LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 — I’ve personally been waiting a very long time for this sort of thing, disappointed by idle promises and vaporware. This set of LEDs paired with audible announcements isn’t exactly what I’ve been waiting for, but I’ll take it. Question is, does Lance already have a pair?
The device is called the Sportiiiis, and it consists of a flexible boom, equipped with seven multi-color LEDs and a speaker, that attaches to any pair of sunglasses. The device then communicates with up to eight sensors to give color-coded info via the LEDs info like heart rate, cadence, power, speed and pace — basically any sort of sensor that uses ANT+ technology.
Yes, that’s right — unlike much of the electronic fitness gear being released at CES, the Sportiiiis receives data over ANT+ rather than Bluetooth V4.0. The advantage of this, though, is that it’s compatible with many of the sensors that have been released over the last few years, almost all of which use ANT+.
At just 10 grams it’s pretty lightweight, and sits just on the lower edge of the lens, in the user’s peripheral vision. There’s also a speaker for audio cues; we’re assuming there must be some kind of sophisticated process to program the vocal cues for the wide variety of ANT+ sensors that are available.
The device is available now for $200. But we have to say this, addressed to marketing folks in general: for the love of Pete, ditch the pronunciation guides — which the press release for these came with — and come up with better names.
