//beconfused

Last Saturday, Jon gave an opportunity to try out one of Nike’s new product - Nike+.

In case you haven’t heard, Nike teamed up with the great guys from Apple to build a device that can monitor runner’s pace and distance through Apple iPod and a sensor.

(From left to right: Nike+ shoes Moires, Apple iPod, Nike+ Sport Kit and Nike+ Armband.)

You’ll need the following:

• Apple iPod Nano - The most common digital music player of today!
• Nike+ Shoes - Nike rolled out a whole line of shoes designed by Bill Bowerman (co-founder of Nike) that supports the Nike+ device.
• Nike+ Sport Kit - Comes with the sensor and receiver, to be attached to shoes and iPod respectively.
• Nike+ accessories or apparel - The armband secures the iPod to your body. Nike+ tops are also available, I’ll show you more later.

These Nike+ enabled shoes includes a special compartment that’s located within the sole of the shoes that allows you to slot in the sensor. You can remove the insole of a Nike+ enabled shoe to insert the sensor. It rests under your feet, measuring your acceleration as you move your left foot during a run.

Jon picked a pair of Nike+ Triax X for me to try, it looks a little like the main shoes in the picture below. I’ve got slight flat foot and Triax X is designed to give better stability. Walking around felt comfortable and light and I instantly for in love with the pair of shoes. For years, I’ve ignored my foot condition and go those normal foot shoes! Oh, Nike hasn’t forsaken the female jogging lovers too; Nike has shoes that you’ll love.

(Main feature: Men’s Air Structure Triax+ 10. Bottom, from left to right: Women’s Air Structure Triax+ 10, Women’s Air Zoom Vomero+ 2, Women’s Air Span+ 4 and Women’s Air Zoom Moire+.)

The left shoe insole is removed to reveal a tiny compartment to fit the Nike+ Sensor. The iPod Nano is then plugged in with a receiver. I wore the Triax again and it didn’t feel heavier on the left, the sensor weighs around 10 grammes only! The iPod Nano knows what to do once you plug it in and the Nike+ menu is revealed. Here a Basic Workout is selected:

The iPod provides information all runners will love to have, your pace and your distance traveled! I tried moving my feet around, stepping around without really moving. Seem like the sensor’s actually smart enough to detect I’m just cheating around. The sensor is an accelerometer and not a pedometer so it does not measure the number of steps you run and convert it. Instead, it calculates your speed (miles or km per minute) & distance based on the interval between each footstrike. You may have to calibrate it a little to increase the accuracy.

(Nike+ Armband Monty.)

After explanation of the technology involved, I got on a treadmill to test out. It’s been half a month since I last ran and running in front of restaurants makes me hungry. I didn’t have an armband and running with the iPod wires didn’t feel enjoyable. Once I press the center button, the iPod narrates out my pace and distance traveled. I don’t even have to look at the screen! The voice didn’t sound like a crazy female robot too by the way.

I watch the numbers increase magically on the iPod. It tells you almost everything you want to know, playing your favorite tunes. Music keeps me going in a run. It’s just like in the army here they force you to sing crazy shit as you run, now you can listen to whatever you want! What’s really cool is when you’re feeling a little tired, you can hold on to the center button and iPod will launch your PowerSong! PowerSong is a special song that you preset to come on when you’re in need of some encouragement! The one at Wheelock Place just Justin Timberlake’s Rock Your Body as the PowerSong.

My Nike+ running experience is great. It’s fun and iPod’s interface is easy to use. The narating is a great feature. Nike+ doesn’t take your heart beat and it is quite expensive to start your run:

• A pair of Nike+ shoes is about SG$150
• An iPod Nano goes from SG$248 (2GB) to SG$428 (8GB)
• Nike+ Sport Kit cost SG$50

They all add up to SG$448++ if you don’t have any of the items. If you already have an iPod Nano, you can get a pair of Nike+ shoes once your shoes wears out. Because the real fun part is behind - monitoring your statistics.

Tags: apparel, apple, ipod, nike, shoes, sports