Jeffrey Donenfeld

Tag: nike

  • Why Nike+ Still Sucks

    Why Nike+ Still Sucks

    At long last, Nike has updated their Nike+ site. Finally a bit more usability and customization, with the ability to name my runs, include what shoe I was wearing, etc. It’s still not as robust as it should be, but a nice update.

    Notable Improvements:

    • Custom workout names
    • Shoe/equipment naming
    • Tighter social integration, with automatic sharing to social networks, Facebook, Twitter
    • Updated design and all new layout
    • Easy input of user biometrics to aid in workout tracking
    • New email report scheduling

    Still to go:

    • No direct user control over 3rd party service integration – NIke instructs users to contact customer service directly for management. Fail.
    • Device-specific management screen is non-functional
    • Still can’t import/export activities, or integrate with any other 3rd party services!!! The first comprehensive sports and activity tracking website to offer full integration with all other sites and forms of data wins. Really. If Nike+ would work with my Garmin Forerunner watch, my Withings Bodyscale, and all the other devices I use to track workouts, I’d use it exclusively. If Garmin Connect would work with my Nike+ app (Because the Garmin app sucks), and my Withings Body Scale, I would use it for everything. But there’s still no service that tracks everything. In my opinion, the first company to make this happen will capture the market.


  • Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

    Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

    A great day! Mega run through Golden Gate Park, and then Super Bowl party with friends…

    Super Bowl

  • Running into 2012 with the New York Road Runners

    Running into 2012 with the New York Road Runners

    New years eve always sucks. You always end up getting very excited and concerned over having the “perfect” new years, and being in the best spot right at midnight.. and inevitably, it never happens. At least for me, in many past years, although I’ve been in good places I’m always just short of the absolute best place for new years. So, I’ve grown to not expect a lot out of new years.

    This new years eve was my first one in the city I’m living. Traditionally, I’ve always been traveling over the new year. But this time I was right smack in the middle of NYC.


    (more…)

  • Marathon Prep: The Gear

    Marathon Prep: The Gear

    I’m going to be running the NYC Marathon tomorrow, and in preparation, here’s a brief rundown of the gear that I’ll be using. Although running is a relatively gear-sparse sport, there’s still a good amount of thought that goes into each thing I carry with me – which I’ll need to lug for every step of the 26 mile race.

    • Shoes – Asics Gel Kayano 17. Previous marathons have been run in Saucony Grid Stabil’s, but after receiving a free pair of these Asics a few months ago, I’ve grown to like them quit a bit. Chalk one up for the Asics marketing and promo dept, good job, you’ve got another convert. They offer good support, and the gel in the heel does a great job with shock absorption. They’re about 9 months old now, so this race will likely be one of the last major races I run in them. The thing to keep in mind when deciding to replace running shoes is that the shock absorbing and stability qualities of the shoe tends to wear out before the shoe actually starts to look worn and broken down. Looking at these shoes, they still have a good amount of tread life left, and they’re not too broken down – but I have a bunch of miles on them, and they need to be replaced after this race. Wanna hook me up with a fresh new pair, Asics??? (more…)

  • Nike+ to be integrated into gym equipment

    It’s great that the industry is finally getting on board with the Apple+Nike tech partnership, and starting to work the technology into gym equipment. I’ve been using the Nike+ situation since day one, and it’s motivating to have as much data as possible available to me when I run.. both at the gym, and out on the street.
    Nike+ipod+Treadmill

    One thing I would like to see them start integrating is a heartrate monitor. Currently when I run, I use the Nike+ kit, with a Marware pouch to hold the transmitter on my Saucony shoes, and a slightly older Nike heart rate monitor strap. Wearing the heartrate monitor is useful, because it allows me to guage how hard I’m working. Also, with some of these newer iPod and usb enabled Life Fitness treadmills at the gym, they will automatically adjust the incline and speed to keep my HR in check. Cool. It would be even better, though, if the Nike+ reciever attached to my iPod could listen to my heart rate monitor strap, and give me not only info on my speed, but also heart rate info along side it. I think being able to compare those two metrics would give me some interesting training insite.

    Integration of incline data would really boost the usefulness of the system. It’s already able to be recorded by the treadmill, so why not add it to the tracked information for Nike+? Speed+HR+Incline would be killer. Pushing it one farther, how about using the Google Maps integration on the Nike+ site to extract terrain elevation data, make an elevation profile for any particular run, and sync that up along side all the other run data? With Google adding more and more terrain data to it’s maps, this could become possible very soon.

    What about official course pace data integration? I wore my Nike+ kit during the most recent 2007 NYC Marathon, and it was great to be able to see my splits throughout the race. What would be even more valuable, though, would be if i could get a chart of the pacesetters splits, and then compare myself to that – I’d be able to see where i was slacking, and where i was pushing it unnecessarily. Combine that with overlays of the course terrain, speed and heart rate, and you’d had a complete view of how things went.

    clipped from www.nikebiz.com
    Nike + iPod Experience Coming To A Gym Near You
    BEAVERTON, Ore. (4 March 2008) – Nike (NYSE:NKE) and Apple revolutionized the way people run with Nike + iPod and now the companies are redefining the way people work out by bringing the Nike + iPod experience to gyms around the world this summer.
    Nike and Apple are working with major gym equipment manufacturers such as Life Fitness, Precor, Star Trac and Technogym to make their cardio equipment Nike + iPod compatible so health club members can easily track workouts on cardio equipment like treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes and stair climbers. Nike + iPod users will simply plug in their iPod nano into the equipment at the start of their workout to automatically record their progress. Users can then connect their iPod with their computer to upload the workout to www.nikeplus.com

    Update*** Just heard that Samsung and Adidas are pairing up to compete with Nike+Apple. Pshaw, yeah, right…. not even going to stand a chance. How can Nike+Apple beat this? Simple – enable the Nike+ kit on the iPhone. Plus, with the new iPhone SDK freshly out of the gates, imagine the possibilities of developers being able to write their iPhone sports apps which utilize real-time feedback from the Nike+ shoe sensor, iPhone’s built-in accelerometer, light meter, cell tower-based GPS, wifi localization, and cellular data connection. Throw in a 3G iPhone with true GPS and broadband data in June, and you can start to see the possibilities. “Tune Your Run”? For now maybe. but next up will be “Broadcast Your Run”

     

     

    Update 2008-09-16 – Isn’t is kind of scary that they may begin building in RFID chips into clothing, so you can’t use products such as Nike+ with non-approved garmets? Wearing that Nike+ sensor in a pouch on your shoelaces, like I do, may become a thing of the past. Now they can even control your wardrobe….check out this post, with patent diagrams.