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App review: Nike+ GPS
Nike's dalliances with technology should be familiar to our readers by now, with the crowning jewel of course being the Nike+ run-tracking software that pairs a shoe-mounted sensor with your iPhone or iPod. Well, it was. The gargantuan sportswear company is moving with the times and throwing the hardware away with the introduction of its all-new Nike+ GPS application. No longer restricting our running shoe choice is groovy, but the app itself has the even loftier aim of simultaneously acting as your fitness guru, motivator and record keeper. And all it asks in return is access to the accelerometer and GPS modules inside your iOS 4-equipped iPhone or iPod touch (the latter's lack of GPS means it loses out on route mapping, but all other features are retained). So, let's see how this baby runs, shall we?%Gallery-101563%
Puma joins forces with Sagem to birth the Puma Phone
Looks like the rumors we heard were true: august cordwainer Puma has teamed up with Sagem to make a phone -- and it's quite a looker, too. The Puma Phone (as it's called) is a lightweight little guy that boasts an integrated solar cell for charging and charge indicator to let you know how you're doing on juice, a QVGA TFT 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen, plus a 3.2 megapixel cam with LED flash and 6x zoom. It also packs in GPS, a compass and geotagging, plus it's got a host of 'sporty' features (pedometer, stopwatch and GPS tracker)... if you're into an active lifestyle. This bad boy can be strapped to your arm when you're on the go, but don't blame us if it doesn't score you any points with the passersby. The Puma Phone will be available throughout Europe in April of this year -- no word on pricing or availability elsewhere yet. The full press release is after the break.
Pokewalker accessory included in North American Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Today, Nintendo announced that the PokéWalker accessory, a Pokéball-shaped pedometer that interfaces with Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, will be packaged with copies of the games when they arrive in stores on March 14. Nintendo had previously dated Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver along with the rest of its Q1 lineup, but it omitted mention of the accessory -- though the game's Amazon listing didn't. The Pokéwalker allows players to earn "Watts" with their steps, which can be used both to catch Pokémon inside the device and unlock routes in the main game. In addition, the device enables wireless item trading between two Pokéwalker carriers. Gotta walk the mall to catch 'em all! %Gallery-65398%
Fitbit tracker starts shipping, ready to monitor your fitness, sleep, piety
Better (a year) late than never, eh Fitbit? This time last year, there was quite a bit of buzz stirred up by a little gadget promising to monitor exercise intensity, distances traveled, sleep patterns, and calorie consumption. This pedometer with a degree and a 3D motion sensor has been incubating a lot longer than initially projected, but the first few units have finally trickled out to their eager users today. The entire device is essentially one big clip, attaching to any bit of clothing you have on you, while its base station can wirelessly collect data and upload it, via a pc, to a free online tracking dashboard. Add in the OLED display and a quoted battery autonomy of 10+ days, and the $99 price starts to appear pretty reasonable.[Via medGadget]
Nike seemingly plans 5G iPod nano-compatible heart rate monitor
One of the new iPod nano features that Apple didn't bother to illustrate much yesterday is the integrated pedometer, and if an updated Nike+ iPod user guide is to be believed, that ain't the only fitness-related extra that the 5G nano will be good for. As the image above so clearly shows, a Nike+ compatible heart rate monitor could be on the way, and it'll function exclusively with Cupertino's only camera-toting iPod. AppleInsider was told that the product launch was actually scheduled for yesterday, but it was held up for reasons unknown and may not ship until 3058. Too bad -- we just know that you were waiting for this very device to start your workout regimen. Ah well, what's another dozen months of kicking back and ingesting Ho Hos, right?
