Exercise podcasts and workout-music playlists? That’s so last season. Fitness fanatics soon will be able to make their shoes talk to their iPods. Call it the AirPod. Or the iNike.
Nike Inc. said Tuesday it is teaming up with Apple Computer Inc. to make a shoe that helps runners keep track of their speed, calories burned, pace and distance using an iPod.
The Nike+iPod Sport Kit contains a sensor and a receiver that allow a new line of Nike shoes to communicate with an iPod Nano over a radio frequency.
Information including pace, speed, time, distance traveled and calories burned appears on the iPod screen. A computerized voice that plays over music can also tell runners how they’re doing.
After a good sweat, exercisers can connect the player to a computer to transfer workout data to a new website – www.nikeplus.com.
For extra inspiration, coaching sessions from famous athletes such as marathon runner Alberto Salazar and sporty music mixes will be available on the iTunes Music Store.
“Nike+iPod will change the way people run,” Nike chief executive Mark Parker said.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs added, “The result is like having a personal coach or training partner motivating you every step of your workout.”
One new shoe, the Nike Air Zoom Moire, will cost about $100 and is compatible with the $29 kit, expected to debut in U.S. stores in about 60 days.
Nike said it planned to offer six more iPod-ready shoe styles this fall. It also will introduce a line of workout clothes and accessories geared toward the iPod Nano and the Nike+iPod Sport Kit.
The shoe already has one serious fitness buff on board: Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion who is training for the New York City Marathon.
“It will take working out to a whole other level,” Armstrong said in a news release.
Since Apple debuted the MP3 player 4 1/2 years ago, it has sold more than 50 million devices.
The iPod also has spun off a $1.4 billion industry devoted to accessories, according to NPD Group, a market-research company based in Port Washington, N.Y.
