Nike+Apple technology review

Groovy Run!

They say that the Germans are engineers and Americans are marketers. I strongly agree. For all the hype surrounding the Nike+iPod technology, you would be surprised to know that the first running shoe to have any sort of Apple connection was not a shoe with a fancy swoosh, but a Puma. More than the two decades before the launch of Nike Plus, Puma released a shoe called the 'RS - Computer', which calculated running data and then transferred the information to your apple computer (sorry, no iPod or internet back then). You could keep a tab on your daily, monthly or annual running stats, and track your progress. You also had to complete 15 initial runs to be able to calibrate your shoe with the PC to match your pace and stride. Remember, this was the year 1985, when the movie 'Back to the future' was just fresh out of the studios and Bill gates was just a geeky nerd trying to get his 'Windows 1.0' off ground. In that context, it might seem incredible that something like this existed back then, but amazingly the Puma RS-Computer was not the first shoe to feature an in-built pedometer. Adidas had beaten them to it in form of the Adidas Micropacer, which was released in 1984. The Micropacer featured a sensor imbedded in the shoe which did all the running maths for you, and the information was displayed on a tiny LCD (yes, LCD in 1984!) screen on the tongue of the shoe. But sadly, the German's marketing skills were no match for their engineering skills, and these shoes died a quick death. Although the Adidas Micropacer eventually found its way into the hearts of sneaker heads, it seldom got used for the purpose it was built for. In retrospect, these shoes were way ahead of their time - they were expensive, clunky and no one those days owned a PC. Across the ocean, a company called Nike wisely decided to ignore the race for the 'smart shoe' back then, and instead focused their energies around something called the 'Max Air', which turned the company's fortunes in the years to come.

The first computer+running shoe: The Puma RS-Computer. The right shoe had a heel console which was the 'brain' and you could use the cable to plug in your shoe to an Apple computer. Sounds familiar?

This is where it all began: The Adidas Micropacer was the first running shoe with an integrated pedometer. The shoe didn't find any fancy with runners as much as it did with sneaker heads later on. The image above is of a recent re-issue.

Cut to 2006: the world has changed a lot since 1985. Now 'Back to the future' trilogies feature as popular re-runs on television, billionaire Bill Gates is busy fighting anti-trust lawsuits, Apple Inc. has probably sold its millionth iPod, and home PC's are now capable of doing almost everything except microwaving your dinner. Music is everywhere - in homes, offices, clubs, planes and in your iPod. Even when you were not listening to music, you probably had a tune stuck in the head which played over and over again. Portable players like the MP3 gadgets shrunk to 1/50th the size of a Sony Walkman, and became popular workout companions, more so during a run. So finally in the second half of 2006, Nike picked up from where Adidas and Puma left off two decades ago and released the Nike+iPod kit in the US and other countries followed suit soon after. So what is Nike+? How is it different from strapping on a pedometer to your laces and going for a run? Let's have a closer look at the components of the Nike+iPod technology and see how everything stacks up together.

Nike+ component 1: The first part of the system is a Nike+ 'enabled' shoe. By 'enabled', it means that the left shoe has an elliptical cavity, which can be accessed by lifting the sockliner or the insole. By default, there is a small foam piece in the cavity which has to be removed and replaced with a Nike+ transmitter of the same shape.(see picture below)

Nike+ component 2 and 3: The second part is the Nike+iPod kit (left image, which has an orange transmitter and a white receiver). The transmitter goes inside the shoe cavity, while the white receiver fits into the iPod Nano and communicates wirelessly with the transmitter. The third component, of course, is the iPod Nano. The Nano can be 2G or 3G (haven't tried it on 4G yet) and the white receiver automatically installs the software after you plug it into the Nano

Nike+ component 4: You would also need an Apple Macintosh or any Windows based PC to run iTunes and also load your runs on the Nike+ website though a dial-up or an ADSL connection. You would also need to register on www.nikeplus.in to enable iTunes to load your run.

