NikePlusFuelband
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Nike+ FuelBand iOS app updated to run along your Path, sync in the background
If you decided to snag the latest Nike+ wristband earlier this year, you're about to get some added functionality thanks to an iOS application update. First, the outfit has added Path integration to the mobile software. Users can now keep track of the sights they've visited while out for a jog or bike ride and share said moments / achievements with their mates. When the day comes to a close, those points-of-interest along the trail will appear on the app's progress graph. You'll also encounter background syncing by holding down the FuelBand's button alongside the ability to check battery status, offline data access and setting the time with your iPhone or iPod touch. For a quick look at what you can expect to see with the refresh, sprint to the gallery below.
Nike+ FuelBand's internals get splayed at the FCC
All of these wrist-mounted fitness gizmos are pretty nifty, but we always wonder how they get those rigid circuit boards into such an unsuitable form-factor. Well, thanks to those scalpel-happy boffins at the FCC's underground bunker, wonder no more. Nike's FuelBand was wheeled in on a trolley and torn (quite literally) to pieces, and we felt we just had to share the pictures with you. A long peruse of the user manual revealed that the two metal extender links (for bigger-wristed enthusiasts) have to be swapped out using a sizing tool -- but the manual notes that if one isn't to hand, a bent paperclip will suffice. The documents also revealed that it's using a TI CC2564 Bluetooth radio and a stack provided by Stonestreet One. The monopole antenna is etched directly into the substrate of the flexible circuit board -- ensuring it'll bend around your bones and still operate. We also learned that once connected to your cellphone, it'll sit in a low-power "sniff mode," for two minutes and if there's no further activity it'll shut down. Of course, what's interesting to you (and us, honestly) is all the pictures in the second gallery, so get looking!
The Nike+ FuelBand measures activity in NikeFuel, ready for your NikeLife
While Nike might have beat competitors like the MotoACTV and Jawbone Up to the active bracelet market over two years ago, its original endeavor, the Nike+ SportBand, was getting long in the tooth. That changes today with the introduction of the far sleeker Nike+ FuelBand. It's much in the vein of the original, except boasts a more attractive 20 LED dot-matrix display and can measure activity in a new unit the company calls NikeFuel. That latter bit is a normalized score that unlike calories "awards equal points for the same activity regardless of physical makeup." We'll have to see about that, but we're definitively smitten with its design and that row of colorful LEDs that progressively fills as one gets closer to reaching their intended goal. The $149 pre-orders go live on the company's online store at 5PM ET, but those interested ought to peep the PR and video after the break.