Apple adds video camera, larger screen to new 5G iPod nano
Apple sure took long enough to get to this, but just as rumored, the iPod nano is seeing a hotly-anticipated refresh today. The big addition? A camera that just so happens to shoot live video (but not stills, apparently). On the lower left of the new fifth-generation nano, you'll find the camera as well as a speaker and microphone, but unfortunately you'll have to sync it with your computer before you upload clips to YouTube. The camera-laden nanos will be available starting today in a rainbow's worth of hues (nine, if we're being precise), with the 8GB model pegged at $149 and the 16GB edition at $179 -- though, we should mention that yellow and red are Apple Store exclusives. Oh, and oddly / tragically enough, the iPod nano is officially the only dedicated iPod with a camera, leaving the iPod touch -- and every human on the planet -- scratching their head in befuddlement. Meanwhile, iPhone 3G users are equally bewildered by the fact that a mid-range iPod can shoot video while a fully-capable smartphone cannot.As for other specs, you'll find a built-in FM tuner with Live Pause (!) and iTunes Tagging, a pedometer (you know, for that fancy Nike+ integration), VoiceOver, support for voice memos and a larger 2.2-inch display (up from 2.0-inches) with a 376 x 240 resolution. As for the camera, we're told that the video capture mode snags footage in VGA quality (640 x 480) H.264, with up to 30fps and AAC audio. If you're feeling fancy, there's also 15 real-time special effects including Sepia, Black and White, X-Ray, Film Grain, Thermal, Security Cam, Cyborg, Bulge, Kaleido and Motion Blur (among others). As for dimensions, the 5G nano remains identical to the 4G nano at 3.6- x 1.5- x 0.24-inches, though it somehow shaves a whopping 0.02 ounces as it climbs down from 1.3 to 1.28 ounces. Curious about battery life? Apple claims that the new nano can last up to 24 hours when playing back audio (same as 4G nano), while video playback should zap the rechargeable battery in just five hours (which is up an hour over its predecessor).Update: Check out our first hands-on live from the event!
WWDC Demo: iTreadmill
iTreadmill (App Store link) is a pedometer app for your iPhone or iPod touch. I spoke with the developer, who demoed the app for us at WWDC. It looks nice, appears to perform well, and features a respectable number of ways to customize and tune the readings. Pedometer apps may not save the world, but if you're looking for something much less expensive than the Nike+iPod device, this will do in a pinch. There's also a Lite version (App Store link) if you want to try it yourself.
Pokemon Gold/Silver remakes let you train Pokemon by walking
Turns out that the same technology used in Personal Trainer: Walking to train you will also help you train Pokemans in Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. According to Andriasang, the Pokémon Sunday TV show revealed a new pedometer device used in the game, called the "Poké Walker," that resembles a cross between a Pokeball and the Pokémon Mini handheld. For some reason, Nintendo decided to make another wireless pedometer peripheral for the DS rather than allowing people to use the existing one. The device allows you to build one Pokémon's experience and personal affinity simply by walking. In addition, the Poké Walker generates "watts," which can be used to catch wild creatures and find tools inside the Poké Walker world to send back to the full game. Check out the first screens of the remakes in our gallery, as you come to the terrifying realization that Nintendo didn't mention this game at all at E3.%Gallery-65398%
PSA: Personal Trainer: Walking ambles into stores next week
We didn't realize that the release date for Nintendo's DS exercise program Personal Trainer: Walking was approaching so quickly, probably because Nintendo has said little about the game since announcing it in October. Nintendo announced today that the game will be in stores on May 26, which is next Tuesday. We figure that if had sneaked up on us, it may have eluded your attention as well.Three reasons you may be interested in Personal Trainer: Walking. It's the first DS game that allows you to use Miis, either created in-game or imported from the Wii. Gadgets! Walking includes two pedometers that wirelessly transmit your step numbers into the game. Also, according to the press release, you can attach one to a dog's collar and tabulate the dog's exercise habits. Maybe you like walking. We don't know.
Personal Trainer: Walking gets release date, price, shin splints
We know you've been eagerly awaiting the release of Nintendo's Personal Trainer: Walking for the Nintendo DS and DSi. Look, there's no need to play coy: We've caught you circling the block in your new track suit, psyching yourself up for all the fun (and fitness!) you'll be having once you get your hands on those patented Nintendo Activity Meters. According to the company, this bad boy is up for pre-order now and will finally be available for sale on May 26, at a suggested retail price of $49.99. Sweet, huh? Soon you'll be recording every step that you make, transferring the data to your handheld, parsing the stats, and transforming yourself from a slovenly couch potato into the veritable icon of fitness -- and all with the help of your favorite handheld. Welcome to the future... it's fabulous!
