Nike and Apple launch Nike+iPod product line
Nike and Apple today formally announced a partnership that will bring the worlds of sports and music together with the launch of a series of Nike+iPod products.
The first product developed through this partnership is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a wireless system that allows Nike+ footwear to talk with an iPod nano to connect users "to the ultimate personal running and workout experience."
Nike CEO Mark Parker and Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled Nike+iPod at an event in New York attended by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe.
"Nike+iPod is a partnership between two iconic, global brands with a shared passion for creating meaningful consumer product experiences through design and innovation," Parker said. "This is the first result, and Nike+iPod will change the way people run. Nike+iPod creates a better running experience. We see many more such Nike+ innovations in the future."
The new Nike+ Air Zoom Moire is the first footwear designed to talk to iPod. Nike plans to make many of its leading footwear styles Nike+ ready, connecting millions of consumers to the Nike+iPod experience.
"We're working with Nike to take music and sport to a new level," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "The result is like having a personal coach or training partner motivating you every step of your workout."
With the Nike+ footwear connected to iPod nano through the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, information on time, distance, calories burned and pace is stored on iPod and displayed on the screen; real-time audible feedback is also provided through headphones. The kit includes an in-shoe sensor and a receiver that attaches to iPod.
A new Nike Sport Music section on the iTunes Music Store and a new nikeplus.com personal service site will help users maximize the Nike+iPod experience, Nike said.
Armstrong, who is preparing for his first NY Marathon, said, "If you can incorporate time, distance and calories burned together and make it function for both the fitness runner and the high level athlete, it will take working out to a whole other level."
"I definitely use music both ways," Radcliffe said. "I listen to faster music if I am doing a workout in the gym to just get the best out of myself, but I also use it to help me relax in the buildup to a big race."
Specially designed Nike apparel, including jackets, tops, shorts and an iPod nano armband, will bring together the Nike+iPod experience with waterproof pockets that accommodate iPod nano and are designed to make it easy to operate while staying tuned to your music during an active workout.
Pricing & Availability
The Nike+iPod Sport Kit is expected to be available within 60 days for a suggested retail price of $29 (US) through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores, Apple Authorized Resellers as well as Nike.com Niketown, NikeWomen stores and select retail stores in the US.
The Nike+iPod Sport Kit requires a Nike+ shoe and an iPod nano with a USB 2.0 enabled Mac and Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or later and iTunes 6.0.5; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000, XP Home or Professional (SP2) and iTunes 6.0.5.
The first product developed through this partnership is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a wireless system that allows Nike+ footwear to talk with an iPod nano to connect users "to the ultimate personal running and workout experience."
Nike CEO Mark Parker and Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled Nike+iPod at an event in New York attended by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe.
"Nike+iPod is a partnership between two iconic, global brands with a shared passion for creating meaningful consumer product experiences through design and innovation," Parker said. "This is the first result, and Nike+iPod will change the way people run. Nike+iPod creates a better running experience. We see many more such Nike+ innovations in the future."
The new Nike+ Air Zoom Moire is the first footwear designed to talk to iPod. Nike plans to make many of its leading footwear styles Nike+ ready, connecting millions of consumers to the Nike+iPod experience.
"We're working with Nike to take music and sport to a new level," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "The result is like having a personal coach or training partner motivating you every step of your workout."
With the Nike+ footwear connected to iPod nano through the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, information on time, distance, calories burned and pace is stored on iPod and displayed on the screen; real-time audible feedback is also provided through headphones. The kit includes an in-shoe sensor and a receiver that attaches to iPod.
A new Nike Sport Music section on the iTunes Music Store and a new nikeplus.com personal service site will help users maximize the Nike+iPod experience, Nike said.
Armstrong, who is preparing for his first NY Marathon, said, "If you can incorporate time, distance and calories burned together and make it function for both the fitness runner and the high level athlete, it will take working out to a whole other level."
"I definitely use music both ways," Radcliffe said. "I listen to faster music if I am doing a workout in the gym to just get the best out of myself, but I also use it to help me relax in the buildup to a big race."
