Tag: App

Adidas Brings miCoarch to iPhone and BlackBerry

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

K-Swiss Gets a Little Too “Powerful” With Tubes Campaign

He’s not an athlete, he just plays one (badly) on TV

Nike didn’t drop Tiger Woods as a spokesman after all of his “problems,” which suggests that even bad boys can still sell products. But the recent decision from K-Swiss to use a fictional athlete to market shoes seems way, way off base. A newly launched ad campaign for the TUBES fitness shoes from K-Swiss features “slightly delusional ex-professional baseball player” Kenny Powers, played by actor Danny McBride, from the HBO series Eastbound & Down. Considering that Powers seldom thinks before opening his mouth, it is an odd choice for a spokesman.

But David Nichols, executive vice-president of K-Swiss sums it up another way, “we wanted to deliver unfiltered straight talk about how awesome TUBES are. Who better to do that than Kenny Powers?” Continue reading K-Swiss Gets a Little Too “Powerful” With Tubes Campaign

iPhone Tells You To Go Faster

Plenty of iPhone apps that customize workouts for you, but how many track your progress based on movement. Fitaid from India-based developer Positech uses the phone’s accelerometer to sense your pace based on the goals you set. The program estimates your V02Max; tracks against plan and provides audio cues to speed up or slow down; and customizes those cues and settings to match your goals and abilities.

Fitaid’s developer Positech has goal  to provide sophisticated scientific tools to a mainstream audience looking for ways to self-manage their health and improve wellbeing. The founder, Siva Raj, claims to have faced his own personal struggle with staying fit and used his experiences to develop Fitaid.

The use of the accelerometer to sense movement, which tracks any activity on a user’s feet including stepping to salsa or playing Frisbee, is a vital innovation and a good use of  the technology of the iPhone. We hope to see more applications like this, and for a wider array of smartphones.

Fitaide is available from the Apple App Store

Fitaide Official Site

FitClick.com Launches App

Wouldn’t it be grand if you could just click to get on a diet and lose weight? You could click on an app, and see the pounds just fall off. Well, there is NOT an app for that, but there is a new app that will let you keep track of what you’re eating and your workouts. The FitClick Diet and Workout Tracker is the first to offer a full suite of diet and workout features. The app, which is available for the iPhone, works as a calorie counter and food journal, while it can provide customizable diet plans plus workout routines – so you can burn to earn. The tracker portion can calculate calories burned from more than 800 exercise demo videos. Users aren’t tied to one set routine either, and can instead create their own diet plans and workout routines, or if you’re looking to get straight to it, you can use one of the thousands of member-created programs that are already available.
 
The app further contains a database of 118,000 foods along with 12,000 recipes. Additionally, the FitClick iPhone App can work as a full-service companion to the FitClick website, providing real-time access to diet, fitness and weight loss programs. Users aren’t tied to one set routine either, and can instead create their own diet plans and workout routines, or if you’re looking to get straight to it, you can use one of the thousands of member-created programs that are already available.
 
The app is available from the Apple App Store now.

FitClick.com iPhone App Official Site

Phone it in to the Tour with new iPhone App

This week LIVESTRONG.COM and RadioShack have announced the official release of the Team RadioShack free mobile app for the iPhone. This could be the next best thing to heading to France for the Tour next month, as it offers users exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage of Lance Armstrong and the rest of the team as they take part in the greatest race in cycling.

The free app offers instant, on-the-go updates and news, exclusive content and photos, behind-the-scenes Tour de France coverage, and video blogs from Lance himself, as well as expert commentary from the entire team. The updates can be accessed with a tap of an app, and easily shared via Facebook and Twitter.

The Team RadioShack iPhone app is available fro free download from the Apple App Store and from the LIVESTRONG.COM website.

Running in Place: There is App for That

The iPhone can do many things, and seemingly it can even be used as a running training aid. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of fitness apps for Apple’s smartphone, but among the most interesting is one call iTreadmill. OK, while the app doesn’t somehow actually let you run on the touchscreen – but it would be cool if you could somehow do so – it does however act as a digital chronometer, keeping track of the distance you’re doing.

This is whether you’re actually doing miles outside, walking around your house or apartment, or just running in place. Put it in your pocket and go, as this app detects the slightest movement and thus tracks the distance you’ve covered. Should you stop to tie your shoe or wait for a light, or just answer the phone, the chronometer will automatically stop. Based on what it reads it can provide you details of your average speed, distance, pace, step count, strike rate and even calories burned. It doesn’t track heart rate however, so you’ll have to stick with a traditional heart rate monitor if that’s important. However, this app includes some interesting features, including a pace setting that provides a flashing light and ticking sound to get you moving. Now if only this app could actually make running in place at a hotel a little more exciting.

iTreadmill Web Site