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Adidas miCoach Elite System set to equip all MLS teams in 2013, creates world's first 'smart league'
Today was yet another marvelous day for football buffs everywhere, as Adidas and MLS have announced Major League Soccer will be the first intelligent circuit on the globe. Having already planned an official debut for the German company's Elite System, now the pair's made it known that the wearable technology is going to be expanding well beyond next week's All-Star Game and into the MLS 2013 season. To refresh your mind a bit, the miCoach Elite System tracks an array of instrumental player data, such as speed (even if painfully slow like the Rio Ferdinand of late), acceleration, position, heartbeat and even the intensity of play -- which is then pushed instantly to, you guessed it, a coach's miCoach-equipped iPad. Adidas didn't mention when, or if, the Elite System will be adapted elsewhere, so we'll have to wait and see how long it takes others to join the "smart soccer" fun.
Adidas miCoach out now on European Xbox 360s and PS3s, connects to cameras and own hardware
Those looking to hone their own olympian body in preparation for this year's Games can grab Adidas' miCoach title for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Tapping into both consoles' respective motion-sensing cameras (and Adidas' own sensors and units), there are six sports to dabble in, with over 400 different exercises that can be synced with existing miCoach accounts. There's also a raft of Adidas-emblazoned athletes to take you through those motions. The games are priced up at £21 (around $32) a piece in the UK, but American indoor athletes can expect their version to arrive around July 24.
Adidas MiCoach game launching this summer, headed to Xbox 360 and PS3
Despite being involved in that peaceful conundrum with THQ, we knew Adidas still planned on launching its MiCoach video game at some point in the near future. Now, after weeks of keeping those lips sealed, the German company announced it's teaming up with publisher 505 Games to finally bring the fitness-driven title to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 -- where it'll primarily use the Kinect and Move add-ons. While 505 will handle all publishing duties, Adidas notes the MiCoach game is in the works by UK developer Chromativity "under exclusive license." Of course, the F50 creator couldn't leave its big name reps out of this one, which is why sport celebs like Kaká, José Mourinho and Dwight Howard are going to be teaching "Masterclasses" within the game. Hey, at least now you know you won't have to be out on the field to put that tracking system to good use.
Adidas MiCoach now published by 505 Games following THQ kerfuffle
505 Games will finish publishing duties for Adidas MiCoach, the game at the center of a multi-million dollar lawsuit and subsequent settlement between embattled publisher THQ and the sportswear maker. The Adidas MiCoach fitness game will be completed by UK developer Chromativity for Xbox 360 and PS3, and will launch this summer.Adidas sued publisher THQ for $10.6 million back in March over the publisher's breach of contract to deliver MiCoach 24/7 by January. The case was settled later in the month, when THQ announced it would not publish the game and that a "third party" would reimburse THQ for certain development costs and work with Adidas to bring the game to market. Turns out 505 Games was Adidas' mystery date.
Adidas debuting miCoach tracking technology in this year's MLS All-Star Game (video)
While it's been a few months since Adidas launched those intelligent F50 miCoach cleats, it finally looks as if the German outfit's ready to test the tech on the football pitch. Adidas announced earlier today that its adizeros will be a part of the "world's first smart soccer match," during the MLS All-Star Game on July 25th in Philadelphia. With the help of the miCoach's tracking system, coaches are able to measure a player's speed and acceleration, how much ground was covered, the intensity of play, as well as spotting weaknesses and strengths. Naturally, the end results can then be analyzed on a computer or directly from an application on one of Apple's slates. Adidas says this is only the beginning, as it plans to bring the technology -- detailed in video form just after the break -- to other leagues around the world in the near future.
