Saucony is launching the Saucony Run4Good App with the goal of combating childhood obesity. For every mile logged into the app by runners, Saucony will donate funds to selected youth running programs. Saucony was not specific about the amount it intends to donate, or the specific charitable organizations which it plans to donate funds. Continue reading Saucony Run4Good App Donates for Each Mile Run
Tag: iPhone app
Jawbone Thinks Things are Looking UP for Disease Prevention
Is functional jewelry the next trend in fitness? Mobility lifestyle company Jawbone certainly plans to make a play in that category with UP by Jawbone. UP is a wristband that monitors your activity including movement, diet and other vitals.
Jawbone first entered the market with a noise-reducing headset for mobile phones that transmitted sound from vibrations on your jawbone instead of using a microphone. According to the CDC lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer cause more deaths than communicable diseases. The company believes eating healthier, getting quality sleep and moving more can prevent many of those lifestyle diseases.
UP by Jawbone will be available later this year. Jawbone started talking about the device, which connects to the iPhone via an app, at the TEDGlobal conference. “We are excited to share our vision at TEDGlobal because this epidemic will take an entire community to affect a global change,” said Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman. “TED is a community of thought leaders that can help propel this idea into a global movement.”
UP integrates robust computing and sophisticated sensor technology in the form of functional jewelry. It tracks your movement, sleep patterns, and nutrition and gives you feedback on how you’re doing based on data. The wristband connects to a mobile app that analyzes the activity, and an open platform that motivates you with personal social recommendations and challenges tailored to your goals.
“We’re passionate about creating products for the mobile lifestyle that people love to use every day. And now we’re harnessing that passion to approach a major global issue – health,” Rahman said. “We are focused on creating a highly accessible solution for this particular space that integrates seamlessly into a user’s daily life with the goal of making it absolutely easy for them to live better.”
It’s still early for details on the UP device, but Jawbone is collecting email addresses for notification when it’s ready for use.
Official UP by Jawbone site.
Case Turns iPhone Into iBike Cycling Computer
The iBike Dash CC (Cycling Computer) is a case and app combo that turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a cycling computer. The iBike is a top-loading case that fully encloses your iPhone and mounts it to your handlebars. The phone then displays a number of readings such as maps, speed, heart rate and other data.
Five colored heart rate zones tell you how hard you’re pushing it. You can use the meter to tell you when you’re at 50 percent to 100 percent of your max and when you’re in a fat-burning zone if that’s your goal.
Continue reading Case Turns iPhone Into iBike Cycling Computer
CES 2011: BodyMedia Measures Each Step at CES 2011
This year several companies and organizations are giving pedometers to attendees of the Consumer Electronics Show to settle the curiosity that is, how much walking did I actually do? The answer for many people at trade shows, especially CES, is a lot. The folks at BodyMedia are giving select attendees a BodyMedia FIT Armband BW that measures activity and logs it via Bluetooth to the BodyMedia FIT mobile app.
BodyMedia is an online and mobile application that watches your activity and calories to help you achieve your select goals such as weight loss, maintenance, and increasing your activity level. At registration, the application asks you a few questions on vitals, and then lets you set your goals. If weight loss is your plan, you can set the goal of how quickly you want to lose and it gives you a date on when you can expect to reach your goal. For instance, if you plan to lose a total five pounds and choose half a pound a week, then it will set the end goal for two and a half months. Continue reading CES 2011: BodyMedia Measures Each Step at CES 2011
iMapMyApp Tracks Your Whole Workout
Whatever mode you plan for your outdoor workout, iMapMy apps tracks it. MapMyFitness apps include iMapMyRun, iMapMyRide and iMapMyWalk. The iPhone programs are part of a partnership between MapMyFitness and Wahoo Fitness. The free apps work with the Fisica ANT+30 pin Sensor Key to track heart rate, which translates into other data. The app uses the GPS technology of the iPhone to record and chart workout route, pace, time, calories burned and heart rate, then saves the data to the MapMyFitness websites, whichever matches your mode of exercise. Continue reading iMapMyApp Tracks Your Whole Workout
Intelitrainer Adapts Your Workout for You
Workout programs for the iPhone are plenty. The problem, however, may be that they are either repetitive or possibly somewhat random. Intelitrainer, a new app developed by celebrity trainer Michael George, gives you a varied workout based on feedback from previous workouts. The program has roughly 400 exercises with video demonstrations including unique, custom exercises created by Michael George.
A variety of workout goals including reduce body fat; tone and sculpt; cardio health; and build muscle are addressed from beginner to advanced levels. Intelitrainer then keeps a workout log to track workout history and weight. It can be used in a gym, or with equipment at home.