Once you have these four components, using the Nike+ technology is quite simple. Press the small button beneath the transmitter with a pen or a pointed object to activate it and insert the chip into the shoe. Put the sockliner/insole back on the top, and you're all set as far as the shoe is concerned. Plug in the receiver into iPod and it should automatically show the Nike+ application after installing it. Initially, you have to enter certain metrics about your height and weight to allow Nike+ to calculate data more accurately. There is also an option of calibrating your run or walk, so if you have a known distance which you run/walk every day, you can run or walk that distance and then calibrate/adjust the iPod accordingly. The factory setting worked for me and I did not have to make any adjustments, though I did counter measure it with a treadmill a few times just to be sure. How does this setup work? The motion sensing transmitter located in the shoe measures the frequency of vibrations each time you step and then sends the information back to the receivor which then plays it on the iPod screen. I think the cool thing about this whole deal is that you keep getting audio feedback through the headphones while you are running. For example, if you have set a goal of 5kms to run and as you cross each kilometer during your workout, you get to listen to the progress through the iPod. 'Half way point. 2.5 kilometers to go' and stuff like that. It is certainly motivating to hear the audio prompts in the last leg of the race, when all you want to do is stop running and sit down on a bench. When there is half a kilometer left to go, the audio prompts starts breaking down the distance into meters. '200 meters to go' and so on. After the workout is complete, it will summarize the pace, calorie and distance for that workout and if you have happened to run or walk faster or longer than the last time, you might hear Paula Radcliff or Lance Armstrong congratulating you on your workout!

Nike+ in action: The iPod screen summarizes the workout, in addition to the audio feedback. As you can see, burning calories is a tough business; running a 5k only burns 377 KCals. A couple of post-run samosas should square it out...

And of course, there's the music to boot. Before the start of each workout, you can either choose to shuffle the songs in your iPod, choose a playlist or simply opt for the 'powersong'; a song which you think will spice up your run. I normally shuffle songs - I like variety, so it works for me.

Once your workout is over, you plug in the Nano to your PC or Mac and you will see the Nike+ tab in iTunes. Before you can start sending your workout data to the nikeplus website, you must have register on www.nikeplus.in for a valid username (usually your email address) and password. You must enter this information on the iTunes software on your PC so that iTunes can automatically send the information to the website the next time you plug in. Once your data is loaded on the website, you can see the workout data and also track your progress on your nikeplus page. A typical nikeplus.com page might look like this:

Nike+ screenshot: This graph shows your individual run. If you hovered your cursor over those circles on the curve peaks, you will be able to see the workout data at that point. I would love to see the curve flat out, but maybe it's my selection of songs which was the undoing. And I guess the peak was due to Christina Aguilera ;)

Nike+ screenshot 2: If you have been running regularly on Nike+ you can see all your previous runs recorded. The height of the bars relates to distance, and if you want to find out the summary for a particular run, click on a bar and you will see the details. In this example, I clicked on a bar (highlighted in red) and the workout information pops up on the screen.

Nikeplus.com also has forums and communities where you can talk about gadgets, shoes and running. The best thing about being online is that you can compete virtually, so you can challenge a friend to a run and see who runs faster and longer. Navigation is clear and directed and the design is uncluttered. In one stroke, Nike+ has tied up music, running, shoes and web 2.0 together in one seamless package. Remember my comment earlier about engineers and marketers? This is exactly what I mean...

Everything comes at a price and so does Nike+. The cost of getting on the Nike+ gravy train is quite high, since it involves buying a Nike+ enabled shoe (around INR 5000), a Nike+iPod sport kit ( INR 2000), and an iPod Nano (INR 6000~8000). If you do not own any of these, then you will probably end up paying INR 13000 at the bare minimum, which is a LOT of money to see and hear how you run. Is it really worth it? Well, if you run at least two times a week and still find it boring, you can look at Nike+ to pep it up. But if you are run-once-a-month types, then the money is better spent elsewhere. The next question: Is there a cheaper alternative? Yes. Nike recently launched the Nike+ sportsband which does away with the iPod completely. Scroll down and go to our next review, which takes a peek at the new gadget from Nike+Apple.

