Mobile Computing News

Photo: Apple

Since mentioning it in our post on fitness site DailyBurn, we’ve had readers asking us to explain exactly how the Nike iPod sport fitness venture works. Below is a quick rundown for those trying to get running, but who need their favourite electronics to accompany (and motivate) them.

What you need

For Nike Plus to integrate into your digital equipment, you need three things. First, an official Nike+ pair of sneakers. Second an iDevice, whether it is an iPod Touch, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 or iPod Nano. And finally, you need the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit.

How does it work?

The Nike iPod Sport Kit comes with a sensor you pop into your shoe – Nike Plus sneakers were designed with this feature in mind, so there’s a ready-made compartment for this sensor where the inner padding of your shoe is. Once that’s done, you would tether your receiver to your iPod Nano (or use the built-in receiver in the iPod Touch and iPhones) to begin tracking your performance.

Photo: Apple

The base function of the Nike iPod Sport Kit is to track the distant you have run/walked (hence the sensor going into your sneaker). Once it’s able to do that, the software now present on your iDevice will show you what kind of distance you’ve traveled, the time in which you have done so, the calories you have burnt, as well as a host of other features like work out planning and so on.

Essentially, Nike iPod tries to be your personal trainer, by integrating Nike’s lauded running gear with Apple’s can’t-stop-selling-this hardware.

Getting set up

Getting set up is quick and easy, and once you have the necessary gear, integration happens automatically. And, for those pushing themselves to the upper echelons of peak performance, you can upload your performance to nikeplus.com to track your progress, compete with, and compare results with others, much in the same way DailyBurn does.

There have been reported problems with the Nike iPod Sport Kit using the new iOS that ships in the iPhone 4, so while Apple tries to get a fix pushed through, you may want to remain on an older iPhone OS for the time being.t