THQ and Adidas settle miCoach lawsuit [update: THQ statement]
THQ and Adidas have settled their $10.6 million lawsuit over the fitness game miCoach 24/7, reports Gamesta. A THQ representative informed the site that THQ will not be publishing miCoach. Details regarding the settlement are scarce, though an Adidas representative noted that the companies "amicably resolved the dispute, which will allow Adidas to get the miCoach game to market without delay and without compromising any of its unique features." Furthermore, "each party was recognized for and compensated for their important contributions to the game."The lawsuit made the news earlier this month, with Adidas seeking $10.6 million in damages and alleging that THQ refused to turn over its publishing materials, thus keeping miCoach 24/7 from moving to a different developer. While we don't know how much money exchanged hands in the settlement -- THQ is in no shape to lose much cash right now -- it appears that miCoach 24/7 has indeed been moved to a new publisher.We've contacted THQ for confirmation and further details.Update: THQ has responded to Joystiq with an official statement regarding the lawsuit. The settlement dictates that Adidas will dismiss the suit and "a third party will reimburse THQ for certain of its development costs." Said third party will work with Adidas to bring the game to market. Finally, "THQ has no financial liability to Adidas or any other party in connection with the game." The full statement can be found after the break.
Adidas settlement avoids 'messi' THQ lawsuit over missing miCoach game
Adidas and THQ have decided to down swords and settle their differences out of court. The German sportswear company was lobbing $10 million worth of litigation at the software house after it failed to produce a tie-in game for the miCoach intelligent football boots soccer cleats. The game will now be finished off and published by another one of Adidas' partners after both parties were "properly compensated for their important contributions" (read: they split the bill). Hopefully we can expect the software to arrive soon as we're aching to find out how many meters we cover in our usual games of five-a-side.
THQ facing $10.6 million lawsuit from Adidas
Adidas is suing financially unstable publisher THQ for $10.6 million over an alleged breach of contract. OregonLive reports the sportsware company is seeking compensation for MiCoach 24/7, which THQ was expected to produce for Adidas in January.According to the lawsuit, THQ informed Adidas in December that it would not be able to present the product and that developers who were working on the project had been laid off. Adidas is seeking $10.6 million in damages, also accusing THQ of refusing to turn publishing materials over to an alternative developer. Adidas is also seeking an injunction, preventing THQ from selling or transferring rights of MiCoach to another company.THQ is currently in the midst of a massive "strategic realignment," having committed massive layoffs in the past few months and changing course away from kids games to save the cash-poor company.
Adidas miCoach Speed_Cell measures your dunking prowess and serving skills
When it comes to sports gadgets, runners seem to get all the good stuff: the Nike+, the Motoactv and even the FitBit. For all the footballers, basketball players and aspiring tennis stars out there, Adidas is spreading the love with the introduction of its miCoach Speed_Cell -- a $69.99 device that measures motion and performance in every direction whether you're into tackling, serving or shooting. The gadget fits on the bottom side of compatible shoes to capture seven hours of stats including average and max speed, number of sprints, distance at high intensity levels, steps and strides. The coolest part? Your personal bests will transfer wirelessly to a smartphone, tablet, PC or Mac for post-practice critique, Sports Center style. The soccer-centric company has already released a compatible pair of cleats and has plans to put out more miCoach-friendly footwear, as well as a series of sport-specific apps allowing athletes to virtually monitor their performance. Jump, skip or dribble over to the PR after the break for the full deets.
Adidas and EA team up on 'NFS: The Run'-ning shoe
Electronic Arts and Adidas collaborated to produce 100 pair of shoes tied into Need for Speed: The Run. The shoes, beyond an NFS detail, look like they were discovered in some box at the back of the Adidas warehouse, intended as a promo piece for the 1992 Spike Lee joint Malcolm X. "Our goal with Need for Speed is to be more than just a video game franchise, as we view ourselves as a leader in youth and automotive culture as well," said Kevin Maher, senior director of marketing at EA, as our eyes widened at the hubris. The first 50 pair of shoes will be available at the Adidas Originals Chicago store on October 10, with another 50 available at the San Francisco store on October 22. The first to purchase the shoes will be invited to "exclusive kick-off" events at the stores a few days later.
