I was able to test out Nokia Sports Tracker on my run last weekend. The application is free and works with several S60 GPS enabled handsets. It allows you to broadcast your progress live through data services as well as build a work-out diary that you can use to set goals and bench-marks for improvement.
You can see from my workout posted above, I lost my GPS connection a few times (no I can’t run 98kmh!) but all in all it did a great job. After using it with some success, there are two things that come to mind which would be great improvements:
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A device specific arm-band: It’s not easy to find a store that carries the N95 let alone any accessories for it. For my initial run I had my phone in-hand which is no good, because I’ll eventually drop it if I keep doing that. There is a lot of useful data that is visualised when you’re in-run (elevation, time, etc..) so you would need an arm-band with use on the go in mind. If anyone knows of one let me know.
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A heart-rate monitor: Right now I use a basic run of the mill Polar watch and heart-monitor strap. A lot of the gear I use in my gym has Polar compatibility built-in and it would be a great feature to have in SportsTracker. It would be interesting if Nokia released a work-out centered hand set and marketed it toward sports and excercise customer segments, sort of the way Nike does with the iPod. Even with Nike’s limited success, there’s a niche market there that has yet to be exploited to it’s full potential and it’s clear that Nokia sees this.
Believe it or not I hate running and only do so grudgingly to stay fit, but I’m looking forward to my next run and shaving off a few minutes. Feel free to watch along! 🙂
RobToole.com 