Sportline's Solo 960 watch packs heart rate monitor, pedometer

Although there's plenty of options out there when scouting a relatively ugly, GPS-enabled timepiece, Sportline is claiming that its Solo 960 is the "world's only heart rate watch and accelerometer combination." This fairly decent looking wristwatch includes a pedometer (which utilizes the motion-sensing accelerometer), the firm's own "3Beat Sensor and One-Touch technologies for ECG accurate heart-rate measurement," an EL backlight, five alarms, dual time zone display, and oh yeah, it actually tells the current time of day, too. Not too shabby for $99.99, we think.

[Wesburl @ Sep 12th 2007 12:30PM]

This would be cool to watch your heart rate go up your Boss lectures you on TPS reports, and then cooler still to watch the accelerometer as you punch him square in the eye.

[Simon @ Sep 12th 2007 1:06PM]

You have no idea how much that made me lol.

[BK @ Sep 12th 2007 12:53PM]

How accurate is this motion-sensing accelerometer-based pedometer? Anyone know?

[John Laur @ Sep 12th 2007 1:23PM]

In the age of "teh internets" and with the associated impromptu word coinage, am I the only one who thinks that the word "pedometer" as used to describe a device that loosely estimates the distance one has walked should change? Hey, I'm all for a device that points out pedos but I'd think that its operation should be less overt than pointing your arm at a person and blasting them with the beam.

Post your suggestions below:

[John @ Sep 12th 2007 1:53PM]

Every other company I know uses an acelerometer pod starpped to your shoes (Nike, Suunto, Polar, Garmin). Are these guys saying that the watch measures your hand movements and calculates your stride? That sounds really fishy because, for example, I tend to vary my arm stride while I run to stretch or loosen the tension on my shoulders, or even, just to adjust the volume on my ipod or check the time on my watch. I just would not trust my hands to tell me how far and how fast I'm going.

For the money, the best GPS, heart Rate monitor, acceleromenter footpod (for indoors) is still the Garmin Forerunner 305.

[rtdunham @ Sep 12th 2007 1:54PM]

so is it GPS too? the beginning of the article makes it seem so, but then that feature isn't mentioned further...

[steve @ Sep 12th 2007 3:29PM]

Is pedophilia that much of a problem that there's so many devices to measure it? With all the play it gets in the media, you'd think a gaydar "come out" first?
;)

[Lonnie McClure @ Sep 12th 2007 4:41PM]

If people used the preferred British spelling (paedophile), there would be no confusion, at least in print.

Of course, it is a ped-o-meter, not a pedo-meter. After all, a speedometer measures speed, not how many guys one passes wearing a Speedo.

[steve @ Sep 17th 2007 10:46AM]

@Lonnie
So, speedometer DOESN'T count the number of speedo wearers you pass!? :omg:

Next you'll tell me that odometer measures something stupid like distance instead of how much something stinks.