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Apple Digital Fitness Companion System?
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Get in Shape America (Apple Slogan)
This could single handedly get America, and the world, in great shape. Heart Monitor would be a great idea. Possible idea, is for the device to also hook up to the Treadmill or Elliptical machine to get data. This device should also have a meal plan with an interview process as well....what you like, don't like, and what you may be alergic too. Your own personal trainer and chef with you at all times.
SIGN ME UP!!!!!!
Looking to buy my first Apple Product (MacBook Pro) this year!!!!!
This could single handedly get America, and the world, in great shape. Heart Monitor would be a great idea. Possible idea, is for the device to also hook up to the Treadmill or Elliptical machine to get data. This device should also have a meal plan with an interview process as well....what you like, don't like, and what you may be alergic too. Your own personal trainer and chef with you at all times.
SIGN ME UP!!!!!!
Looking to buy my first Apple Product (MacBook Pro) this year!!!!!
Unless it can measure your heart rate and calorie burn while working out - like the Polar Heart Monitor can - its uses are limited for those of us who do a lot of cardio exercise. If if CAN do what Polar does then ... sign me up.
It is way more than a little Niche. It is a huge and lucrative market.
I have done fitness marketing for fitness centers all over the USA for over 16 years.
The possibilities for this are pretty large.
NEEDS Calorie count as well
This won't do a damn bit of good if all us fatties in the US don't ALSO watch what we eat. You can exercise and then go pig out and negate the exercise you just did. I'm on the watchers of weight system, and I almost never exercise but i'm losing weight because I keep track of what i eat, or don't eat now. I just sit at a desk all day. So being active won't help folks shed pounds without shedding the ice cream, fried chicken, and french fries.
This won't do a damn bit of good if all us fatties in the US don't ALSO watch what we eat. You can exercise and then go pig out and negate the exercise you just did. I'm on the watchers of weight system, and I almost never exercise but i'm losing weight because I keep track of what i eat, or don't eat now. I just sit at a desk all day. So being active won't help folks shed pounds without shedding the ice cream, fried chicken, and french fries.
I agree in that I wouldn't use my iPhone at the gym. I prefer my shuffle. That said, I think its a neat idea just like nike+. I almost bought a nano just for that add on!
But for those that say this app will make them work out... Please. You'll be just like the people that cram up the gym for two months every winter thinking they'll stick to a new years resolution. I doubt a little thing like this will make you work out more. You have to WANT to change and change your lifestyle in order to stay in shape.
my$.02
But for those that say this app will make them work out... Please. You'll be just like the people that cram up the gym for two months every winter thinking they'll stick to a new years resolution. I doubt a little thing like this will make you work out more. You have to WANT to change and change your lifestyle in order to stay in shape.
my$.02
I agree, in fact I would also add that it would be great if someone made a "watch" that you could wear that acted as the heart rate sensor rather than the usual polar chest belt.
I do a lot of excercise (rowing) and the chest belt can be quite restrictive, a watch that took your heart rate from your radial pulse (in your wrist) would mean you could wear it all day in comfort, even as well as your watch, just on your other wrist!
Nike already announced part of this.
Sorry, I haven't read the whole thread, so someone may have already mentioned this.
Nike already announced that they were going to expand their Nike+ system by licensing it to workout equipment manufacturers, so that someone could plug their iPod directly into, say, a treadmill or rowing machine, and it would keep track of their workout the same way their shoe-based system does now.
When I read Nike's press release (this was a couple weeks ago,) I assumed it was just a continuation of the current system on the iPod nano.
This makes me VERY hopeful that it will extend the entire Nike+ ecosystem to the iPhone and iPod touch. (Nike+ is the only reason I still keep my old first-gen nano around.)
Sorry, I haven't read the whole thread, so someone may have already mentioned this.
Nike already announced that they were going to expand their Nike+ system by licensing it to workout equipment manufacturers, so that someone could plug their iPod directly into, say, a treadmill or rowing machine, and it would keep track of their workout the same way their shoe-based system does now.
When I read Nike's press release (this was a couple weeks ago,) I assumed it was just a continuation of the current system on the iPod nano.
This makes me VERY hopeful that it will extend the entire Nike+ ecosystem to the iPhone and iPod touch. (Nike+ is the only reason I still keep my old first-gen nano around.)
Doesnt Nike have a watch that controls iPods now? They could easily make one that can monitor your heart rate and calories burned. Now that would be something I'd buy
. . . and for the cyclists?
A good start would be to introduce speed and cadence sensors to make the ipod bike compatible. Beyond that, I would like to see integration with wireless heart-rate, maybe some type of power sensor. (maybe integration with PowerTap or SRM.)
Of course, all of this would a lot easier for a company like Polar to do since they already have all the sensors available (although it might seriously cut into their head and watch unit sales).
With the SDK now available, it would not surprise me if someone builds a plug-in receiver unit to make the ipod compatible with the vast array of bike based sensors already on the market. No need to really reinvent anything, just a need to work on the compatibilities.
The benefit to working with the iPhone / iPod as a base is the massive amount of storage and user-interface superiority to any of the bike based fitness measuring equipment on the market.
