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Uber can find a ride to carry your skis in 23 regions
You can't often rely on ridesharing services for skiing trips. Few cars will have a rack, and even drivers of larger vehicles might balk if you try to stow your gear in the back. With Uber, at least, this won't be a problem going forward. It's debuting an Uber Ski feature that guarantees a ride with either a roof rack or sufficient cargo space to carry your skis or snowboard. You'll pay a surcharge, but it'll beat having to rent a car (or depend on the generosity of a friend) to hit the slopes or the trail.
NBC Sports adds ‘Snow Pass’ to its hyper-specific streaming options
NBC Sports announced "Snow Pass" today, which is the latest in hyper-specific sports streaming packages on NBC Sports Gold. Snow Pass includes over 700 hours of live coverage for seven winter sports: alpine skiing, nordic combined, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, biathlon and snowboarding. The new streaming options is available now for $69.99. The pass runs through April 2019, but it's only available in the US.
Exoskeleton for skiers gives your knees robotic boost
Skiing and snowboarding aren't gentle on your body, especially if you're taking on a challenging run or plan on a long day. Now, however, technology might ease your burden. Roam Robotics has unveiled an exoskeleton built expressly to reduce the burden on your knees. Sensors in the exoskeleton gauge your intent and use a mix of air bladders and fabric actuators to automatically tweak the torque in your knees. There's a manual option, too, if you know what motion to expect.
The developers of 'Alto's Adventure' are building a skateboarding game
Snowman, the creator of ultra-chill snowboarding game Alto's Adventure, is keeping busy lately. In addition to the sequel Alto's Odyssey, it is also working with studio The Game Band for Where Cards Fall and partnering with Australian studio Slingshot and Satchel to build Distant. That's an ambitious workload for a small studio, but that isn't stopping Snowman from announcing yet another new title in development: Skate City. The all-too-brief trailer and Instagram clips show it to be a side-scrolling skateboarding iOS/Android game with the same chill vibe as Alto's Adventure.
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.
'Alto's Adventure' is coming to Android next week, and it's free
Alto's Adventure was one of the best games to launch on the iPhone last year -- the beautiful visuals, addictive gameplay, and chill soundtrack made for a uniquely laid-back and satisfying experience. Developer Ryan Cash from Snowman announced this would happen way back in September, but the launch date is finally here. The game will arrive on February 11th and will offer an identical experience to the iOS version, with one key exception. Alto's Adventure will be free for Android players.
Tranquil snowboarding game 'Alto's Adventure' is coming to Android
There are basically no downsides to using Android anymore, but one of the few remaining bummers is that most great mobile games hit the iPhone first. That was the case with the wonderfully tranquil and beautiful snowboarding game Alto's Adventure that came out this past February, but fortunately that'll be rectified soon. Developer NoodleCake is working with the team that originally created Alto's Adventure to port the game over to Android and the Kindle Fire, and it should be ready to go soon. Unfortunately, that's not now, but you can stay tuned to the Alto's Adventure Twitter feed for updates. And if you're an iOS user and haven't tried this game yet, do yourself a favor and give it a go -- it's an endless runner that manages to somehow be relaxing, a rare combo.
Improve your ski trip by using Ski Nation
We are right in the middle of the ski season and I am sure lots of you are planning ski vacations, ski weekends, or just a day or two on the slopes. Ski Nation will make that planning easier for you and provide you with live information directly from more than one thousand ski resorts and areas. This free universal app runs on iOS 7.0 or later. Once you complete the simple registration process Ski Nation will give you access to ski areas in the United States and Canada. Users can select one of the resorts or areas to receive detailed information about the current conditions. You can sort the ski areas by types of skiing available, alpine, cross country, or ski jumping. The list can also be displayed by the name of the resort, the country it's located in or what state it is in. Ski Nation lists the resort's website URL, mailing address, and current temperature on the resort home page. From there users can delve deeper to access the ski areas' trail maps, a snow and trail report, and a map showing the location of the resort. The most useful data is in the Snow and Trail report. Here users will find information on the current snow conditions such as the average depth of the base, the primary surface conditions, and the latest and most recent snowfall information. Additionally the report lists details on how many lifts and trails are available, the total acreage available for skiing and the resorts operational hours. For snowboarders and freestylers, Ski Nation provides information on what pipes and parks are open and where they can be found on the mountain. Ski Nation tracks where you ski and how many days by issuing users pins from the resorts you visit. The app awards you a pin for each day you spend skiing at the resort or you can collect pins from previous trips. All these can then be shared with friends right in the app via the major social network outlets and email. About a month ago, I reviewed the Ski Buddy app. Users might consider grabbing that app along with Ski Nation. The Ski Nation app prepares you for your day and assists you in getting around. Ski Buddy is aimed at tracking just what you do during the time you spend on the mountain. Ski Buddy records all of your runs and provides information on your downhill speeds, the distance you travel, the change in elevation from the top to the bottom of your run and how many runs you do each day. It provides all this data in real time and has an audio alert users can hear through ear buds or headphones. Ski Nation offers a lot of information you will need to know to get started on your trip and as such is worth downloading before your next ski trip. Combining it with Ski Buddy should give you all you need to enjoy your time on the mountain.