Personal Trainer: Walking bringing pedometers to Nintendo DSi
Nintendo's DSi may have just launched, but if you figured your wallet would be safe from buying any other related hardware in the near future, you clearly aren't in tune with the rabid peripheral market. Our best buds over at Joystiq sat down with David Young, the assistant PR manager for Nintendo of America, in order to talk shop and get a glimpse into the DSi's future. Of note, Mr. Young stated that DSi interaction with the Wii was "certainly a possibility," but he failed to elaborate much beyond that. What he did confess, however, was that the DSi will soon be interacting with a pair of pedometers (or "activity meters"), which will ship with the Personal Trainer: Walking title. We're told that the devices will connect wirelessly with the console, and the game itself will be the first where you can import a Mii character from the Wii. Heck, users can even affix one of the meters to their dog in order to log Fido's exercise habits. Consider us (and our pets) highly intrigued.
Pedometer-equipped walking game steps into Europe with a terrible new name
While Nintendo of America has settled on Personal Trainer: (Activity) for DS training games, and Japan takes a more freeform approach (the only constant is really, really long names), Nintendo of Europe's approach for training game titles (with the odd exception of Maths Training) is now (Title): (Question about title activity?) -- as in Cooking Guide: Can't decide what to eat? and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How old is your brain?The latest training game to use this naming convention is Walk with me! Do you know your walking routine?, which we know as Personal Trainer: Walking, the walking trainer that brings Miis to the DS for the first time, and also includes two wireless pedometer accessories. That accessory is known as the Activity Meter for the PAL release. Data collected by the device can be sent to Nintendo via Wi-Fi for use on leaderboards and a total worldwide step count of all users. The press release says that the data is transferred to your DS via infrared signal, but we're a bit skeptical since the DS doesn't have an IR port.Nintendo of Europe will launch Walk with me! on February 20. You can see English screens in an obtrusive Flash interface at Nintendo's Walk with me page.%Gallery-33410%[Thanks, RICANJO!]
Sanyo builds prototype pedometer that powers itself while you walk
These portable power generating options are a dime a dozen now, but we thought you'd still want to know that Sanyo has invented a device that'll let you turn your health obsession into electricity to power your health obsession -- a vicious cycle if we've ever seen one. It's a pedometer that generates just enough energy (40 microwatts) to keep itself ticking when the swinging motion of its health-nut wearer's body causes tiny parts to move around. Sanyo hopes to use the technology for other low-power devices in the future. As for us, we'd rather remain utterly otiose and let our battery slaves do the work for us, though we can imagine something like this might, with some improvements, prove useful to those villagers who have to walk 12 miles to charge their cell phones. [Warning: read link requires subscription]
Stroll through some Personal Trainer: Walking screens
Nintendo has opened a website and released screens of Aruite Wakaru Seikatsu Rhythm DS, or Personal Trainer: Walking, the walking trainer that includes a wireless pedometer and uses Miis. As it turns out, this game, which will probably be somewhat of a flagship product for Nintendo, is being developed by Creatures, Inc., codevelopers of the Pokémon games, as well as the first two Mother games, and current home of Metroid and Kid Icarus composer Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka (he's the president!)Personal Trainer can record walking data and generate all kinds of stats for four participants, which it does at the end of the day. However, it only includes two pedometers. Extras will be available for 1,800 yen ($17.71).%Gallery-33410%
Cooking Guide, Maths Training, Walking Rhythm DS rebranded for US