Specially designed Nike apparel, including jackets, tops, shorts and an iPod nano armband, will bring together the Nike+iPod experience with waterproof pockets that accommodate iPod nano and are designed to make it easy to operate while staying tuned to your music during an active workout.
Pricing & Availability
The Nike+iPod Sport Kit is expected to be available within 60 days for a suggested retail price of $29 (US) through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores, Apple Authorized Resellers as well as Nike.com Niketown, NikeWomen stores and select retail stores in the US.
The Nike+iPod Sport Kit requires a Nike+ shoe and an iPod nano with a USB 2.0 enabled Mac and Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or later and iTunes 6.0.5; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000, XP Home or Professional (SP2) and iTunes 6.0.5.
Comments
i've always wondered why apple was taking so long to hit the sport market hard with ipods. i've been using my ipod at the gym since gen 1 before anyone had any damn clue and now you walk around the gym and ipods are all you see.
perfect combo.
Way to go Apple and Nike.
i was hoping for an anouncement of a wireless 2nd Gen Nano to go along! ;-D
You'd have thought with Lance there they'd add a heart rate monitor and cycle computer setup.
Originally posted by aegisdesign
You'd have thought with Lance there they'd add a heart rate monitor and cycle computer setup.
I expect that the line of Nike+iPod products will grow to include such things.
Originally posted by audiopollution
I expect that the line of Nike+iPod products will grow to include such things.
I know of a whole raft of people who would jump on this like nobody's business.
Originally posted by aegisdesign
I guess we're getting iTunes 6.05 any moment now in Software Update then!
You'd have thought with Lance there they'd add a heart rate monitor and cycle computer setup.
Not to mention...GPS!!!! 8)
...and speaking of GPS... there is a whole world of other iPod products that could spin off with that nifty addition. Maps, phone, regional dating, local advertising... the mind boggles.
Originally posted by CosmoNut
So it won't work with the 5G iPod, huh?
Nope.... NANO only.
Originally posted by CosmoNut
So it won't work with the 5G iPod, huh?
All Nike's clothes in the NikePlus range have slots for the nano. A 5G would be a bit heavy not to mention problems with hard drives and exercise.
See the video at http://www.nike.com/nikeplus/
now if apple had some wireless headphones / earplugs that look nice and don't cost a fortune...
all-wireless nano.
(I want a cut of the profits from this partnership.)
What someone really needs to develop is one device that does the following:
-MP3 player (preferable hard-drive based)
-FM tuner
-GPS receiver
-Heart rate monitor
-Performance data recorder
I can't imagine anything more that an athlete would need. This would allow someone to monitor their speed, distance, pace and heart rate, while at the same time providing entertainment.
Timex has just developed something close, sans the MP3 player. It's called the Timex BodyLink. Rather than being a single device, it's an LBN (Local Body Network) of intercommunicating pieces.
I see why they made it a system: it makes it modular and allows users to add only the components they need, and also leverage products they already own.
However, I think a truly integrated system could be insanely great. Imagine getting detailed audible notifications when you're off-pace, or your heart rate falls out of your desired zone. The GPS talks to the Heart Rate Monitor and the MP3 audio engine. It could be very cool indeed.
But it will never happen. As innovative as Timex is, they don't make very user-friendly products. And this would be a product even too niche-y for Apple. That's why I wished the iPod had well-documented API's. You could add on some mighty powerful hardware that would make the iPod much greater than the sum of its parts.
Will it work with non-Nike shoes as well? One won't be able to snuggly fit it inside the shoes but maybe it will work fixed to a shoe's outside.
And why is the reciever so bulky?
Originally posted by guiness
Why would therre be a problem with 4G/5G/Minis? I go running with my 5G all the time and there's no problems. In fact, I'm sure many of you will remember with Apple first released the iPod and one of its main facts was that it included a memory chip capable of not skipping if a person went running...and that was long before Apple released flash based nanos. We'll just have to see if Apple will actually block it from working with 5G iPods or whether it just recommends use with a Nano. I can't imagine they wouldn't want to keep encouraging people to buy the much more profitable 60GB iPod over a Nano.
Im-pretty-sure-it-would-work-with-a-5th-gen-iPod.
They-use-the-same-connector.