Get live updates with Ski Buddy and Ski Buddy Plus.
I have seen a number of apps for skiers and other downhill enthusiasts like mountain bikers and longboarders. These apps normally record your speed, the distance you travel, changes in elevation, and the time it takes you to complete your run. Ski Buddy, a free universal app does all that plus the app provides you with live audio updates via headphones during your run. Ski Buddy Plus costs US$0.99. Both run on iOS 5.0 or later. Let's take a look at the free app first. Users need to have GPS turned on their device. Once you open the app, you will hear a message indicating the status of your GPS fix. As soon as you get the OK message you can switch on Ski Mode and take off downhill. If you want to try and look at the screen of your device as you ski, you will see the values change. The display shows current speed, top speed, distance traveled, current elevation, time of day, plus longitude and latitude. Users also receive audio updates on speed, distance, and elevation. At the bottom of the hill turn Ski Mode off and the app announces your top speed during the run. Users can set up the app on how often they want the audio updates. You receive speed updates for each five or ten miles per hour increase, distance traveled at one, five, and ten miles, and elevation changes of 100, 200, or 500 feet. Or set any or all of the audio updates to Never. Ski Buddy Plus does all of the above and a lot more for your US$0.99 investment. First the display's colors can be customized. Additionally, the app detects the beginning and end of your runs. At the top of the hill, once you hop off the lift and start moving the app begins recording a new run. Then at the bottom, once you stop, an audio announcement provides you with specifics of the just completed run. The process repeats itself on each subsequent run you make. Each run in recorded and you can check a stats page to explore in more detail all of your runs. Additionally your runs can be checked out on a map that will show just where you went on each run. The paid app also offers users a choice of voices, either male or female, plus it integrates with a built-in music player so you can listen to your favorite music with Ski Buddy Plus still running in the background. Getting audio updates while skiing is an interesting update from what you receive with similar apps and so I think Ski Buddy is worth a look. However, you actually to get a real bang for your buck with the upgrade to Ski Buddy Plus so invest the dollar and add a new dimension to your next ski trip.
Race to the bottom with Social Downhill
Ride, Run, "n" Record is now Social Downhill. This free universal runs on iOS 7.0 or later and is intended for gravity sports enthusiasts. So if you are a longboarder, downhill mountain bike rider, skier or snowboarder, you should take a look. The latest update has a new name, is totally redesigned, and provides some new features for users. The app records users' runs and tracks the path, max speed, average speed, distance, and time. You can choose standard or metric measurements and at the end of the run find out just how you did. Social Downhill offers users a choice between Auto Stop and Manual Stop. With Auto Stop, the app records your run automatically. Just choose auto when you are ready to begin, kick off and head down the hill. The app will begin recording and won't stop until you come to a complete stop. Or you can choose the manual method. With this selection, it begins when you start your run but doesn't stop until users tap "Finish" at the end of a run. So if you should fall or have a brief stop on the way down the app keeps recording. When you have completed your run the app shows you the path you took and you can choose to overlay the path on a standard map or satellite image. The app drops pins along the entire route and provides you with your speed at that point and/or the running time into the run. You also get a star to indicate the max speed you reached and where it was achieved. Users can zoom in on the map to get a closer look at each point along the route. After you check out how you did, use the app to upload your run and then compare yours to others. Just choose two runs and receive a map showing both runs with pins so you can check out the speed or time each user reached at certain points along the run. The two runs are indicated by different color pins. Call up the stats page and get detailed breakouts of both runs. Additionally by checking out the posted runs online, users can find new and different places to check out and head downhill. Overall Social Downhill provides gravity sports enthusiasts a very easy and visual way to record and track their downhill adventures. I would think if you go out with a group of people this app is a great way to compare just how each of you did with the others and earn bragging rights or maybe decide who buys the beverages when you sit down later to discuss the excitement.
