Iqua Beat can be used to tracks heart rate, pace, calorie consumption, and distance traveled, while providing audio feedback, encouragement, and guidance during the workout work out. The headset monitors the user’s heart rate from their earlobe, and the patented earpieces provide a secure in-ear fit ideal for a wide range of sports.

With the free iPhone app, users can easily plan a workout specifically tailored to their fitness goals. The app shows real-time information about the workout and a live map view. After the workout, the app can be used to view, edit, and compare stats, or share workouts with friends on Facebook.

Key features

• Bluetooth stereo headset
• Patented earpieces with secure in-ear fit
• Heart rate monitoring from your earlobe
• Voice guidance during your workout
• Hi-fi stereo sound for listening to your favorite music
• Handsfree call control
• A free iPhone app for planning, tracking, editing, and sharing your workouts

At CES Iqua also unveiled its new Iqua Spin, Bluetooth stereo headset, Iqua Ear-Go extreme sports headset and the Iqua Groove active sports.

Iqua Official Website

Fitness Builder Official Website

Fitness beginners and enthusiasts:
FitnessBuilder PLUS features over 750 pre-made workout programs and fitness plans as well as the innovative drag and drop Builder that allow users to custom create sessions from over 5,600 exercise images and videos. Workouts can be performed and logged, keeping track of progress to achieve goals. The Share Workout feature allows users to challenge others, provide guidance and post progress to their social networks. And one of the most unique benefits of FitnessBuilder is “Ask a Fitness Question,” which connects Plus users directly with PumpOne’s fitness experts for goal-oriented answers.
Plus access is available for $9.99/month or $59.99/year at www.fitnessbuilder.com/plus

Fitness professionals, coaches, therapy professionals:
FitnessBuilder PRO & PT access gives personal trainers, coaches and physical therapists a client/patient management tool that introduces remote training and delivers a paperless tracking solution. Remote Training sends interactive workouts to clients/patients to perform on their own and digitally syncs their logs and notes back to the Pro/PT dashboard for analysis. Pro & PT can customize the web and mobile apps with their company name and logo, expanding their business and brand.
Pro access for fitness professionals is available for $29.99/month or $199.99/year at www.fitnessbuilder.com/pro.
PT access for physical therapists is available for $39.99/month or $299.99/year from www.fitnessbuilder.com/pt.

FitnessBuilder Private Label (PL) allows fitness organizations to rebrand the FitnessBuilder platform and put it on their own website along with branded mobile apps, controlling their audience’s fitness and social experience. Learn more about FitnessBuilder Private Label at www.pumpone.com/pl.

The Macaw app does not perform one function, like tracking your caloric intake or recording your walks; but is designed to assess your health, set goals, provide tracking features and integrate with The Prevention Plan for those who are members of U.S. Preventive Medicine. According to the vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Life, Rick Valencia, in the release announcement of the Macaw, “U.S. Preventive Medicine offers an outstanding clinically-based program – The Prevention Plan – that helps users manage their individual health risks and lead healthier lives. By combining this clinically-based platform with Qualcomm Life’s wireless expertise, we have transformed the smartphone into a personal health monitor.”

For those who are not members of The Preventive Plan, the Macaw app can still be a valuable and powerful tool in living a better life. As best summed up by U.S. Preventive Medicine

Unlike other available health and fitness apps, Macaw is based on the clinical science of preventive medicine and is universally designed for people who exercise regularly as well as those who are novices when it comes to physical activity. By leveraging Qualcomm Life’s expertise, Macaw will be able to transform a smartphone into the ultimate personal health hub, connecting an individual’s health apps and wireless devices for tracking weight, fitness, overall activity and biometrics – including pedometers, glucose meters, activity armbands, scales, labs, sleep managers, mobile weight loss apps and blood pressure cuffs – into a single app for complete tracking. With the initial launch, Macaw will allow integration with the Fitlinxx Actiped+ all-day activity monitor, and WorkSmart Labs’ weight loss and fitness app Noom Weight Loss. Macaw users will be able to track the progress of their activity, nutrition and health knowledge while engaging in games that unlock prizes. For members of U.S. Preventive Medicine’s The Prevention Plan, Macaw has additional features including showing the individual’s personal Prevention Score and integrating data between the mobile app and the Plan’s online health management platform.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e8zQ4anwJA

