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Apple Watch can now be used by pro surfers during competition
The World Surf League has designated the Apple Watch as official wearable equipment. The organization says it's the first time that Apple Watch is being 'used as official competitor equipment in a professional sports environment.'
Rip Curl and Surfline team up to serve videos of your surf sessions
It's easy to track your surfing, but recording video for posterity is much harder unless you have a friend who's willing to film from the beach. Surfline and Rip Curl want to make it as simple as launching an app. They've partnered on a Surfline Sessions feature that sends video of your ride to your iPhone (sorry, Android users). If you're wearing one of Rip Curl's Search GPS 2 watches, pair it with the Surfline Sessions app and subscribe to Surfline Premium, you'll receive videos of each wave ride conducted in front of one of Surfline's 600-plus worldwide cameras. You can study your surfing technique (or just brag) before you've even loaded your board in the car.
Surfline’s Apple Watch app will record your next big wave ride
If you surf, there's a good chance you use Surfline. The call-in swell forecasting service started in the '80s and has blossomed into a video-streaming source of information that surfers rely on to plan trips and or just hit their local break. But those high-definition cameras that surfers use to monitor the waves are about to be used for another purpose: Recording your session.
CERN lets you surf the web like it's 1990
We take the relative seamlessness of the internet for granted these days -- it's easy to forget that surfing the web was once a fairly clunky and convoluted affair. But for those hankering for a bit of tech nostalgia -- or who can't conceive a world where you had to double click on hyperlinks -- a team at CERN has rebuilt the original 1990 WorldWideWeb browser, which can be explored within a regular browser.
Facebook nabs exclusive streaming rights for pro surfing
If you're interested in professional surfing, there's no higher competition than the World Surf League (WSL). Hawaiian John John Florence is the current men's champion, while Australian Tyler Wright dominates the women's division. At the moment, you can watch championship events for free on Facebook or through the WSL website and mobile app. But that's about to change — Facebook has inked a "historic partnership" that will make it the exclusive platform for WSL streaming. It covers all men and women Championship Tour events in 2018 and 2019, as well as the Junior Championships, Qualifying Series 10,000 and Big Wave Tour events.
Recommended Reading: Trust your gut
Is Your Gut Microbiome the Key to Health and Happiness? Amy Fleming, The Guardian You've likely heard the phrase "trust your gut" at some point in your life, but the key to being healthy and happy could actually lie in all of those organisms in your digestive system. The Guardian lays out the case for how influential your gut really is and discusses the act of "poop doping." Yes, that's a thing.
Nixon's Android Wear smartwatch is water resistant up to 100 meters
A number of smartwatches tout activity tracking and sporty looks, but Nixon is looking to offer more for folks who like to take the action outdoors. The watchmaker is jumping on the wearable tech bandwagon with the $400 Mission: an Android Wear device that touts a 10-ATM water resistance rating, which means it'll hold up in depths of up to 100 meters. Nixon says this is the highest rating for any smartwatch. To put that designation to the test, the Mission offers both surfers and snowboarders/skiers up-to-date info on conditions around the world through a pair of pre-loaded apps.
ICYMI: Electric surfboard, '80s video app and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-143496{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-143496, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-143496{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-143496").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: If Jaws has kept you out of the ocean, there's another way to experience surfing. Just pay $4,000 for the Onean Electric Surfboard and cruise lakes and rivers instead. And you can re-live the glory days of Saved by the Bell and Zumba pants with an iOS app that turns captured videos into vintage gems. And an art installation lets you sing to it and vibrates back with its own song.
BMW's concept motorcycle carries your surfboard
Like surfing, but would rather not strap your board to a big, stuffy car for the trip to the coastline? BMW's Concept Path 22 motorcycle might just let you travel lighter and enjoy the open road. The retro-inspired scrambler (a bike meant for off-roading) has a surfboard holder, so you can hit the waves at just about any beach without worrying about having the space to drive and park a four-wheeler. You might like the bike even if you're content to remain on terra firma, for that matter. The stripped-down look will trigger more than a few 1950's flashbacks, and there are modern touches like a digital dash and turn signal indicators built into the handlebars. There's no talk of whether or not the Path 22 will go into production, but we could see it being just the ticket if you regularly hang ten.