There’s so many workout programs in the iPhone App store. It’s hard to decide which one to commit to. Intelitrainer is $4.99 and compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It requires a WiFi, Edge or 3G network connection to check in from time to time. The ability to adapt custom workouts is a benefit. However it determines the workout based on your ability by feedback you provide during and after your session. If you skip an exercise, then it may determine that was more than you were able to handle. If you hit the “I did it” button, it may move on to the next incremental exercise or increase the number or reps next time. Intelitrainer requires a degree of fine-tuning that you may find tedius after a few reps.
Official Intelitrainer website
Intelli-Diet Stresses Portion Control Over Calorie Count
Diet is more than just about calories. Plus counting calories can be tedious. So why do so many diet programs make you tabulate your intake? An iPhone and iPod Touch app called intelli-Diet sets up personalized healthy eating plans and focuses on portions and foods. It’s not a spreadsheet disguised as a diet plan. Intelli-Diet founder Brian Atz says, “It thinks, you eat.”
The intelli-Diet features include:
- Sets up a daily personalized healthy eating plan based on the foods you like.
- Maps out meals for the following week and considers foods you have in stock.
- Allows for meal variety by permitting foods to be exchanged for others.
- Records weight loss progress and allows posting of success through social media.
- Triggers meal reminders, generates grocery lists, and other features.
Intelli-Diet is currently being offered for a promotional price of $3.99 in the U.S. No word on what the app will eventually cost or when the price might be raised.
Official intelli-Diet Web site
Strap On the iPhone with iSkin pulse Sports +
Take your iPhone on a run, and you may worry about the handset flying out of your grip on a sprint. It’s also not ideal to do exercise, say push-ups, that an app is dictating on the screen while holding the phone. Enter the pulse Sports + case from iSkin.
Designed as a case to be used with the iPhone app PocketCPR, the pulse Sports + case has a hand strap that secures the phone on the back of the hand or palm so you can easily see the display. While it is marketed as the companion to PocketCPR, the strap design lends itself to referencing the iPhone during activity. If you have a running program, you can play music and look at your progress for your run on screen. If you’re doing stretches or exercises, you can reference the proper positioning while in pose or movement.
The case is contstructed using microban, which stretches to accommodate your hand and the material also has antimicrobial properties and inhibits the growth of fungus and bacteria that you may otherwise worry about after sweating on a case during a workout.
iSkin pulse product page
PocketCPR product page
Apple Spins Patent for Cycling
Looking for a cycling computer? There’s an app for that. Apple recently filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for various concepts of a newly-advanced Smart Bicycle System. Reportedly in development, the app will use the iPhone’s (or iPod iTouch) accelerometer and gyroscope to measure speed, distance, time, altitude, elevation, incline, decline, heart rate, temperature, weather, wind speed and other factors relevant to cycling. A few other add-ons such as a heart rate monitor strap and sensors to place on the wheel will likely be required to take full advantage of the app.
Other news outlets are reporting the iPhone and app that pro cyclists could adopt and even used to communicate while racing in a stage. Most teams already have cycling computers that read all the same settings and report back to the team’s manager in the team car. Garmin-Transitions Slipstream, for example, has Garmin as a sponsor and part of the GPS manufacturer’s commitment is in supply of cycle computers and other equipment. It is possible some teams will opt for the iPhone app, and certainly will be open to a sponsorship. Several new teams have been announced and it wouldn’t be all too surprising to see an Apple team form in the next year or so.
Whether the app is used by competitive cyclists, expect to see plenty of hipsters on track bikes with their iPhones mounted to the handlebars. We just hope they refrain from text and ride practices.
[via: Patently Apple and Huffington Post]
An App for Bike Repairs
Got a problem with your bike? Need to true your wheels? Flat tire? Having a problem with the rear derailleur? There’s an app for that. Last summer I had problems with the shifter/brake levers and the rear derailleur on my still new road bike. Luckily it was still within the warrantee period at my local shop, however the problems were difficult to diagnose. The ability to look up bicycle maintenance on my phone would have been a big help.
Bike Repair, an iPhone app with the basics on keeping your bike running – all the way down to getting a proper fit from your helmet – may just save you a few trips to the bike shop. The app walks you through bike mechanics such as adjusting the height and angle of the front derailleur; cleaning and lubricating the chain; aligning the handlebars and adjusting the headset; and brake adjustments for cantilever, V-Brake and center mount brakes. If you find yourself on the side of the road, Bike Repair’s got you covered. Just be sure to take hand wipes. This app will get your fingers in the grease, and you’ll probably want to clean up before using your phone again.
The app is available from the Apple App Store.
Bike Repair Mobile Official Site
[Via PC World: Fix Your Bike on the Go With Bike Repair]
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.
British Boot Camp on Your iPhone
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.