One of the less-reported announcements from Nintendo's conference is the "Personal Trainer" series of games. We were a bit confused to see the announcement of Personal Trainer: Cooking when we're still waiting for Cooking Guide. And then about two seconds later we figured it out. Personal Trainer: Cooking is Cooking Guide. We're guessing, but it seems like a fairly uncontroversial guess.Nintendo's press release about the conference details Personal Trainer: Cooking and two other Personal Trainer titles that make it much more obvious that these are existing/known training games. Personal Trainer: Math is "a collection of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division drills based on the Kageyama method." Which means it's Maths Training, released in Europe back in February. And Personal Trainer: Walking "will introduce a wireless pedometer, letting consumers not only track every step they take, but also turn walking into interactive entertainment." It must be Aruite Wakaru Seikatsu Rhythm DS (Learn by Walking Rhythm DS), then!Cooking will be released on November 24, and the other two will appear sometime next year.%Gallery-33410%
Nintendo's mystery pedometer linked to DS "fitness game" (updated)
Hey, remember that odd Nintendo pedometer we spied the other day? Well now we've got a possible explanation for its existence. According to info from our homeboys at Joystiq and some dirt we've dug up, the device -- dubbed the Life Rhythm Counter -- will be tied to a fitness game for the DS (and new DSi, we assume). The hardware will sell for ¥1800 (or about $17), and the game will be the first title to allow Wii Miis to be transferred to the handheld. Needless to say, the entire Engadget team has begun rigorous training to prepare for the totally raw competition which will commence once this device / game is available.Update: It turns out the game is called Walking Can Tell Your Life Rhythm DS (translated from Japanese, of course), and we've got video after the break showing it (and the hardware) in action.[Via Joystiq]
Nintendo's pedometer tied to DS fitness game
Though we still feel the less traditional application of a pedometer is the more prudent one -- you never know how many pedophiles could be in the area -- Nintendo has decided to stick with one that merely counts steps. Judging by one of the videos shown during its recent presentation in Japan, the trademarked device will be tied (at least initially) to a Nintendo DS fitness title.The promotional material seems to indicate that it will be out in November. The presence of the pedometer indicates that it will require physical activity on our behalf. Therefore, we think it unlikely that the number of steps taken to procure it will exceed zero.Maybe if the FedEx guy sticks it in the refrigerator. [Via DS Fanboy]
Nintendo unveils pedometer for upcoming DS fitness title
Remember that weird pedometer trademark that came up recently? Well, instead of being something tied to a Wii game, as many thought, it's tied to a DS title instead. During the video presentation showing off upcoming DS titles, the image to the right was shown. We're having a hard time translating the name, so we're just going to call it Lifestyle Rhythm DS for the moment. As you might have guessed, based on the image to the right, this is scheduled for a November release in Japan.Hit up Nintendo's Japanese site for a closer look at the upcoming game. [Thanks, Sonic_13!]
Nintendo trademarks mysterious pedometer
Could this simple, lozenge-shaped device be what we're all talking about come Thursday morning? Currently, all the evidence points to a souped-up DS being unveiled during Nintendo's Media Summit, but NeoGAFfer Shiggy spotted this on the site of European trademark body OAMI.It was registered by Nintendo in late-August, and is apparently a pedometer. This being related to Wii Fit in some way seems like an obvious first guess, but any speculation we indulge in is just that for now. Like most companies, Nintendo is always registering stuff, some of which it never uses, or some of which doesn't get officially announced until months or years later. This post could just be a really, really early preview for ... some gadget Nintendo releases three years from now![Via NeoGAF]
Nintendo getting into the pedometer game? This will all end in tears
Bad / good news, folks: Nintendo is / isn't working on a pedometer peripheral that will / won't integrate with its Wii / DS console. The company has famously stated that it doesn't plan to release "a whole lot more" accessories for the Wii, which means we've got at least one or two to look forward to, and this could be one of 'em. The images surfaced on a European trademark registry site with very little supplemental info, but we do know it's a pedometer of sorts. If we're lucky, this is something that'll integrate into the existing Wii Fit setup, perhaps alongside a software update to manage more info about our unhealthiness than just how far we can jump on a pair of imaginary skis, but it's probably just as likely that we're looking at a Wii Fit sequel, or perhaps a DS version (a handy companion to that new DS?) designed to lure us out of the house. No telling, really, but the peripheral does appear to be wireless... and wholly evil.[Via Joystiq]
