There’s a number of activity monitors out there. They all have their own edge. But the Basis B1 band has the ability to track your heart rate from your wrist. You don’t have to wear a chest strap or touch sensors to get a heart rate from your pulse.
A heart rate monitor is a key accessory to a training program. And now Pear Sports promises to give you that key accessory, without the distraction of checking your heart rate read out to determine your speed through “smart” biofeedback training with Pear Square One.
This week at the Consumer Electronics Show Magellan announced it was switching things up, and is entering the fitness market with the launch of its first two products, the Switch and Switch Up. These new series promises to be powerful, adaptable, and customizable for those looking for GPS watches that can meet the needs of runners, cyclists, and multisport athletes. And with a Magellan fitness website and third-party integration, users can easily analyze and share their activities.
For runners there is the Switch, which is packed with innovative features including nine customizable sport profiles, easy to read high-resolution display, eight hours of battery life, a high sensitivity GPS receiver, 50-meter water resistance, and compatibility with ANT+ sensors. The Switch Up offers the same features as the Switch plus additional features designed for true multisport athletes, including a barometric altimeter for precise elevation data, a thermometer to capture outside temperature, vibration alerts, and an innovative quick release mounting system to easily transition between sports. The Switch series will launch this spring. Press Release after the jump
The Motorola MOTOACTV only was released back in October and already Motorola has offered an update. Not only that but last week the company even released a video to tell about the updates. Look for better battery life, new clock faces and a new stopwatch feature! Video after the jump
Click image for a closer view
The fitness monitor market seems to be growing as Garmin announced the upcoming release of its FR70 fitness watch, which can tracks users’ time, heart rate, calories burned and when combined with one of Garmin’s accessories even track pace and speed. The FR70 is available in both a men’s and women’s version.
“A lightweight, comfortable and stylish watch that helps users accomplish their goals is what the FR70 is all about,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Wear it as an every day time piece and keep it on during walks, runs or fitness routines to monitor these activities and progress.”
The device is meant for indoor and outdoor training, and at the heart of its success is FR70′s wireless ANT+ technology, which allows FR70 to connect to other ANT+ compatible devices, such as the included heart rate monitor, optional foot pod, speed and cadence sensor or even ANT+ compatible fitness equipment like treadmills, spin bikes, elliptical trainers and more. Read the rest of this entry »
Want to see a few minutes into the future of mobile technology? Look no further than the FCC. Late last week word broke that an ANT+ adapter for the iPhone from Garmin had surfaced in FCC documents. The ANT+ wireless sensor would of course be used to track fitness data in devices such as heart rate monitors, sports watches and cycling computers.
While Garmin already makes those devices, it would appear that Garmin could be looking to create a fully integrated system that somehow utilizes the iPhone. From the images this adapter could be compatible with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and maybe even the iPhone 4S.
Just in time for last month’s New York Fashion Week Polar has introduced new and vibrant color palette for its RCX5, FT4, FT2 and FT1 training computers. While all of these Polar products provide trusted and accurate heart rate based training data, offering clear guidance, feedback and easy-to-use features, the RCX5 includes a slew of new features to meet the demand of today’s triathletes who require the best in training intelligence and tracking capabilities.
Polar also recently announced that the Heart Rate Watch Company, a leading national online fitness electronics retailer, has crowned the Polar FT4 as its top heart rate monitor under $100 for 2011. Citing unique features and fit as the primary reasons for the award the company cited Polar’s four decade commitment to working with personal trainers, gyms and athletes as primary factors for the award.
(Video after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »
Want to monitor your pulse but want to ditch the bulky chest strap? Scosche Industries has released its myTREAK pulse monitor and app for for iPhone and iPod touch. The Scosche myTREK, an International CES Innovations 2011 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree, allows users track their pulse, calories burned, distance, speed, pace, store past workouts and much more.
“At 24 Hour Fitness, we know that fitness tools can be very useful in helping people achieve their goals; whether it’s to lose weight, run a faster marathon or to get healthier,” said Bill Quinn, senior vice president of merchandising, 24 Hour Fitness. “We are excited to be a Scosche launch partner for the new myTREK pulse monitor and offer our members another option to support them with their fitness journey.” Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve seen a lot of watches, and it isn’t that uncommon to have a device strapped to your wrists that can tell time, include alarms and even have a calculator (how 1980s is that). Much of this technology can now be included in mobile phones, so many people have stopped wearing high-tech watches altogether. That is until you want to work out, then the phone becomes the hassle and the watch is more useful – especially with the calorie counting and heart rate monitor functionality.