Adidas builds intelligent soccer cleats that can outwit even Joey Barton
Impoverished football soccer clubs, with their massive stadiums, billionaire owners and millionaire star players have it awful hard, you know. If a club wanted a statistical analysis of the team's movements over the 90 minutes (more if Sir Alex Ferguson is involved) then it needs to spend big on a ProZone statistics system. That's all due to change, thanks to Adidas' new adizero f50 miCoach -- an "intelligent football boot" that includes a space for the miCoach Speed Cell, a tracking device that works like a souped-up Nike+iPod. The chip records your speed, sprint times, distance, step and stride rates, stores it for up to seven hours and pushes it over WiFi or USB to the device of your choice. You'll be able to share your stats online with friends via Facebook and compare them to pros like diminutive pitchman Lionel Messi, diminutive Welshman Gareth Bale and the, ah, not-so-diminutive Emmanuel Adebayor. A pair of boots, Speed Cell and dongle will require your bank account to shrink to the tune of €245 ($330) and will hit the stores in November -- just in time for you to sit indoors during the snowy January transfer window. %Gallery-135206%
Adidas kills $10M iAd deal
Business Insider is reporting that Adidas has dropped its plans for a $10 million iAds account. The reason? Apple's demand for near total control. Citing two unnamed inside sources, Business Insider claims that Apple rejected three consecutive proposals from Adidas. After the third rejection, the company pulled out. Intent on making the best mobile advertising experience possible, Apple oversees nearly every aspect of an advertiser's campaign, and even designs the ads. Adidas isn't the first to complain, but this story highlights the first big money pull out we've come across. In August, the Wall Street Journal reported that other potential advertisers had grown frustrated with Apple's hands-on approach. At that time, only four of the 17 partners revealed at the program's start -- Unilever PLC, J.C. Penny, Disney, and Nissan Co. -- had launched ads. Personally, I've only seen one ad for the Nissan Leaf. We think John Gruber's advice for potential advertisers is best: Get used to it. [Via AppleInsider]
World Cup ball gets NASA's official mark of disapproval
If you've been following World Cup tourneys through the noughties, you'll have noticed that criticizing the official tournament ball has turned into something of an unspoken tradition. The latest offender of football purists' stringent standards is the Adidas Jabulani ball, which was introduced especially for World Cup 2010. That wouldn't be notable in itself, but this time it's apparently gotten bad enough for NASA to pipe up and drop some science on the subject. The aerodynamics experts (at least we hope they're experts) of the American space agency have said that the 440-gram ball becomes unpredictable when propelled at over 44mph, resulting in the unnatural swerves and deviations that have been plaguing footballers this year. So there you have it, England, Italy and France: a rock solid excuse to pin your lackadaisical exhibitions of mediocrity this year -- it was the ball's fault.
Samsung announces Adidas-branded N150 Plus netbook
The big technology news out of the World Cup this year may be 3D broadcasts, but any sporting event of this size wouldn't be complete without some product tie-ins, and it looks like Samsung has now come through on that front with a little help from Adidas. They've announced this new Samsung N150 Plus Adidas Special Edition netbook, which is apparently identical to Samsung's regular N150 netbook, with the exception of an Adidas design on the lid, and the addition of a Bluetooth 3.0 module -- not to mention a matching mouse and "gift pouch." No word on pricing or availability just yet, but we have a sneaking suspicion it will be limited to places that play "football" instead of "soccer."
Adidas retro kicks come with a retro game
Now here's a shoe-in for the list of the year's best gaming-related clothing: Adidas has brought back its ZX 500 running shoe, and, since it originally hails from the '80s, the gaming inspired design and coloring is a no-brainer ... right? The kicks may not be the coolest part of the deal, either; they come packaged with a combination bracelet/USB flashdrive containing ZX Runner, a PC game based on ... the shoe itself. GameCulture writes that the game stars a character named "DJ Zed" who, according to Adidas, has five minutes to "run, moon-walk, climb walls, avoid some dodgy-looking thugs, collect power-ups, and pull off insane rooftop-to-rooftop stunts" in order to get on-stage before his set starts. It looks fittingly retro -- see for yourself in the video we've included after the breakdance.
