Filed under: Hardware, Wireless
Get your run on - Apple taking preorders for the Nike+iPod Sport Kit
It looks as though Apple is officially taking pre-orders for the $30 Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a customized wireless transmitter and receiver set that helps you track your run by integrating with Apple's iPod nano. The tips started pouring in, and sure enough, it's up in the store in all its über-branding glory. Fortunately, more compatible shoes have also been added to the Nike Plus site, though I'm sure pioneering DIYers are scoffing at the thought of purchasing a pair, and are already hard at work at assembling specs and carving out their present running gear (I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to see a guide for this; send in those tips people!).On a related note, TUAW reader Aaron sent us a question that y'all might want to bat around: has anyone heard about the battery life of this kit? Aaron noticed that this kit's specs mention the battery in the shoe transmitter is not replaceable, so those who run 8 miles a day like Aaron (or who I'll refer to as: RoboRunner) might have to find out how much juice these things hold before they kick the bucket. On the other hand, I'm sure in a couple of months Apple will whip out a $40 charging dock for the $30 sensor kit and make all this worrying about battery life a moot point.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian P said 1:09PM on 6-14-2006
I love running with my 5th gen iPod. Anybody know if this will work or is it strictly nano?
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Steven Wagoner said 1:15PM on 6-14-2006
That's kind of funny, because I pre-ordered mine (the shoes as well as the sport-kit) way back on May 30th from the Nike website. They had mid-July as the expected shipping timeframe. I'm almost wishing I had waited a bit, because the only had the ugly red/black sneakers at the time... It's strange that one site had them available while the partner site didn't
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andy said 1:36PM on 6-14-2006
dont think itll run on a hard drive based 5th gen, apple dont want thousands of complaints of broken HD's - there not recomended for jogging anyway...no sudden motion sensors their! as for battery life i remember seeing something when they were announced and it was long though i cant remember exactly - prob outlive the shoes (which isnt hard lol)
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Edsel said 1:42PM on 6-14-2006
You think Apple will do a "Mac my Mocs" for retired ol'folks like me?
http://www.sheepskin-slippers.net/images/3-slippers.jpg
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Jonathan Fingas said 3:05PM on 6-14-2006
I've heard that the battery life on the sensor is about 1200 hours, but I wouldn't have a source to quote on that. At any rate, it should last a few years before it needs to be replaced. I wouldn't object heavily to another $29 on that kind of frequency (assuming the kit is still being sold by then).
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eugene said 3:14PM on 6-14-2006
i read (i forget where online and don't feel like looking for the link, sorry.. haha, give me a job tuaw and i would...) that the battery life would be around 1k hours. like jonathan fingas, i wouldn't mind dropping $40 when it dies for a new one. maybe replace it every time i get new running shoes or something. dunno. i did not opt to buy the nike shoes (i pre-ordered from nike back on may 23). i'm going to try a variety of methods for attaching them to my current sneaks (nikes are good shoes, but there are better in similar price ranges).
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eugene said 3:18PM on 6-14-2006
i read somewhere that the battery life was rated at 1k hours. forget where though. if it works and is as nice as i hope it is, i'd drop the $30 on a new one when the battery died. I ordered back on may 23 from nike, sans shoes. think i'm going to rig up my own solution (don't know exactly what, though i'm reluctant to cut into the insoles of my sneakers). just have to decide what my "power" song will be now...
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Evgeny said 4:05PM on 6-14-2006
Any idea how to use the transmitter with non-Nike shoes? I have just bought expensive shoes + I do not like the idea on tighing transmitter with the shoes when there seem to be no technical reason for that (at least Suunto and Polar allow to attach transmitter to laces [i.e. to most shoes].
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Brian P said 4:24PM on 6-14-2006
So I just got off of the phone with Apple. They said it should work with other iPods if it will fit in the dock connector. They weren;t sure of the form factor yet.
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David Chartier said 4:54PM on 6-14-2006
Still, I'd second what others have already said: running with a hard drive-based music player is not recommended. Those drives aren't designed to take that kind of jostling. There are many who even question whether iPods should be in pockets when their users are walking around, and after plenty of my own iPods have failed over the years, I tend to agree.
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Esben said 5:49PM on 6-14-2006
I'm actually pretty sure that battery life was mentioned as being around 1000 hours for the chip. Like Jonathan I don't have a source though! Sorry!
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Momus said 7:42PM on 6-14-2006
Sigh. Why couldn't it have been Adidas?
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Fuji Sartono said 10:23AM on 6-15-2006
i jog with my 3g iPod almost every day and i don't have any issues w/ my HDD.
I really hpoe that this can be used with non-iPod nano players.
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bryan Webster said 3:26PM on 6-15-2006
Any news on when this will be available in the uk? I cant wait ti get my hands on this kit!
And I read the battery was about 1000 hours, so for me even if I ran every day it would still last almost 3 years!! Which is acceptible for a $29 piece of kit :)
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