Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re serious bicyclist rather than riding some generic exercise bike, you might prefer to ride your own bike even if you can’t get outside to do it. I’m sure there are a number of systems on the market that will turn a normal bike into a stationary bicycle and Wahoo Fitness as a new stationary trainer that uses the iPhone for control. The new stationary trainer is called the Wahoo Fitness Kickr Power Trainer.

The device claims to be the world’s first iPhone powered by trainer and promises to allow cyclists and triathletes to set resistance and accurately measure their power using app-based workouts. The device will debut in the US this November and uses Bluetooth 4.0 and ANT+ technology. While pedaling the user will be able to increase or decrease the resistance and simulate the real world bike courses while using the iPhone as the control. The resistant adjustments are instantaneous.

Users are able to replicate everything from a flat or rolling hill course to coasting downhill after a climb. The device uses a wheel off design and a flywheel to produce a realistic road feel. Wahoo Fitness promises that the device delivers a feel equivalent to the inertia of an actual rider on the road.

The system works with top cycling applications, including Trainer Road and Kinomap Trainer. The device can simulate different rides from coasting down hills to pedaling up a 15% grade. The rider can measure their power output in watts and their speed via apps. Wahoo also says that it’s one of the quietest trainers on the market. Pricing is unknown at this time.

Wahoo Fitness unveils new iPhone powered stationary bike trainer is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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It’s been quite a while since we last heard from JayBird, but now it’s back with another set of Bluetooth in-ear headphones for fitness activities. Unveiled and available today, the new Freedom Sprint ($130, pictured right) joins the ranks of the company’s Freedom JF3 headset ($99) — it’s essentially the same Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR headset, albeit with 40-percent less of a footprint for the earpieces (33 x 16 x 8 mm vs. 44 x 19 x 9 mm). The petite size naturally means a smaller internal battery (rated for 4.5 hours, compared to the original’s six), but JayBird let us know that the Sprint is acoustically identical to the JF3. While size is the main focus, there are also a few other improvements being toted in the Sprint — it sports a micro-USB port for charging (changed from mini-USB), a softer cable between the buds, an inconspicuous notification LED, enhanced call quality and the multifunction button has been repositioned to the top of one of the earpieces (the JF3’s is on the outside). Sounds like the Sprint could be the $130 ticket if Bluetooth, small size and a secure fit are your main concerns for a pair of in-ears. You’ll find more images in the gallery below and further details at the source link.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Wearables

JayBird intros Freedom Sprint: the JF3 Bluetooth stereo fitness headset gets 40% smaller originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin is well-known for its intense fitness watches like the Forerunner 910XT—a big, complicated, waterproof timekeeper that’s basically designed with Olympians triathletes in mind. If you’re just a casual jogger trying to stay in shape, a watch that powerful is just intimidating overkill. Garmin’s newest fitness watch is designed for those of us who aren’t superstars—yet. More »

Wouldn’t it be great if fitness and medical gadgets automatically knew who was wearing them? Researchers from Dartmouth have come up with a new way to provide health monitors just such an ability using a tiny electric current and a bioimpedance sensor. You see, each person’s body provides a different amount of opposition to electrical current, so bioimpedance can be a unique biometric identifier. The researchers’ idea is to create a bracelet that uses bioimpedance readings to recognize its wearer in a secure, unobtrusive manner and communicate that identity to other wearable devices.

Using such a bracelet, “the devices discover each other’s presence, recognize that they are on the same body (and transitively learn from the wrist device whose body), develop shared secrets from which to derive encryption keys, and establish reliable and secure communications.” As opposed to other biometrics or password authentication, bioimpedance readings can be taken passively, which is much more appealing than remembering passcodes or scanning fingerprints and retinas. For now, the researchers have created an eight-electrode proof-of-concept bracelet, but its accuracy leaves something to be desired — it correctly identifies its wearer only 80 to 90 percent of the time, whereas fingerprint recognition has a failure rate of less than 1 in 1,000. So, we’re a ways off from bioimpedance-based security, but research is ongoing, and you can learn all about it at the source below.

Filed under: Wearables, Science

Researchers use bioimpedance as a biometric, let health monitor devices know who you are originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 20:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You want to run around like some wilderness badass. Climbing in the Rockies. Surfing in the Rockaways. Whatever. You can do it all if you’ve got some warm, dry gear to slip into when the adventure is over. Can this waterproof backpack make it happen? More »