Last Gadget Standing Finalist #10: A Hybrid Watch for Runners
By Harry McCracken | Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 6:02 pm
What do you get when you combining Nike’s “just do it” athleticism with the GPS expertise of TomTom? You get a running watch–and our tenth and final Last Gadget Standing finalist.
The Nike+ SportWatch GPS powered by TomTom is a hybrid gadget that combines both GPS technology and an accelerometer, located in the Nike+ shoe sensor. Runners can upload their data to the well-regarded Nikeplus.com website, where they can track their favorite routes, set goals, receive coaching, and challenge their friends.
Key features include the GPS tracking with the shoe sensor –great for runners off trail. The tap interface activates the backlight to mark laps during a run. And the watch has a USB connector molded into the watch strap, so you can plug it directly into a computer, no cable required. At Last Gadget Standing we’ll find out if it tells time, too.
The SportWatch GPS should hit stores in April; the price hasn’t been announced yet.
4 Comments
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January 6th, 2011 at 12:45 am
Sounds like a poor clone of the Garmin Forerunner.
The Forerunner has been doing all this and more for years.
I have been using one since 2008.
January 6th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Are you kidding me? I've used a Forerunner, and it's perfectly functional, but the design looks old. This is a watch I might wear all the time. Also, the built-in USB is slick.
January 8th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I don't understand why any one would to use the Nike website when they don't even support exporting personal running data to spreadsheets. The horrible site is extremely slow to the point that it may be considered non-functional. Save your hard earned coin and buy either a Polar or a Garmin device.
January 11th, 2011 at 11:02 am
I've seen the data output comparing a run with the new Nike TomTom watch and a Garmin and the overall representation of the run was cleaner, more accurate, and more complete on the Nike watch for sure.