Macaw App features include:
- 7 questions to quickly assess your health
- GPS to track exercise
- Ability to set goals and track weight and calories
- Reminders about recommended preventive screenings based on age and gender
- Activity and knowledge cards that unlock chances for weekly prizes

Additional features for members of The Prevention Plan include:
- A link to the Prevention Score, a unique tool that tracks an individual’s prevention efforts and key health indicators throughout the year
- Activity auto-uploaded to The Prevention Plan
- Exercise, weight and calories tracked

 Macaw is a free app and can be downloaded using an Apple iPhone or Google Android device or from the iPhone App Store or Android Market. No one said that living a healthier life is easy, but the Macaw app might just help you be able to practice some preventive medicine of your own.

Macaw App Official Website

According to ABI much of that growth will be spurred by the ability of mobile handsets to offer connectivity to wearable devices that can provide greater functionality, accuracy and appeal to sports and fitness applications. The new apps can in essence replace, or at least replicate what standalone products such as heart rate monitors and calorie counters are currently providing.

Additionally, as the mobile handset adds new ways to access and support healthcare applications, it will become increasingly important within the healthcare market, including home monitoring systems for aging users, personal emergency response services, and remote healthcare monitoring applications. However, ABI noted thate sports and fitness will dominate the mobile health application market.

“Downloadable apps are moving the sports tracking device market from proprietary devices to mobile phones, but adoption has been limited by the data they can collect. However, with the connectivity that Bluetooth Smart will embed in mobile handsets, wearable devices will bring greater detail to mobile handsets,” says Jonathan Collins, principal analyst.

Handset connectivity to wearable devices brings a new dynamic to the sports monitoring market. Athletic equipment players have already moved to support handset applications by either using proprietary or battery-draining traditional Bluetooth wireless. Meanwhile, traditional players such as Garmin, who recently launched its first handset application for this market, and Polar have delivered high-end specialist systems. Over the next five years, these players will increasingly have to compete directly with the mobile handset. They will also face a slew of start-ups and new entrants offering applications, online communities, and wearable devices offering a range of applications and services.

“As applications increasingly become part of a bundle that ships with wearable devices, revenues from mobile applications will lag behind the growth in app downloads. Mobile application downloads will actually grow at nearly twice the rate of revenues between 2010 and 2016, with more than a billion downloads annually by 2016,” says Collins.

ABI Research’s report: “Mobile Devices and mHealth”

The app can be used to measure conditioning, fitness, and performance accurately, which has traditionally been challenging, particularly when the subject of measurement has no one available to lend assistance. The fitnessMeter app employs Kaiser & Kaiser’s Photo Finish technology to supply results that are more accurate than a stopwatch through use of the device’s built-in camera. Following selection of one of the five categories pre-programmed into the app, the user simply aligns the device, which will then automatically signal the start of the test and save the results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5GTKZ6-XGc

In the Flying Sprint mode, the app simulates two timing gates and measures the time between two points. It can be used for either measuring top speed or acceleration, where users set the running direction in Set Up, and then place the iPhone parallel to the track with one red line at the start of the timing zone and one at the finish. This requires the iPhone to be about the same distance away from the track as the running distance and therefore works best for 10m – 20m sprints.

The Sprint & Shuttle mode allows the app to act like a timing gate plus a starting gun. It offers a number of settings that makes it possible to use for both conventional sprints and different agility tests, where users set the number of passes before stopping the clock and if the timer should start at the gun or when the runner starts moving.

In the Vertical Jump mode, users can choose to use either the camera (back or front) and record a video or the accelerometer. The camera is generally more accurate, but the accelerometer is quick and easy to use, while in the Repetitions mode, users can measure time and reps of such as exercises as Sit-Ups, Push-Ups, Step-Ups, Chin-Ups, Rope-Skipping, etc. Finally, the Beep Test mode follows the original MSFT-Test ( a common aerobic endurance test), but can be configured to fit alternative procedures (Bleep Test, PACER, Aero, Leger Test, etc.)