Keepin' it real fake, part CCXLVII: these Adidas don't go on your feet
Nothing says "I occasionally don a $200 jogging suit and plod through prominent areas of Central Park where my Greco-Roman form has the best chance of being noticed by onlookers" like carrying an Adidas-branded phone in your pocket. Bonus points for a metal-look "Sports" badge glued to the inside of the hinge. But ouch... minus 15 points for it being an unlicensed product, my friend -- who do you think you're fooling with this thing? Actually, whether it be the streets of Shenzhen or New York City, we don't think the average individual would suspect that this was a ripoff from the outside -- it's surprisingly convincing and tasteful -- but the multicolored lights on the keypad might give it away when you flip it open. Your years of athletic achievements, poof! Gone just like that in a cloud of illegal branding.
Deca Sports does more than Deca Sales
The Wii Sports formula -- accessible sports-based minigames -- has worked once again. Hudson sent out a press release announcing that 700,000 copies of Deca Sports have shipped worldwide. Just imagine how much business the company would have done if they had kept the ridiculous Sporta name around the world? Probably a bit less, actually.Hudson, naturally pleased by this development, announced that they are committed to creating more hit franchises like Deca Sports, which probably means that they're going to hang around on Nintendo consoles. We expect Deca Sports to continue doing good business, as exactly the kind of "evergreen" game that Nintendo loves.%Gallery-7109%
Samsung and Adidas team up to launch F110 fitness handset
Well, would you look at this? Not quite a year after we got some pretty strong whiffs of the SGH-F110 fitness phone, the rumor has at long last become a reality. Heck, even the model name stayed the same. Slated to launch in the UK next month, the Samsung / Adidas F110 (miCoach) is out to take on the mighty Nike+ training system, and besides the obligatory heartbeat monitor and step counter, the handset also boasts a built-in MP3 player / FM tuner, two-inch LCD and a two-megapixel camera. Additionally, the currently unpriced phone will chime in when you're not running hard enough, but feel free to drown it out with jams packed on the 1GB of internal memory.[Via Pocket-lint]
Models enjoy Deca Sporta, Adidas
Deca Sporta's site has updated with a new trailer featuring footage of all deca ten of its sportas. We're pretty excited about some more sports on the Wii, and Hudson has had experience designing small games for Nintendo systems. We think that if this game is any good at all, it could be more Wii Sports. But more than that, we're excited about Adidas products.The many products in Adidas's footwear and activewear lines are exactly what even casual athletes need to maintain a healthy, fun lifestyle. We wouldn't dream of even pretending to play Deca Sporta for a trailer without comfortable, stylish Adidas gear. If you'd like to check out Adidas's products, you can do so from home with the convenient Shop Adidas website.Adidas.
Samsung and Adidas working on SGH-F110 handset?
Although the SGH-F110 was initially believed to be a sure bet, things have since turned, as the German site Area Mobile has updated its article by removing the bulk of the text at Samsung's request. Nevertheless, this could also mean that Sammy just wants the thing kept under wraps a bit longer, so here's what we know so far. The black slider will reportedly boast quad-band GSM and EDGE connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0, a two-megapixel camera, microSD expansion slot, two-inch LCD, and a host of exercise-centric features such as a pedometer, heart rate monitor, distance / calorie burning calculator, and possibly a "voice coach" to keep you going just one more lap. Unsurprisingly, there's no details on price nor availability, and we're still not sure if the pictured design will stick if this thing does emerge, but there's no time like the summer to bust out a fitness phone, eh?[Via Pocket-Lint]
