Don't you love it when as yet unreleased products show up on Gift Guides? The Nike Amp+ was included on Men's Health's 2007 Tech Guide (there isn't a permalink, but it is listed under Media Players). What? You haven't heard of the Nike Amp+? Well, there is good reason for that, it hasn't been released yet.The Nike Amp+ is a wrist band which communicates with your iPod (with Bluetooth, I assume) so that you can start, stop, and browse your tunes. That's not all! It also talks to the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, so you can access information about your run without having to take out your iPod.
I'm not a runner, but this is cool enough that I might just pick one up anyway. No details about pricing or availability are known at this time.
Thanks, Barry.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-27-2006 @ 2:49PM
Mgkwho said...
What would be the effects on bluetooth-enabled iPods? Or is this system wireless through that extension thing that you plug into nanos?
Are there already bluetooth or wireless headphones?
What does this say about a future iPod? Or maybe it's simply another extension. I don't know much about how the Nike+ thing works, and I'm really really curious.
-=|Mgkwho
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11-27-2006 @ 4:26PM
Thataboy said...
I imagine it would use the 2.4 ghz wireless frequency that I think the Nike kit uses, and not revamp the entire line to be bluetooth :)
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11-27-2006 @ 5:01PM
skipandmadge said...
Yes, the Nike+ Sport Kit uses the 2.4 GHz band because its unlicensed. This doesn't mean that the Amp+ is using Bluetooth, WiFi or your TDD Cordless Phone protocol.
Amp+ will likely be part of the same WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network) as the Sport Kit linked through the same hardware.
Dynastream's ANT is a similar hardware/RF solution not necessarily being used by the Sport Kit. http://www.dynastream.com/tech/
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11-27-2006 @ 5:11PM
Scottyboy said...
I saw this over the weekend and thought it would be a great idea since it is hard to see the pertinent information as the nano is strapped to your arm. Unfortunately, there is nothing at Nike or Apple or Google for that matter. Could this be a fluke? Perhaps it will be release with the iPhone.
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11-27-2006 @ 6:10PM
Jared said...
Does anyone know if the nike kit will work on a 5gen 30gb ipod? Or id there is a hack available?
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11-27-2006 @ 8:28PM
evan doyle said...
@Mgkwho There are Bluetooth headphones but you must have an Adapter on your iPod b/c iPods aren't Bluetooth enables.
My question is: has anyone ever opened up an Nike plus ipod sport kit and seen anything in there remotely like a bluetooth chip? or opened up the new Nanos?
Also. If this is on the "Gift Guide" for '06 Wouldn't that mean that there would be a new iPod out by that time for this gift to be even useful?
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11-27-2006 @ 9:44PM
chrisjur said...
This is fantastic. As a snowboarder, the biggest pain in the a** is having to unzip and dig into my jacket to start/stop my iPod when riding. This will be very helpful.
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11-27-2006 @ 11:54PM
Ben Buckner said...
I was already asking for a Nike+iPod setup for christmas, now I have to ask for a +AMP as well. Thanks, TUAW for making Christmas more expensive for my loved ones!
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11-28-2006 @ 12:23AM
Ben Buckner said...
Seriously, I think this would catch on for any iPod user, not just runners. Can you imagine being able to change tracks during a subway commute without broadcasting to the world (and any potential criminals) that you have a $149+ piece of hardware on you? I think this is a winner.
As an aside, what do the red LEDs do? How do they transmit data from your run?
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11-28-2006 @ 7:22AM
Menhir said...
"No details about pricing or availability are known at this time"
The description in the Tech Guide says that MSRP is $80.
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11-28-2006 @ 2:28PM
Eden Mason said...
When did Nike begin knocking off other companies?? This is clearly a merge of two Philippe Starck watches done by Fossil. You can see the LED design and the joystick control are already in the market. Even the buckles look the same. Check for yourselves:
http://www.fossil.com
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11-29-2006 @ 12:58AM
Ryan said...
#11 don't comlain you know you are going to buy one...
I want some more info on this, looks cool. I am a big fan of the Nike+ and will most likely pick this up too...
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11-29-2006 @ 2:53PM
Eden Mason said...
#12 Nope, probably won't be buying one. Not a big fan of products that are knock-offs. It looks cool - you are right - and it looked cool the first time when Starck did both designs!
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11-30-2006 @ 10:50AM
SJ said...
Now wouldn't it make the most sense for it to work with the current rf of the Nike+ sport kit. Think about it, now just how would you plug an extra bluetooth adapter into you iPod and also plug in your Nike+ sport kit.
@jared no Nike+ does not work with 5g iPod videos, only 1g and 2g nanos.
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12-12-2006 @ 12:16PM
Ron Burgundy said...
Great engineering (probably done by Apple), but you should take the copy machine out of the design studio Nike. I liked this watch the first time i saw it, with a STARCK logo on it....
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12-12-2006 @ 12:26PM
Eden Mason said...
I did some reasearch into this and found that the factory that made the two STARCK watches is doing the Nike watch. Sounds to me like Nike went in to the factory for a walk through and said "we'll take that one and that one and mush them together to make ours . . .DONE!" Ahhh, the creative genius!
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12-12-2006 @ 12:38PM
Ron Burgundy said...
Nike's Holliday shopping list last year:
http://www.fossil.com/jump.jsp?itemID=2538&itemType=CATEGORY&iMainCat=2536&iSubCat=2538&level=4&page=2
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