Apple Exercise iPod Tempo Patents

[MacRumors]

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Hrmph reports on recent patent applications from Apple which revealed that they have been working on other exercise-related features for the iPod. The recent Apple/Nike partnership Sport Kit revealed earlier this week could just be the start.

The Nike Sport Kit incorporates an accelerometer placed in your shoe that communicates wirelessly with your iPod nano. The iPod nano then displays additional information about your exercise including time, distance, calories burned and pace.

The patent application reveals that Apple has also been working on additional features that could sync your exercise to your music. One possibility described is syncing your music to the same tempo as your run.

The Pat App suggests either changing the tempo of the song or the iPod selecting songs which match the tempo (the host computer would analyse songs and add a tempo tag to each).

One aspect of the patent is to use your running speed to set the music tempo- if you're running slowly it'll play slower music- running faster- faster tempo music.

Tempos could be adjusted based on user preference, but sample menus also reveal a "Training" option which could offer different tempo profiles, increasing and decreasing over time.

[mcarnes]

Can't wait to try this with Metallica.

[dambro1978]

this would be a real FIGATA.

HAPPY OWNER OF A 12" PB

[longofest]

The Nano is now officially the exerciser's iPod.

That is why I don't own one

Sad, isn't it?

[mac-since-199o]

Christ, I don't exercise.
I sit here all day reading mac forums.

[thejadedmonkey]

That's pretty sweet...any chance they'll make it compatable with a 1st gen or 3rd gen iPod?

[Vaphoron]

That would be a pretty cool feature if I had a Nano and could get up off my butt and go run, but that ain't gonna happen.

[Abstract]

Originally Posted by mac-since-199o

Christ, I don't exercise.
I sit here all day reading mac forums.

Yeah, then people like you can sue Apple for selling an iPod that seems to play no music for most of the day.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by dambro1978

this would be a real FIGATA.

a what now?

[octoberdeath]

sounds ingenious. apple really is a leader in the market!

[Ulfhednar]

I saw that Lance Armstrong was one of the Nike/iPod promotors . . . I hope that Lance being involed is some kind of hint of what's to come!

[dambro1978]

Figata
in italian means
"too cool".....

[j-a-x]

The tempo thing sounds kinda dumb to me, I don't wanna listen to my music with a funky temp...

But the Nike shoe thing with running stats sounds pretty cool.

[fahlman]

Originally Posted by j-a-x

The tempo thing sounds kinda dumb to me, I don't wanna listen to my music with a funky temp...

It doesn't adjust the tempo of the song, but chooses a song that matches the tempo that you are running at.

[MarcelV]

Originally Posted by j-a-x

The tempo thing sounds kinda dumb to me, I don't wanna listen to my music with a funky temp...

You may not realize it, but it is done daily on the radio. Most radio stations use this kind of method to speed up the play time of a song. I can asure you that you don't notice the difference. The nifty thing here is that it adjust based on user input.

[ennerseed]

Originally Posted by j-a-x

The tempo thing sounds kinda dumb to me, I don't wanna listen to my music with a funky temp...

But the Nike shoe thing with running stats sounds pretty cool.

So you have never heard a dj before! wow you need to get out a bit.

[Dunepilot]

A brilliant idea for 4-to-the-floor house music. If, like me, you listen to a lot of math-rock (all sorts of crazy time signatures) and post-hardcore/emo (much of which is in 6/4) ... not so good.

[Frisco]

I love this idea! Got to get me some Taylor Hicks songs!

[Porchland]

Originally Posted by Ulfhednar

I saw that Lance Armstrong was one of the Nike/iPod promotors . . . I hope that Lance being involed is some kind of hint of what's to come!

Bike computers would be a natural move for Apple. The difference there is that they wouldn't be creating a market; they would be entering one that is already pretty well defined. That is going to happen more and more as Apple continues to spread the nano into more lifestyle areas.

[Porchland]

iTunes has had a database category for Beats per Minute as long as I can remember. Maybe the new Nike-spiffed tracks will take advantage of that.

I wonder if there's a way for Apple to push out database info for tracks you already own.

[Sponge Worthy]

Originally Posted by Ulfhednar

I saw that Lance Armstrong was one of the Nike/iPod promotors . . . I hope that Lance being involed is some kind of hint of what's to come!

Maybe, or maybe not. I read that Lance Armstrong is there because he's training for his first NY Marathon. In other words, he's there as a runner instead of a cyclist.

Still, some of the things we read about this tells of more to come. The problem with doing this for cyclists is that it is illegal (in some places, like mine) to ride a cycle with earphones. It's a safety issue. Also, it doesn't tie-in to cross-product marketing as easily as a new pair of running shoes.

[macbookAPRIL1]

Is there any reason why this shouldnt be compatible with the ipod video?

[modernpixel]

More exciting than excercise -- I love the idea of iTunes going through my music and setting tempo tags for everything. I was just thinking the other day that it would be great if I could somehow automate creating a playlist of slow music, or dancey music, etc. This would be a really awesome addition.

[wickermac]

Originally Posted by macbookAPRIL1

Is there any reason why this shouldnt be compatible with the ipod video?

Because the iPod video has a physical hard drive where as the nano has flash memory. In my opinion exercising with a hard drive based iPod is crazy and will shorten the life of your iPod. You could walk with an iPod just fine, but while running (or any other cardio exercise) the HD is being shaken. This will cause errors and the data is thrown out, preventing the music from loading into the buffer. I believe the buffer is 32mg which will last you roughly 20mins. For serious runners 20mins is just their warm up.

[~Shard~]

Originally Posted by wickermac

Because the iPod video has a physical hard drive where as the nano has flash memory. In my opinion exercising with a hard drive based iPod is crazy and will shorten the life of your iPod. You could walk with an iPod just fine, but while running (or any other cardio exercise) the HD is being shaken. This will cause errors and the data is thrown out, preventing the music from loading into the buffer. I believe the buffer is 32mg which will last you roughly 20mins. For serious runners 20mins is just their warm up.

In theory, perhaps, but my experience has been the complete opposite, so I have to disagree with you. I have been doing cardio with my 3G iPod for over 2 years now - jogging, running, sprinting, marathon, interval training, inclines, stair training, you name it. I've been shaking it up quite a bit and yet it has never once skipped on me and the battery life is only minimally less than what it was when I purchased it over 2 years ago.

I can see the logic behind what you're saying, however the simple fact is that (at least in my case) this is simlpy not true, and exercising with a HD-based iPod is definitely not "crazy".