Feature Highlights:
* fitnessMeter is a versatile, configurable tool for fitness testing
* Flying Sprint uses the camera to measure the time between two points, similar to two timing gates
* Sprint and Shuttle functions like a starting gun plus a timing gate using the camera
* Vertical Jump records a short video where you can easily measure the jumping height
* Repetitions counts and times various activities like sit-ups, push-ups, step-ups, etc.
* Beep Test takes a picture at each turn, which makes it easy to keep track of the results

The fitnessMeter 1.0 is available now for $1.99, for the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch through the Apple App Store. Time may wait for no man, but this app will let users track in ways not possible before.

Kaiser & Kaiser fitnessMeter Official Website

The Concussion Recognition and Response app from PAR Inc. is one such app and is designed specifically for coaches and parents to help them  identify if an individual is exhibiting the signs and symptoms of a suspected concussion in under five minutes.

The Concussion Recognition and Response app was developed by Gerard A. Gioia, PhD, and Jason Mihalik, PhD, concussion specialists from the Children’s National Medical Center, to walk a parent or coach through a series of questions to determine whether to remove an athlete from play and if there is a need for further medical examination. Along with the answers, the app allows users to record pertinent information regarding an athlete’s name, age, gender and sport. This information can then be shared with the health care provider, via e-mail, along with the location of the injury tracked by the device’s GPS and any photos that are taken at the scene. If it is determined that the athlete did suffer a concussion, the app also provides a system for post-injury follow-up and Return-to-Play Guide based on information from the CDC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEXD0lhucmY

Along with helping coaches and parents recognize a concussion, the Concussion Recognition and Response app has additional tools. Concussion Information is provided through a FAQ guide to help parents and coaches make better, more informed decisions during the process of assessing a head injury. On the recovery end, the Home Symptom Monitoring allows a parent or caregiver to record an athlete’s progress through periodic evaluations, which are tracked in the hours, days or weeks following an injury.

The Concussion Recognition and Response app is available for the Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android device or tablet. This app has an introductory price of $3.99 and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Android Market. PAR Inc. will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this app to support concussion research at the Children‘s National Medical Center and the Matthew A. Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center. With the increased reports of sports related deaths due to head injuries, any app that helps determine this type of injury is worth having close at hand.

The Concussion Recognition and Response App Official Website

Jawbone breaks this down into three simple categories including Measure, Engage and Act. The wrist band features a motion accelerator, called the MotionX engine, which is used to sense and track movement. The wrist brand is durable and water-resistant and thus can be used worn while sleeping as well as showering, and it has a battery life for up to 10 days of monitoring.

The UP wristband features a sophisticated motion-tracking engine, and yet still has a chic sense of style so gym attire isn’t required. It is also designed to offer comfort, so users won’t seem like they’re shackled to a fitness monitor either.

Functionality includes the ability to measure daily activities including steps taken, calories burned, distance traveled, pace, and it can even track active versus inactive time throughout the day. During sleep it can track hours slept, time to fall asleep, phases of sleep (deep versus light) and overall sleep quality, as well as help wake a user up at the best moment in a natural sleep cycle. UP can also be used to track what a user eats, when they’re eating and how they feel after eating via a photo journal, so users can determine how different meals affect their body.

The wrist band can further encourage users to be active, both through reminders when one has been inactive for longer periods of time, as well as through health challenges. That’s quite a bit more than just showing support with a colored wrist band.

The UP band is available now in three sizes (small, medium and large) and seven colors (Dark Black, Dark Brown, Dark Red, Bright White, Bright Silver, Bright Red, Bright Blue) for $99.99, while the iPhone and iPod Touch app is available for free download.

Jawbone Official Website

As the name implies it features Bluetooth wireless connectivity to a smartphone, and has a range up to 20 meters or 65.6 feet. The Sports Tracker can be charged via USB and can run for up to 40 hours on a single charge. It is available worldwide, while the free app is available for Android and Symbian handsets, as well as the iPhone. We’ll be watching to see when this arrives stateside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g3vQw85gmk

Sports Tracker Official Website

Gone are the days of the cycling computer with one or two buttons that cycle through speed, distance, cadence and limited readings. The smartphone is the perfect venue for the cycle computer, with the appropriate app. It’s got a nice big screen, and connectivity offers real-time maps and location data along with those stats of speed, distance and time on the bike.

