
2GB/8GB/16GB internal memory available
microSD card slot

Panasonic Unveils FULL HD 3D Theatre for Olympics

If you’re lucky enough to be at the Olympic Games in Vancouver do you really want to check out TV? Actually, maybe you do, at least if its Panasonic’s Full HD 3D Theatre, which will show off the company’s new HDTVs. So if you’re in Vancouver, but can’t see the opening ceremonies or other events, head over to one of the two Panasonic theatres at David Lam Park, which will be showcasing the Opening Ceremony, as well as highlights of the 2010 Winter Games including the video of Sarah Brightman performing Panasonic’s song, “Shall be Done.”

The Panasonic sets will be released later this year, and available in 50-inch, 54-inch, 58-inch and a massive 65-inch screen sizes. These reproduced images alternately at 60 frames per second for each eye for a total of 120 frames per second. To experience this users do need the viewer to wear high-precision 3D eyewear with shutters driven in synchronization with the video, but viewers are treated to separate 1920×1080 full-HD images. So even if you can’t make it to Vancouver, you’ll be able to feel like you’re in London for the next Summer Olympics in 2012.

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

Chocolates are said to be good for your health, but why not give gifts that are good for the heart and get your sweetie moving. That’s a gift for the heart! KineticShift has a few recommendations to get you on the right track this Valentine’s Day.

Oregon Scientific: SmartHeart SE102 Heart Rate Monitor

Oregon Scientific SmartHeart HeartRate Monitor — Measure heartbeats per minute with the SmartHeart from Oregon Scientific

This water resistant monitor tracks heart rate, calories burned, average heart rate, and vibrates to send alerts. The SmartHeart features a touch-sensitive lens so you can toggle through settings with a tap.

(Oregon Scientific HeartSmart heart rate monitor ; $49.99)

Urbanears: Tanto Headphones

Listen to music with style during workouts or jaunts to the store with Urbanears Tanto headphones. The retro-style headphones has a fabric cord to add strength and has 36 mm handmade drivers. The remote/microphone lets the headphones double for a headset with a cell phone.

(Urbanears; $39.99)

Speck: PixelSkin Case

Speck PixelSkin for mobile phones — Shield mobile phones from breaking with a silicon case from Speck.

Protect your sweetie’s phone during workouts with Speck’s PixelSkin. The no-slip grip is due to its textured silicon construction. The phone-specific case provides access to all the phone’s ports and controls. For Valentine’s Day, Speck is offering 25 percent off red, pink, and purple phones.

(Speck PixelSkin ; $34.95)

Nike: Lightweight Running Gloves

They say cold hands, warm heart. That doesn’t mean your love’s digits should freeze off by the end of winter. Lightweight Running Gloves from Nike uses a Dri-FIT material made from high-performance, microfiber polyester fabric to wick sweat from hands to relieve runners and those just smitten of sweaty palms.

(Nike Lightweight Running Gloves; $15.00)

Under Armour: Metal

Keep him warm on the slopes or any other outdoor activity in the extreme cold. Metal has diamond-faced ColdGear construction to remove moisture while holding in warmth. The top has ventilation zones for heat release and temperature regulation. It also features flatlock seams to increase mobility without causing irritation.

(Under Armour Metal; $79.99)

Energizer Lights Up Your Run

At 60 lumens the Energizer Micro LED Headlight will shed light on your evening run.

Evening runs get to be a bit daunting in the winter months. It gets dark, and you want to be sure you can see and be seen. That’s especially true in residential or even rural areas where streets may not be lit to brighter-than-day standards. It’s for these late-day runs and camping that the Energizer Micro LED Headlight comes in use. The LED light packs 60 lumens into a small light, and is waterproof to 1 meter, so you can even use it in the rain.

The light is mounted to an adjustable elastic band that fits snugly around your head, and the single AA battery fits discreetly in the back. The light has three modes: bright 60 lumens, dimmed from 100 percent to 6 percent light, and light from two red LEDs. The bright spotlight is rated to provide two hours of power, while the red light will shine for up to eight hours on a single battery. The light itself can also be angled three ways while mounted on your forehead including straight ahead, and two angles facing down.

In our tests the spotlight was quite bright, and even at a dimmer setting we were able to see what was ahead of us, and even a little wider area. If you use the light for running, or doing work around the house, you’ll have no problems seeing where you’re headed. The interesting setting is the red light setting. This is best for camping or being able get around in a dark space but not necessarily doing work. The red color is a bit easier on the eyes, and doesn’t cause you to lose all sight when you turn out the light. We were able to see in detail objects at arms length, and even a little beyond. We could read text easily, and saw enough detail to get around tight areas without colliding into objects.

No matter the setting, we advise you to adjust the light to face down slightly. This will still shine a bright light in order for you to see and more importantly be seen. Yet you won’t blind oncoming traffic. You’ll also save your own eyes in case you look into the mirror. That bright light will shine right back in your eyes! There’s other headlights on the market we’d like to try, but we do think Energizer gets it right for providing different brightness and light settings, plus angles while keeping it light and secure enough to stay on your head while running or doing other activities.

Product Web site