Friendly competition on the slopes by using Lines
We had the first big snow storm of the season and some ski resorts are already open and others are getting ready for the season. That means you and your friends need to be preparing for the first ski trip of the winter. As part of you preparations, I recommend you download Lines onto your phone. Lines is a new app for skiers and snowboarders that allows you to turn the trips with your buddies into a friendly competition. Lines is just for iPhones and runs on iOS 7.0 or later. If you and your friends are like most groups I know, everything you do becomes a competition on some level whether it is downing a few cold ones or shooting some hoops in the back yard. Guys are competitive by nature and now with Lines your ski trips can become single day or trip long contests based just on your skiing. Once you complete a free registration on the app, you can strap on your skis or board and hit the slope. Set up a new Ride and hit the start button. Lines tracks a variety of elements while you ski or snowboard and awards points. The app measures how far you ski. And you get points for that. What was your maximum speed? You earn points for that too so the faster you get down the hill the more points you receive. How big was the vertical drop? The steeper the slope the higher the points awarded. You can also earn points for the number of runs you make each day, how many jumps you take, and how much time you spend in the air after jumping. At the end of each run, save the data and Lines will compile a running total of all the categories. Once the run is saved, you can go back to check the data and Lines also inserts a map showing your run on the mountain. At the end of the day while sipping a refreshing cup of cocoa or another drink of your choice you and your friends can check out your profiles and compare all the various areas plus the all important points total for the day. Find out not only who scored the most points but who skied the longest distance and went the fastest. You and your friends can set up your own group within the app and keep track of how each of you are doing if you some times ski alone or with a different set of people. You can also check other users from around the world. The developer is an English company and all the groups I saw were in the UK but you can change that. Download Lines and get your friends to join you and let's find out who the champion skier is in your group. Maybe you can even find a way that the low total buys those refreshing drinks at the end of the day.
'Snowboard' through the city streets with LEIF's electric freeboard
Add two inline skate wheels with 360-degree rotatable casters to the base of a skateboard and you've got a Fast and Furious-style drifting device known as a freeboard. Developed in the '90s, these boards are an off-season way to enjoy the smooth carving and extended slides of snowboarding when all you have are city streets. But just like on the slopes, when the hills flatten out, so does a lot of the fun. That's what spurred snowboarder Aaron Aders into action in October 2013. He founded LEIF Technologies with the idea for an electric "snowboard for the streets" that could tackle downhill, flat ground and even uphill terrain with ease. While the technology is still in the prototype phase, the company has its eyes on the future and continues to fine-tune the device at its Brooklyn-based workshop. A Kickstarter campaign is currently underway and the final product is scheduled for a spring 2015 release. We caught up with Aders earlier this week to check out the LEIF in person and take it for a spin.
You're going to be hearing a lot about 'iPod' on tonight's Olympics broadcast
Note: This article contains spoilers regarding the snowboarding competition at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, which has not yet aired in some regions. If you want to watch the broadcast and pretend it's live, stop reading now. Really not kidding, there are spoilers below. Don't keep reading. In fact, we're going to put some of the spoilers in white text so you're less likely to see them -- if you really want to see them, select the text. If you spend some time watching NBC's Olympics broadcast tonight you're probably going to hear plenty about "iPod." In fact, "iPod" is now an Olympic medalist in the sport of snowboarding -- more specifically in the halfpipe event. You see, "iPod" is actually Swiss Olympian Iouri Podladtchikov, and he took home the gold medal, with two-time gold medalist Shaun White getting shut out of the podium, landing in fourth place. (That's where the spoilers are. Last chance to skip them.) As TV announcers and sports writers tend to do, they've given Podladtchikov a funky nickname. In this case it's the rather fitting moniker "iPod," and since he was so successful, they're sure to be talking about him quite a bit tonight. So when you hear NBC's commentators musing about how skilled an Apple music player is on halfpipe (as opposed to the pan pipes), now you know why. [Photo credit: Matthew Pearce]
Nokia and Burton intro a snowboarding app to prep and record epic runs (video)
We can't say that there's a huge cross-section of the market that both owns a Lumia phone and likes snowboarding enough to want an app dedicated to the sport, but Nokia will at least have that audience sewn up through an exclusive team-up with Burton. Their newly publicized Windows Phone 8-only release lets hill carvers prepare for every stage of their trip, from shopping for gear and getting the local slope forecast through to that all-important motivational music playlist. Those who can't brave the descent can still create a sequenced photo from video taken at the sidelines, or stream Burton's Open Events from the safety of home. Anyone as likely to do a frontside 180 as carry a Lumia 620 can hit the source link or video below to get a peek -- preferably before the grass peeks out from the hillside.