You won't need waves with this $20,000 electric surfboard
If you want to surf, but are too lazy to paddle or look for waves, the Wakejet Cruise from Swedish outfit Radinn is for you! The company says it "marries the agility and speed of wakeboarding with the freedom of surfing," but that doesn't mean you can take the electric-powered craft lightly. It cruises along at a rather insane 28mph for a full half-hour on a single charge -- or up to an hour if you're willing to go slower. That's about the same speed as a water skier, meaning that unlike seated watercraft, it'll require your full attention, along with some skill and athleticism.
Glassy Pro One wants to be the FuelBand for beachbums
Sportsbands or smartwatches try to be all things to all people, but are you going to pit a pricey smartwatch against 20-foot waves? Of course not, and that's where purpose-built devices come in like the Glassy Pro One sportsband for surfers. While far less versatile than a general sportsband, the new device will certainly give you the pertinent info: the number of waves, swell height, your surf speed and the duration of a ride. It can also tell you the weather in about 6,000 spots, help set goals, and of course let you brag about an epic session through the social functions. It's now up for pre-order at $279 in the US, joining Rip Curl's SearchGPS in a suddenly burgeoning surf watch market.
Catching waves with Rip Curl's SearchGPS surf watch
"Track every wave and know every tide." That's the concept behind Rip Curl's SearchGPS, a location-tracking wristwear that combines your typical fitness-tracking features with a waterproof, wave-counting watch for surfers. The final hardware will arrive in black and white color options this October for $400, but we managed to get our hands on a pre-production unit just in time for a little summer fun.
Rip Curl's new watch tallies waves, tracks speed in the surf
Whether you're a runner, swimmer or cyclist, there are plenty of fitness tracking wearables to choose from, ripe with features to help you make the most of a morning run or laps at the YMCA. But what about something for the surfer? Well, Rip Curl aims to let athletes of the ocean "track every wave" and "know every tide" with its new SearchGPS surf watch. Until now, surfers were limited to much more generic (dumb) wristwear preloaded with locational wind, temperature and swell statistics. The SearchGPS brings the watersport into the connected age, allowing users to record top speed, distance traveled and even their wave count. Then, by the time you've shed the wetsuit and hosed off your board, you can re-live your entire run with customized maps and graphic charts on Rip Curl's website or stylish iOS Search app. Convinced you need one? The SearchGPS isn't available just yet, but you can sign up to be notified when it hits shelves at the source link below.
'Web' beta promises a modernized browser for the Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi single-board computer may have started as a simple educational tool, but over the past year users have revealed it's capable of much more. From drones to smart TV hacks to supercomputers, the $35 PC can be manipulated for almost any task, and now the team behind it is working on a better web browser. Developed over the last few months with the help of open source consultants Collabora, the unimaginatively named "Web" is promising an up-to-date experience designed for the hardware's limitations and strengths alike. Future Raspbian releases will come standard with this HTML5-capable browser, promising ARMv6-optimized 2D rendering, a smooth tab experience and accelerated image and video decoding. At this point it takes some technical savvy to get online and cranking, but if you know your way around a command line then just follow these instructions.
Shaka turns smartphones into wind meters, gives surfers and kiteboarders the gnar they need (hands-on)
Ever missed an amazing set in spite of your sick surfboard because you packed it in not knowing that the wind was picking up and about to deliver the perfect wave? Or maybe you didn't realize just how hard the breeze was blowing and as a result, your tee shot wound up deep in the rough. Good news, sporting friends, because start-up company Shaka is here to make you more air-aware with a wind meter that plugs into the 3.5mm jack on your smartphone. It's a small, plastic fan, not much bigger than a box of matches, that pairs with the company's app to deliver wind speed and direction wherever you are -- and it works by simply holding the thing up in a stiff breeze. The app then keeps a record of all your measurements and allows you to share them via your favorite social networks. Not only that, it also overlays the results on a map so you can see where the wind is just right for all your favorite wind-reliant activities. It's currently iOS-only, but we're told Android and Windows Phone versions are in the works as well. The price for knowing when wind perfection is upon you? For now Shaka's seeking to sell them for around $59 bucks, but that could change if the powers that be (read: investors) decide otherwise.