Velocomp just introduced its iBike Coach for the iPhone. It’s a handlebar-mountable case that holds the iPhone and protects it from water and other damage. The case encloses the phone and protects it in the event of a crash or other blunt force.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-hz7z3PFG8

Through Strava, a companion iBike Coach app tracks cycling speed, distance, time and displays maps during your ride. Purchase of the iBike Coach includes a six-month subscription to Strava. In addition to riding data, users can view their accounts with Strava.com and connect with other riders to compare notes, or just brag about an impressive ride.

The iBike Coach case & mount details

• Fully-enclosed, water-resistant and weather-proof
• Total touch screen functionality
• Rugged construction for protection and stability
• Lightweight
• Easy-to-install and remove

IBike Coach App details

• Downloadable from iTunes
• Large, full-color touch display
• Screens show speed, distance, time, calorie measurements and more
• GPS maps
• Built-in calendar keeps track of cycling and fitness stats
• App controls music play lists (requires Bluetooth headset)
• App works in 10 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese Spanish, Japanese, Korean, simplified and traditional Chinese
• Upload ride information to Strava social media site

Ibike Coach includes the iBike case & mount, iBike Coach app, and six months Strava premium membership. The kit will sell for $69.95 at Target and other major retailers a well as iBike.

iBike Coach Official Website

Nike just released its Nike T90 Laser IV soccer shoe. The “football” shoe is 20 percent lighter than the previous version. It features a streamlined silhouette that provides enhanced fit and lets wearers feel the ball. The forefoot area has a newly configured adaptive shield design that works with the foot’s natural motion to boost performance. Constructed from high performance synthetic leather, the upper provides a soft and close-to-the-foot fit. On the sole, a new stud design enhances speed and movement, without added weight or pressure.

To coincide with the launch, Nike Football created the T90 Strike Counter on Facebook. This app allows users to log their goals, and recreate the action in a 3D image. Report the spot on the pitch from where a goal was scored; where in the goal the ball went, and what part of the boot (shoe) was struck the ball. The data render a 3D image that can be shared with friends. Participants can also check out the 3D image and input from pro football players.

Nike T90 Laswer IV Football Shoe Official Website

The app will give competitors and spectators information on key locations like Saturday’s Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon Sports and Fitness Expo, The Harbor swim start, transition information, and the Finish Festival at The Hilton Bella Harbor. Competitors can also review the event updates that have been sent out.

“Thanks to Best Buy Mobile, spectators, friends and family can follow their favorite triathlete’s progress during the race,” said race director Nick Lynch. “After downloading the app, touching the ‘tracking’ icon and entering a bib number, they’ll be able to see the location of their triathlete as he or she crosses certain checkpoints on race day.”

In addition to providing real-time participant splits and transition times powered by the RR:360 results engine, the mobile app also will provide event information related to the best locations to watch the race, course maps, and overall race results. The Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon app can be downloaded free for Android and iPhones smartphones. And those without smartphone access can still follow the action from a computer.

All 2011 Race to the Toyota Cup participant results and current point standings are available at racetothetoyotacup.com, the official website of the Race to the Toyota Cup.

Best Buy Mobile: Android and iPhones Apps
RaceResults360.com Official Website
Racetothetoyotacup.com Official Website

The free to download app offers users the ability to surf the whole Bianchi range of products with itemized images and technical features, news and updates from the official Bianchi website and geolocation search so users can easily find the closest Bianchi dealer. And what would a Bianchi app be were it not highlighted in Celeste green?

Bianchi App on the Android Market

Love it or hate it, cardio workouts are a must if you’re trying to tone up or lose weight. But if you’re like most people, the thought of spending 30 minutes on a treadmill is a motivation zapper. Fortunately for iPhone users, there’s an app that can help.

Created by Beau Taillefer, Forumla 55 ($4.99) is an iOS-based app designed to keep your cardio sessions fresh by pushing you out of your comfort zone. Formula 55 workouts incorporate squats, sprints, hills, and more to ensure you never get stuck in a cardio rut. Just plug in your measurements, select your goals, and the app automatically does the rest.

The app also lets you import playlists so you always workout to your favorite tunes, and once you’re done you can blast your workouts through cyber space thanks to the app’s built-in Facebook integration.

Formula 55
[via ABC Action News: Group of amateur athletes get ripped using unique app]