A good start would be to introduce speed and cadence sensors to make the ipod bike compatible. Beyond that, I would like to see integration with wireless heart-rate, maybe some type of power sensor. (maybe integration with PowerTap or SRM.)
Of course, all of this would a lot easier for a company like Polar to do since they already have all the sensors available (although it might seriously cut into their head and watch unit sales).
With the SDK now available, it would not surprise me if someone builds a plug-in receiver unit to make the ipod compatible with the vast array of bike based sensors already on the market. No need to really reinvent anything, just a need to work on the compatibilities.
The benefit to working with the iPhone / iPod as a base is the massive amount of storage and user-interface superiority to any of the bike based fitness measuring equipment on the market.
The best thing for me with the plus is the web syncing of the data and the community it inspired to help with my sometime wanning motivation to be active. I would be in for this, at the right price, loved getting those miles compelted certificates.........Im easily amused........
i would also love to see this happen. i currently use nike+, but it needs some work. hopefully they'll ramp up the running part also with this update
Nah, it's still "a little niche" ....
Sorry to disagree, but in general, America is currently full of people who have been harassed and scolded by doctors to "lose some weight". They're looking for solutions, and wasting a lot of money on bogus fitness products that don't deliver the promised results.
Anyone remember the "Ab Lounge" they kept hawking on late-night television infomercials? That contraption was little more than a modified folding lawn chair! And despite knowing dozens of people who blew hundreds of dollars on supplements and other pills at their local GNC store or the like, I haven't seen any of them get the results those bottles promised them.
Even a basic "gym membership" has typically become a scam. You can't just pay as you go most of the time. Instead, you're pressured to sign up for some 1 year term or more. They know full-well, half the people are going to wind up moving or going through other life changes, so they stop showing up - and then they've essentially paid for nothing.
At some point, this "huge and lucrative market" has to get saturated. People decide their basement full of exercise machines and gadgetry has let them down, and they simply don't need ANOTHER device in their collection.
I daresay that besides the "niche" market of people making a lifestyle out of fitness, most people could really accomplish their "lose some weight" goals without ANY of this equipment/gear. Go to your local park and jog, or use their free fitness courses (made from simple chains, ropes, and planks of wood, no less!). Make an effort to eat healthier.
Sorry to disagree, but in general, America is currently full of people who have been harassed and scolded by doctors to "lose some weight". They're looking for solutions, and wasting a lot of money on bogus fitness products that don't deliver the promised results.
Anyone remember the "Ab Lounge" they kept hawking on late-night television infomercials? That contraption was little more than a modified folding lawn chair! And despite knowing dozens of people who blew hundreds of dollars on supplements and other pills at their local GNC store or the like, I haven't seen any of them get the results those bottles promised them.
Even a basic "gym membership" has typically become a scam. You can't just pay as you go most of the time. Instead, you're pressured to sign up for some 1 year term or more. They know full-well, half the people are going to wind up moving or going through other life changes, so they stop showing up - and then they've essentially paid for nothing.
At some point, this "huge and lucrative market" has to get saturated. People decide their basement full of exercise machines and gadgetry has let them down, and they simply don't need ANOTHER device in their collection.
I daresay that besides the "niche" market of people making a lifestyle out of fitness, most people could really accomplish their "lose some weight" goals without ANY of this equipment/gear. Go to your local park and jog, or use their free fitness courses (made from simple chains, ropes, and planks of wood, no less!). Make an effort to eat healthier.
Nike currently has a watch that can remotely control the Nike+ kit. It's called the Nike Amp+.
There isn't a really nice full-feature watch that can do everything without the iPod still present. The Amp isn't really even a full-feature watch. The time scrolls, but you can't see any info on splits, average pace, heart rate, etc.
If this interfaces well with the current Nike+, I'll be there in a heartbeat.
This is exactly what i'm waiting for. Although using GPS to measure speed and distance may be out before a cyclometer.
Correct me if I am wrong, isn't miCoach simply a running monitor (much like Nike+iPod) with a supporting web eco-system (again, like Nike + iPod) without the hip factor?
This seems a more comprehensive fitness platform, which includes weight training, etc...
Sell the 'iphonercise' programme on QVC for a few weeks and you'll sell a bundle. The person advertising it should of course have become super fit doing totally unrelated excercises already (but you don't mention that bit).
Then upgrade it to v2 and sell the same thing to the same people again.
You'll *never* run out of people who will fall for this.
Selling 'eat properly and go for a walk occasionally, only $0.00' doesn't make good business, so nobody does it.
Looks like you are quite prescient!
http://tailrank.com/5322663/Nike-iPod-Expanding-to-Include-Gym-Equipment
Official Press Release:
http://www.nikebiz.com/media/pr/2008/03/04_NikePlus.html
If this is just a piece of software or only requires hardware <$50, I'm all over it if/when it comes out.
I've been trying to figure out how to create a combo of BalanceLog (old Palm OS software) and FitDay for my iPhone. A website would be fine, but an app would be better. This would be a KILLER app. If Apple's PATENTING it, that kind of smacks of scary. I hope they don't sell it as a device only. I hope they extend it to iPhone and iPod Touch. I've been waiting for the Nano Nike capabilities to cross over.
~ CB
~ CB