Hasta La Gadget!

Under Armour Inc. is all poised to launch its new performance activity monitoring equipment under the brand Armour39 ^TM in March 2013. The system consists of a chest strap equipped with sensors and sends data to an app on the user’s phone. Optionally consumers have a choice of buying a watch that shows the same information. Armour 39 calculates “Willpower” which means that the system measures heart rate, calories burned, and intensity and then using an algorithm, gives a score in the range of 0 to 10.

Under Armour has been in the performance monitoring industry since 2011, when it first launched Under Armour E39. This system was widely used at the 2011 NFL scouting combine. Now Under Armour is getting into the ring with competitors such as Nike, FitBit and JawBone.  Nike’s FuelBand is perhaps the toughest in the competition, since Nike has been producing performance monitoring equipment since 2006, when it partnered with Apple and sold the Nike and Ipod Sport Kit.

The price of Armour39 is set to $ 149.99, and the watch can be purchased for an additional $199.99. What is yet to be seen is if Under Armour can get a sizeable share in the pie of performance monitoring equipment.  [Press Release]

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Throw your Newman’s Own out the window. The best salad dressing you make is your own, and to do that you need is this Mini Measure Bottle. More »

Microsoft launched its curious Surface Pro hybrid earlier this week, but it turns out that actually trying to buy one was a bit more problematic than people had hoped. Folks looking to get their hands on one of the 128GB models had it especially rough — the $999 device sold out in Microsoft’s online store and some of the company’s retail outlets, not to mention some Best Buy and Staples locations.

Well, according to a tweet from Surface GM Panos Panay, the process of snagging a 128GB Surface Pro will be much easier in just a few days — he confirmed that units were on their way to Best Buy and Microsoft retail stores and that they would be ready to sell by Saturday.

Naturally, Panay didn’t let that tentative timeframe slip uncajoled — he engaged the masses on Twitter in an hour-long chat earlier today that also saw him tackle questions about the Surface Pro’s stylus and the company’s toe-tapping commercials. It wasn’t until a user named @EvanSturdivant pressed Panay on the generic statement about Surface Pro availability he had previously issued that the truth finally came out.

At first glance, all these reports of Surface Pro sell-outs seem to point to a considerable amount of demand for the product — Paul Thurrott noted the existence of “Apple-like lines” in some Microsoft stores — but we’ve since learned that the scarcity of the Surface Pro may have had more to do with limited supply than overwhelming demand. Both 64 and 128GB Surface Pros were apparently in short supply when some people called around asking for them, and one unlucky ZDNet writer had to schlep to a Microsoft Store 50 miles from where he lived because it was the only place he could find a 128GB model. As is usually the case, some people began to cook up some strange conspiracy theories (like one that claimed Microsoft deliberately limited supplies in order to say that it had sold out of Surface Pros), but I seriously doubt that’s the case. Sure, the whole rigmarole was a headache for people itching for a high-end Surface Pro, but the smart money’s on all this being an issue of mismanagement and not malice.

(LANSING, Mich.) — Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced Monday that Michigan ranks among the best states in the nation for elections performance, based on a recently released Pew Center study.

The Pew Center on the States released the report this month that named Michigan, along with six other states, as “high performers” for the election cycles in 2008 and 2010. Michigan ranked 6th in 2008 and 11th in 2010.

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We’ve been hearing rumors of a Nokia tablet for several months now, but this latest slip up may have accidentally unveiled the device prior to its expected reveal during MWC later this month.

The leak occurred during a Pakistan Nokia event where the onstage screen briefly showed a tablet device that looked to be in the 7-inch range, next to a Nokia 620 and a monitor, all of which running their respective versions of Windows. If the Nokia tablet turns out to be a 7-inch tablet, it could potentially spark the interest for cheaper Windows tablets, which we know there is probably a space for seeing how smaller sized Android tablets and the iPad Mini have gained in popularity.

It was just a few weeks ago Nokia CEO Stephen Elop hinted at a Nokia tablet being developed by saying the company was studying the market in order to learn what the right way to participate would be, but it looks like with this recent leak, Nokia may know exactly what it wants to do with its tablet. A 7-inch Windows tablet would be a great way to enter the tablet market.

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