Nokia goes bullet time on snowboarders, the '90s wants its culture back (video)
Nokia's been an annual fixture at the Open Snowboarding Championships for a few years. While one gets sponsorship dollars, the other gleans a slice of snow sport cool. At this year's event, Nokia rigged up 18 Lumia 800s to capture the snowboarders' mid-air posturing, recording the video with a specially developed app. After a WiFi hook-up (and presumably a little bit of editing), the result was the montage you can see up top, made from around 100 different videos. But where's the iShred?
Zeal Optics iON goggles take full HD to the slopes, let you share the extreme thrills
Ever find yourself shredding the gnar and wishing you could share the breathtaking rush of scenery with others? Well, now you can, courtesy of Zeal Optics. Not content to sit on its GPS-laden laurels, the company's added a new twist to the 'ol polarized ski goggles, embedding the iON with an HD camera for 170-degree wide angle recording. The inbuilt module, centered up top, pulls in video and audio at full 1080p and can be controlled using an array of buttons alongside the mask or via the bundled PC / Mac software. If you're not interested in reliving your downhill trek one swoosh at a time, there's always the 8 megapixel cam for photo-taking. Unfortunately, this high-tech eyewear can't wirelessly transmit your captured media -- at least, not this version -- so you'll have to make do with the included microSD card. Sound like a neat proposition? Good, then be prepared to cough up $399 for this high-def slope accessory. Official presser awaits you after the break.
Recon partners with Scott and Smith, brings MOD to the masses
We love Recon's MOD system for Ski-goggles, especially now that it's open to developers. Starting soon, an avalanche of new winter-sports enthusiasts will be able to wear the multi-sensor based statistics system atop their eyeballs, thanks to a new partnership with both Scott and Smith. The GPS touting in-goggle display will be unveiled in the new family of eyeware at a slew of outdoor sports events this month. Of course, if you're still unsure the tech is up to your hardcore ski routine, have a word with these guys. Want to know more? We thought so. Slide on past the break to read the full PR.
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: accessories
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. As any technophile will tell you, accessories make the getup when it comes to complementing your favorite gadgets. Whether you're decking out a smartphone, computer, tablet, gaming system or just looking for some good old-fashioned holiday kicks, we're here to help you pick from our favorite accessories of 2011. Jump past the break to find out which ones made the "Nice" list.
Say hello to the iShred, snowboarders' tribute to Steve Jobs (video)
Every third Thursday, the team at California based Signal Snowboards like to spice things up some and make something a little more outside the box. This time around the team decided on creating a fitting tribute to Steve Jobs -- a custom ride complete with built-in iPad -- and thus the iShred was born. By no means a cut-and-shut affair, the team take inspiration from the simple, yet creative, design principles that led to ideas like the iPad Smart Cover. A layer of ABS with a cut out for the screen sits atop an all aluminum base, sandwiching an Apple-esque illuminated Signal logo -- presumably so you know when your WiFi is on while heading off-piste. Power is cleverly supplied only when contact is provided by the presence of a rider. If you think this is all just for show, think again, as they final product gets taken out on the slopes and put through its paces, complete with a bit of après-ski Facetime.
The North Face announces Avalanche Airbag Safety System (ABS) vest and pack, we go hands-on (video)
Imagine hitting the slopes for the ultimate free ride down the edge of a cliff. Now picture being caught in an avalanche with only a shovel to free you from hundreds of pounds of snow -- the odds don't look too good. The North Face hopes to change all that by integrating an Avalanche Airbag Safety System (ABS) into its tried and true backpacks with the launch of its ABS Patrol 24 Pack and ABS Vest, two new body-worn fixtures that inflate to protect your from falling snow much like the airbags in your car. Add two new fabrics into the mix, FlashDry and Thermoball, and it seems like we've come a long way since the days of working out in our college sweats. We go hands-on with pro snowboarder Xavier de Le Rue after the break to see how it works.%Gallery-139505%