The Lowdown:

Name: Nike+iPod technology.

Estimated retail price (India): INR 13000 (Approximate cost for shoes+kit+iPod)

Available at: Most Nike stores (for the shoe and the kit) and apple resellers (for the iPod Nano)

Verdict: Fun, interactive and useful but expensive. Only buy the kit if you run at least a few times a week, otherwise you might end up feeling that you threw your money away.

Nike+ version 2.0

One of the things I wrote about in the last review was the high cost of getting a Nike+iPod setup. What if you did not have an iPod? You would end up paying around INR 7000 to buy one, which is kind of crazy if all you wanted to do was to track your runs. And what if you did not want to listen to music while running? Sometimes (only sometimes), I want to run without the headphones stuck in my head and run just for the sheer pleasure of running. On a vacation, if I want to run outdoors and hear the chirping of birds and the breeze rustling through the trees, I would give Coldplay and Timberlake a break. And at the same time, I would also want to track my run, so I would be in a fix if I chose not to use my iPod. Enter the Nike+ sportband, which breaks free of the headphones and the iPod, but still logs your workout like the original iPod system.

I picked up the Nike Sportband very recently - and I was quite struck by the sheer ingenuity of the design. The Sportband kit has two parts - the orange transmitter (same old) and the sportband which also doubles up as a watch. The beauty lies in the sportband -the rubber strap and the console are two separate components, and the sleek black console can be detached from the rubber strap and then snapped back on. The black console is a modified USB stick which can be plugged into your computer for uploading the data. Seems like an Apple design deal to me - I recently saw the MacBook Air which the brand claims is the thinnest notebook ever. It probably is, and Apple has managed to tuck in peripherals in the tiniest of places. But the sportband design is the first of its kind, at least as far as I know.

The Nike+ sportband: The black receiver conveniently snaps in and out of the rubber strap. The big rubber button on the side is to start and end workouts, while the button on the side is to toggle between pace, distance, calories etc. When not in Nike+ mode, it also can be used as a watch.

Using the sportband is quite simple: download the desktop widget for the sportband from nikeplus.com/downloads, insert the receiver into your PC's USB port and the key in your body stats. After that, just wear the sportband, insert the chip inside your shoe, and go for a run. When I ran the first time, I had to calibrate the distance as the readings were slightly off. It felt funny to be running without music, but I got used to it after a couple of kilometers. But during my evening run, there was one thing I missed in the sportband - backlight. If you are running in less than ideal lighting conditions, even Superman might have trouble reading the data since there is no lighting in the LCD display. These days even toy watches have LED lighting, so I wonder why the fuss.

The cheaper alternative to Nike+iPod: At INR 2000, it cuts out the need for an iPod and you just have to buy the shoe.

Once you have completed the workout, plug the iPod into your PC and the widget will send the data to the website, and you will be able to see your data loaded after a few minutes. The biggest difference between the Nike+iPod and Nike+Sportband is the lack of music - which means no iPod and no iTunes. The simple interface of the Sportband widget sends the data without the iTunes, but you would have to key in your nikeplus username and password in the widget to enable automatic data uploads. The battery is in built, and the USB receiver can be charged by just plugging it in to the PC. I've noticed that the battery tends to run out quickly if you are running it in Nike+ mode, but if you are using the Sportband as a watch, the battery seems to last forever.

So which is better? Nike+iPod or the Nike+Sportband? I guess it is a matter of choice. You can splurge on an iPod and have music and Lance Armstrong as companions while running, or you can save a few thousand rupees and get yourself a no-frills sportband. Either ways, both kits do exactly what they were intended for - track and log your workouts...

The Lowdown:

Name: Nike+Sportband technology

Estimated retail price (India): INR 7000 (Approximate cost for shoes+Sportband)

Available at: Most Nike stores.

Verdict: A cheaper alternative to Nike+iPod. But you might miss Paula and Lance congratulating you at the end of your personal best run, and running at night is a serious no-no with the Sportband. Why? Because the absence of a backlight makes it near impossible to read the screen at night.