But now French-based VEA is rolling out a fitness watch that could make you want to ditch the mobile phone when you workout. The VEA Sportive Mobile Watch actually features a built-in MP3 player, pulse rate monitor, camera and even basic phone functionality. It is Bluetooth compatible, offers 8GB of storage and has an SOS button should you need to call for help.
However, you’ll have to run to Europe to get one. It will be released later this month for €399, but that price will reportedly run up to €499 in September, so if you’re a gadget connoisseur you might want to act now.
VEA Digital Official Website
[Via Engadget: VEA's Sportive mobile watch is for those with money, calories to burn]
Performance Designed Products (PDP) has made it easier to get up and go, and to turn your iPod or iPhone into a fitness monitoring device. The GoTality is a cardio fitness kit that is compatible for all models of the iPhone as well as iPhone, and the complete package, which is available now for $59.99, includes a clip-on heart rate monitor and reflective exercise armband that keeps the device snug while you’re off on the go.
The GoTality app essentially works with an ear clip that can track the distance a user runs or steps taken, while also tracking biometric data including heart rate, basal metabolic rate and even Body Mass Index (BMI). Of course what’s a heart rate monitor that can’t keep track of calories burned? This one will do that can even calculate fitness zone and help users determine the ideal work out levels.
Users can set fitness goals, and exercise programs that are tailored to specific needs, and with an iPhone there is even GPS provided to complement the built-in pedometer so you can see where you went and track your progress on a map. Did we say it is time to get GoTality?
This week Polar USA announced the release of the new WearLink+ transmitter with Bluetooth, which seems to be the hot new thing in heart rate monitors this week. And the Polar version will work with Anrdoid and Symbian smartphones, allowing users to have the ability to use their handset to track their heart rate and fitness progress.
The Polar WearLink+ will work with mobile training applications including RunKeeper, Sports Tracker and Endomond, and get precise data while working out. After each training session, users can share workout data and examine their heart rate and training intensity in greater detail through the web services of their application provider.
Heart rate monitors are great devices that truly can aid and improve training. But I’m one who has been called “heartless” and it has nothing to do with my sinister demeanor. It has to do with the fact that traditional RF based heart rate monitors just don’t work well with me. This happens to some of us, and it is downright annoying.
But now The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced the finalization of two new developer specifications for connected vital sign monitoring devices that will make use of the short range wireless technology. The specs call first for a health thermometer profile, and more importantly for me, a heart rate profile
Both of these will be part of the upcoming Bluetooth 4.0 release, and will feature Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) as well as increased transfer speeds. SIG has also noted that Bluetooth could enable connectivity in medical device technology that provide vital sign monitoring and interaction with wireless devices, including Bluetooth 4.0-enabled smartphone.
Recently Dayton Industrial unveiled a heart-rate monitor that will leverage Bluetooth 4.0, and this low energy heart rate chest belt features energy efficiency technology that the company claims will enable it to run an average of 1.5 years on a single coin cell. That’s a real plus, because while I might not be so heartless I am pretty cheap!
Heart monitors are ideal for training, and more and more runners and cyclists swear by them, but swimmers have sort of been left high and dry when it comes to a training aid. Not any longer, Polar has announced a new heart rate monitor that promises to get all wet. The Polar FT7 is ideal for the gym or out in the wild, and it can work well in the water as Polar is the only company that produces transmitters that broadcast a signal at a 5 kHz frequency, which means heart rate data is received while swimming.
The FT7 features a soft, flexible fabric strap that made with a patented heart-sensing fabric developed by Numetrex, while the monitor offers zone alarms, daily alarms, time and date. The FT7 will download all exercise information to the free Polar personal trainer software with an optional Polar Flowlink device.
In addition to telling you the number of calories burned, the EnergyPointer will tell if the main effect of your training is fitness improvement or fat burning. It offers button-free operation of the wrist unit and provides graphical target zone indicator. The Polar FT7 is available now (MSRP $119.95), and as we noted, this one works in the water!
