The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered what to do with all of the coolness that people write, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, this is a better forum for sending it on to y’all. Most times these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout at all these places for good stuff!
So with that, let’s get into the action!
DCRainmaker.com posts this past week:
Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page of DCRainmaker.com this week.
Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:
Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet:
1)$250,000 worth of Team Garmin bikes stolen:If you follow pro cycling, this is probably old news to ya. But for everyone else, pretty astounding story earlier this week causing the team to pull out of the Tour de Mediterranean. In unrelated news, Team Garmin orders 16 GTU10’s to mount under seats for future events…
4)A lot of people ask about Google Glass (the glasses): Here’s a not-so-detailed update from them. In my opinion, ignoring the massive price tag for the units, I don’t see it breaking into the sports side of things for a few years. But, like any big company – once they do break into that portion of the market, it’ll dramatically change things. Sorta like…
6) A look at the new Under Armor tracking body tracking system: Some cool stuff coming from UA. But also a bit of smoke and mirrors too. On one hand you have a company that definitely measuring interesting things and sending those interesting metrics to their iOS app. But on the other hand, despite lots of talk about doing it down the line in an open way (and bashing others for being closed), it’s all closed today. We know this for two reasons – namely that #1: There actually isn’t a standard yet to transmit any of the data types they talk about (except HR), and #2: They won’t specify a timeline for any open access to the data they’ve collected about you. Just callin’ it like it is…
8) ANT+ Updates Power Meter Profile for new PM’s: This new update helps products like the recently released Rotor PM have additional ANT+ metrics (Torque Effectiveness and Pedal Smoothness). Though, at the time there are no ANT+ head units to take advantage of them. Also of note is a few thoughts about it from the guy building his own power meter.
10)Picking a triathlon distance: Here’s a relatively straight forward (but helpful for new folks) article on deciding which triathlon distance you should pick for your race.
Sports Technology Software/Firmware Updates This Week:
Each week I quickly highlight some of the new firmware, app, software and website service updates that I see go out. If you’re a sports technology company and release an update – shoot me a quick note (just one liners is perfect, or Tweet it at me) and I’ll make mention of it here. If I don’t know about it, I won’t be able to post about it. Sound good?
Fitbit adds Android App Beta: If you’ve got the little bit of Fit, and certain Android phones with Bluetooth Smart, then you’re in business.
Garmin Swim adds large pool support: If you’re one of those lucky ducks with access to the massive 100m+ long pool outside of Vancouver, then you’re in luck! Garmin has updated the Garmin Swim firmware with a bunch of new items, including support for your digs. See list for remainder of items.
Garmin adds weather stats to Garmin Connect: At some point over the last couple weeks, Garmin added weather stats to GC. So now you get historical data for your activities (even from years ago). Kinda neat actually. They’ve added a bunch of other items, but I’m covering those in an upcoming post. (via Nathan)
Peripedal adds additional data fields: If you haven’t heard of Peripedal, it’s a software app that utilizes ANT+ sensors to display your indoor trainer information, as well as estimate power based on known power curves (and then broadcast this back out as a power meter over ANT+). Cool stuff.
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I’m at something of a loss as to what could possibly make the UA system worth anything like what they want for it. As best I can determine, and they are coy with the smoke-an-mirrors, it’s an HRM and accelerometer — not exactly a comprehensive sensor suite — with some memory for storage. Other than the memory, not exactly new and original — ignoring the “willpower” silliness (the only thing worse than a meaningless pseudo-metric is a proprietary meaningless pseudo-metric).
$150 for the strap and $200 for the watch? Ouch. I think I paid about $200 for my Motoactv (yeah, I know, MotoGoogle isn’t exactly supporting it these days, but I’ve never had problems with mine) and around $40 for an HRM/strap (and thirty-something each for two footpods), getting all the UA system does (minus silly pseudo-metrics) plus GPS, MP3 player, and a whole lot more.
Just not seeing where the UA system is the big breakthrough they’re trying to sell it as, nor how it’s worth anything like what they want for it.
For UA isn’t most of what they do good marketing above all else with good ties to the pro market (NFL and the like) to make them seem great? Seems like the openness is they promise to support Android after the release of it.
Willpower I don’t think is complete crap, I’m guessing it uses heart rate variability like Firstbeat ATHLETE (link to firstbeat.fi) that is the source of training effects used by Garmin’s 610 and 910xt.
Magellan update really helped the distance accuracy on my Switch Up. I have a 10.3 mile (wheel measured) trail loop I run. Before the update, 2 loops would register 22 miles. Now, it’s right at 20.6. Significantly better than before.
I just added support for the new ANT+ Bike Power profile 3.0 version features to my Android app IpBike. You can add the left and right Torque Effectiveness and Pedal smoothness fields to the customisable display. Average stats are also displayable and gathered for the bike, ride and lap. No logging support yet I am waiting on an updated FIT api which should be out soon.
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FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
I’m at something of a loss as to what could possibly make the UA system worth anything like what they want for it. As best I can determine, and they are coy with the smoke-an-mirrors, it’s an HRM and accelerometer — not exactly a comprehensive sensor suite — with some memory for storage. Other than the memory, not exactly new and original — ignoring the “willpower” silliness (the only thing worse than a meaningless pseudo-metric is a proprietary meaningless pseudo-metric).
$150 for the strap and $200 for the watch? Ouch. I think I paid about $200 for my Motoactv (yeah, I know, MotoGoogle isn’t exactly supporting it these days, but I’ve never had problems with mine) and around $40 for an HRM/strap (and thirty-something each for two footpods), getting all the UA system does (minus silly pseudo-metrics) plus GPS, MP3 player, and a whole lot more.
Just not seeing where the UA system is the big breakthrough they’re trying to sell it as, nor how it’s worth anything like what they want for it.
For UA isn’t most of what they do good marketing above all else with good ties to the pro market (NFL and the like) to make them seem great? Seems like the openness is they promise to support Android after the release of it.
Willpower I don’t think is complete crap, I’m guessing it uses heart rate variability like Firstbeat ATHLETE (link to firstbeat.fi) that is the source of training effects used by Garmin’s 610 and 910xt.
Magellan update really helped the distance accuracy on my Switch Up. I have a 10.3 mile (wheel measured) trail loop I run. Before the update, 2 loops would register 22 miles. Now, it’s right at 20.6. Significantly better than before.
I just added support for the new ANT+ Bike Power profile 3.0 version features to my Android app IpBike. You can add the left and right Torque Effectiveness and Pedal smoothness fields to the customisable display. Average stats are also displayable and gathered for the bike, ride and lap. No logging support yet I am waiting on an updated FIT api which should be out soon.
I thought the android sdk didn’t support FIT