Nike+ to introduce Heart Rate Monitor…

Competition for MiCoach…

The ultimate selling point of the MiCoach up until now has been the fact that it’s not just a foot pod it also harnesses Heart Rate technology to provide a much more rounded report. Whilst the review highlighted its cost the device still could offer more than the Nike+, until now that is.

If you have a recent ipod the likelihood is you have heard of Nike+ but you may not be familiar with what it is. In January I blogged about the handy little device but since I bought one many years ago not much has changed with it and in the light of more competition Nike have obviously decided to introduce some new features.

I haven’t seen much on this yet – looks like they are being sold on the Nike Store website for £40 which would bring the kit up to about £50, assuming you have an iPod of course.  They haven’t released audio coaching with HRM but suspect given time this will come too. All in all this must be a bit of a concern to Adidas but I think this will take a while to catch on and possibly Nike have entered the market too late.

Quite why the Nike+ software hasn’t been extended to harness the power of the iPhone 4 puzzles me. It has GPS technology built in yet they still chose to ignore it. When nike+ creates a gps, HRM application for the iphone the likes of Garmin et al will start to worry as people will switch. Nike+ can extend to cycling too offering the user the ability to have a multisport tool all under one shell. A Garmin Edge will set you back £200 to attach to your bike, an iphone holder for your frame as little as £10 from ebay, a forerunner is £200+ whilst a arm strap for your phone again, £10. Sure you need to have bought an iPhone which isn’t cheap but more and more people are moving to this device so come on Nike catch up and create the ultimate sports app!