Nike may unveil new FuelBand at mid-October media event with advanced biometrics, iOS support

The "NikeFuel Forum," scheduled for Oct. 15 in New York, is a platform for "a discussion of the future of the digital world experience and physical activity."

Athletic shoe and apparel giant Nike has begun sending invitations to the media for a mid-October event, dubbed the "NikeFuel Forum," where the company will outline the future of its NikeFuel activity tracking initiative, reports CNET. Rumored to make an appearance at the event is a new version of its FuelBand fitness tracker.

The wearable health tracker is ripe for a hardware upgrade, as Nike has has yet to issue a refresh since the original FuelBand debuted in January 2012. According to a report from Gear Live, the so-called "FuelBand 2" will incorporate a heart rate monitor, more responsive LEDs, and Bluetooth low energy support for syncing to iOS devices.

Nike and Apple have a long history of collaboration, with Nike+ integration included in the iPod and iPhone, while the FuelBand's companion apps remain iOS-exclusive. Apple CEO Tim Cook praised the FuelBand at the D11 conference in May, saying the Beaverton-based company did a "great job" on the product. Cook also revealed that he is a regular user of the device.

As the "quantified self" movement heats up with products like the FuelBand, Jawbone's Up, and FitBit's series of wearable devices proving popular, Apple has begun to pay more attention to the segment. Cupertino's new flagship iPhone 5s shipped with the M7 motion coprocessor, a discrete chip on the handset's logic board that allows the iPhone to continue collecting motion tracking data from the device's sensors without waking up the more powerful A7 processor, thereby enhancing battery life.

Additionally, iOS 7 rolled out with a new set of APIs that enable easier device pairing and synchronization. For example, iOS 7's state preservation and restoration service allows Bluetooth devices to maintain their connection to the handset for background data transfer, even if apps requesting the assets are not running. That means fitness trackers like the FuelBand can continue to synchronize data to an iOS device without the need for user intervention.

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6 Comments

brucepondo

said about 10 years ago

Can't wait. I love Nike+ if for nothing more than the app forces me to try and run more. Hopefully they keep developing the platform. Would be great if you could edit your runs a little when the GPS flakes out.

ireland

said about 10 years ago

I like Apple's "watch and research" approach to making great products. I also love the thinking that went into the decision to do a 4" iPhone 5c and a 4" iPhone 5s this year. And nothing too crazy to please the analysts. It shows Cook is doing things exactly right. Even if I am more than put off by many decisions in iOS 7, like the RC icon set, especially the home screen set. That's one set of icons I'd literally bet my life Jobs wouldn't have signed off on. Heck, I wouldn't sign off on them. But aside from icons and other minor decisions I think putting Ive in charge of software is very exciting. iOS 7 is if anything proof that Ive has balls of steel. Which is precisely what Apple needs right now. I personally think Ive needs to step up to the plate and do some keynote stuff at Apple events and become the face of the company. He's already in charge of by far the most important job at Apple: design. Arguably the single most important job on the planet.

akqies

said about 10 years ago

I hope Apple and Nike's relationship is close enough that it uses the M7 (or an M7 derivative) that will talk to the iPhone via BLE.

scotttrader

said about 10 years ago

With TC on Nikes bod I wondered if aapl would come out with a watch or band , kind of a conflict ...I like the collaboration ....hopefully they keep the I watch distinctly different and not compete on price points.

ameldrum1

said about 10 years ago

[quote name="Ireland" url="/t/159921/nike-may-unveil-new-fuelband-at-mid-october-media-event-with-advanced-biometrics-ios-support#post_2410940"]Arguably the single most important job on the planet.[/quote] Agreed. That is *definitely* arguable.

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