Sony Ericsson hangs ten, launches Xperia Active Billabong Edition
Sony Ericsson is looking to start a bromance with the McTwist-loving, Double-Cork-landing, A-Frame-riding masses jonesing for a new Android device. The handset maker has announced a "global strategic alliance" with Billabong to launch the Xperia Active Billabong Edition smartphone in select markets. The handset will come preloaded with exclusive content, including Billabong screen savers, and bundle several Billabong-branded games and applications. As the two companies tell it, the Xperia ABE is the "ideal smartphone for extreme sports enthusiasts." Accordingly, Sony Ericsson hardware is about to start making appearances at various "major" Billabong events. Unfortunately, this next bit is really going to harsh your mello: the hardware is identical to that of the Xperia Active announced back in June, complete with a single-core 1GHz processor, Gingerbread, a 3-inch Reality display and a five-megapixel shooter. Even with its no-so-extreme spec sheet, we give SE a gnar-lay for effort.
Samsung's SCH-i929 and SCH-W999 dual-screen clamshell get certified in China
Ready for a heavy dose of Android this morning? Then enjoy this Samsung double whammy freshly delivered from China. On the left we have the China Telecom-branded SCH-i929, a 9.7mm-thick handset featuring a Snapdragon MSM8660 chip (likely clocked at 1.5GHz), 4.5-inch 480 x 800 AMOLED display, eight-megapixel camera and GSM plus CDMA2000 connectivity. All of this makes the i929 a near-identical cousin of the Galaxy S II LTE -- same processor, same chassis, but obviously with different network compatibility. Of course, the real star of the show is the SCH-W999, a follow-up to the SCH-W899 of the same dual-screen clamshell form factor. As you can see on the right, on the outside this phone features a 3.5-inch 480 x 800 AMOLED display along with three touch buttons, while on the inside it packs a similar screen plus a physical keypad. Like the i929 above, this funky flip phone is also powered by a MSM8660 chip and supports both GSM and CDMA2000 on China Telecom, though its camera is limited to five megapixels instead. Anyhow, we'd certainly love to get hold of a world-friendly version of this 204 gram beast, so what do you say, Won-Pyo Hong? %Gallery-137682%
Sensor-laden surfboard collects gnarly statistics, finally quantifies 'tubular, dude!'
Oh, sure -- it ain't the first time an array of data-collecting sensors have found their way into a surfboard, but the goal with this one is quite different than the one crafted last year at UC San Diego. Tecnalia and Pukas have cooperated in order to build a board with a downright astounding amount of sensors within: there's an embedded PC, gyroscopes, accelerometers, a compass and even GPS, all of which combine to generate a ridiculous amount of data from a ride and its rider. Every ounce of the collected information is stored in a flash memory stick, and after a session is wrapped, all of those bits and bytes are beamed over WiFi to a more potent computer for analysis. The software system to visualize and process the data has been developed in ROS, and with that, researchers can not only judge performance, but also see which techniques were superior. There's a video of the board in action just past the break, but sadly, no pre-order page has emerged just yet. Hint, hint.
TUAW preview: Billabong Surf Trip
Chillingo invited us out to the headquarters of surfwear manufacturer Billabong yesterday for a look at a new iPhone and iPad game called Billabong Surf Trip. The game is designed by a Portugese developer named Biodroid Entertainment (who told me that they've done some work on other consoles, but this is their first title for Apple's iOS). As you may have guessed from the name, the title is sponsored by Billabong, and features the ability to create a surfer and then send him or her around the world to take on the waves. Before I sat down to play the game, I asked Billabong's PR Director Jim Kempton about why they'd gotten involved in an iPhone game, and he said the goal of the game was to "introduce people to what surfing is about, on the level that we're hoping to cast an interest anyway." You don't have to be a surfer to enjoy the game, but enjoying the game might get you interested in surfing, and thus the Billabong brand. "Just like the professional football or professional golf circuit, most people," said Kempton," are never going to be playing any more than messing around at the local golf club, but they can understand how it works, or what it means to go to Augusta, or Scotland, or these places." %Gallery-101900%
Researchers use sensors to find the perfect surfboard, Gidget still looking for that perfect bikini (video)
Surfing and science are something of an odd mix, but we've seen time and time again that the two subjects to together like, well, salt and water. The latest high-tech stick to hit that briney mix comes from a team at UC San Diego, who outfitted a board with eight sensors on the bottom that measure the speed of the water as it rushes beneath. All are controlled by a waterpoofed computer embedded in the nose, which transmits data wirelessly to an Eee PC left sadly on the beach while its partner splashes around in the waves. The goal is to attempt to determine what level of flex is optimal and, once determined, to create the ultimate board and rule the world... the surfing world, at least.
