20140911 Embracing The Smartphone to Track Fitness Activities

Editor's Notes

1. Embracing the Smartphone to Track Fitness Activities Magellan GPS, division of MiTAC Digital Corporation About Me – Developer turned Product Manager, Garmin before Magellan, fitness fanatic & tech gadget enthusiast I’ve actually been in a cryogenic chamber – it’s cold!!
2. Time-bound activities Not about 24x7 Encourage interactions, discussions Presentation will be posted to SlideShare, so don’t worry about taking notes
3. Garmin had a 6 year head start on everyone in 2003
4. And finally, we saw a break through with the Nike+ GPS watch And recently, the TomTom Cardio with Mio Alpha optical heart rate and Timex with a 3g connection triathlon watch
5. The best fitness activity recorder may already be in your pocket!
6. RunKeeper, MapMy, Endomondo, etc.
7. In all shapes, sizes and forms And what I’m here to talk about is what we think could be the biggest challenger to this category
8. Why do athletes want a smartphone with them when doing their activities?
9. The obvious answer – you already have one! $100 - $500 for a dedicated GPS device
10. Low barrier to entry, as easy as downloading an app
11. Dedicated GPS device manufacturers offer 1 choice for the device software - theirs But the smartphone – either iOS or Android -- offers hundreds of fitness app choices on their platforms
12. Free, Paid or Freemium (in-app purchase) Why should we all pay the same price if we have different usage levels?
13. Apps not just specific to distance, but even based on what your motivation is for training for that distance!
14. Familiar experience (you already know how to use your phone, but learning how to use a GPS device might require a user manual) Familiar interactions (touch, swipe, etc.) Familiar iOS, Android or Windows Phone style
15. More processing power and memory than a dedicated GPS watch 3-D maps, live segment tracking, and much more Frequent updates to mobile apps
16. Apps designed for more than just tracking or improving performance
17. RunKeeper
18. Strava
19. Instant upload after workout Post to Facebook, Twitter, etc Real-time tracking
20. - Instant satisfaction & social engagement
21. Athletes are ditching iPods and MP3 players for their smartphones Apple went into the smartphone business, cannibalizing their iPod sales, to protect their dominance in music The music is coming with them… and it’s coming from their smartphone Streaming! iTunes Radio, Pandora, Spotify, RockMyRun, etc.
22. Easily add photos to your activity recording Instagram + Strava integration Some have it built-in
23. Smartphones are coming along for the workout, anyways, for emergency reasons Most cyclists bring smartphone on rides for safety reasons – not a burden to put in jersey pocket or pack Men and women feel more secure knowing they can reach people in case of an emergency
24. Wifi + cellular triangulation + GPS very helpful in urban environments Don’t have to wait for a satellite signal
25. Holds up for marathons & century rides External battery for longer activities, even hot swappable for race across america and similar endurance races
26. ANT+ support via ANT+ to BT “bridge” or built-in such as with Samsung Galaxy S5
27. Thank your Chris Glode from MapMyFitness for this data Activities recorded using iPhone larger in total size and growing at a faster rate then GPS devices devices/apps includes GPS fitness devices and uploads from 3rd party apps such as Wahoo Fitness, iSmoothRun, etc.
28. Selfie!
29. LA Marathon winner with Pegasus Sports Performance foot pods and sony experia phone
30. ESPN Sports Science, also Pegasus
31. Can’t see the data on demand What’s my current pace, heart rate, etc.? Can’t interact with the app without interrupting workout Start/stop at traffic lights, trigger a new lap Tom McGlynn (RunCoach) - #1 reason my athletes don’t run with their phone is because they can’t trigger and view lap time on the track
32. An external display and remote control for sports apps And the key technology to make of this happen is Bluetooth Low-Energy
33. - The phone is the central hub
34. Run metrics, golf metrics, hiking metrics
35. Start/stop, laps, golf stroke & type, music, backlight, next/previous screen, etc.
36. Screens, data, button/tap controls, backlight behavior
37. The APP dictates the experience, not the device! App can choose to be simple, full featured, configurable, etc.
38. 6+ months battery life Same coin cell and bluetooth chip as most single channel heart rate monitors
39. - And now that we have Bluetooth Low Energy, standards within iOS and Android, and a plethora of fitness apps… a growing number of smartwatches are hitting the market to act as than 2nd display or remote control for the apps
40. Phone iPhone 5 Headphones Jaybird BlueBuds X Case - Spi Belt Apps: Wahoo Fitness for most runs and bikes iSmoothRun for coaching during interval runs Both highly configurable with Magellan Echo, Wahoo RFLKT+, and iSmoothRun with Pebble Both upload activities to all of the top fitness sites, dropbox, email External Remote/Displays Magellan Echo for running Wahoo RFLKT+ for Cycling Sensors Heart Rate Speed, Cadence & Power When Cycling Waiting on runScribe for advanced run metrics!
41. So what’s next?Where will wearables or the smartwatch category go next?
42. iPhone 6 adds barometric altimeter for improved elevation accuracy, found in high end triathlon watches and bike computers Samsung Galaxy 5 s adds built-in optical HR in addition to ANT+ mentioned earlier
43. runScribe (7 days left to pledge on Kickstarter!) Utilizing the smartphone makes it significantly easier to build devices to collect, analyze and distribute data than ever before Say hi to Tim Clark!
44. But it won’t all take place on the wrist And while Google Glass touched the surface, we see products like the Recon Jet filling the void for athletes
45. Apple, Google or Garmin won’t dictate your destiny, It will have influence Build wearable devices that solve a specific problem In our case… this is sports Make it look like a sports watch Remove the pain of charging yet another device Associate to a lifestyle
46. Don’t wait on the sidelines You need product in consumer hands to best understand Technology will constantly evolve You can’t postpone to wait on the next version of a component or software platform
47. Don’t go it alone You need apps You need partners Look for to help promote one another
48. What data you collect… share Don’t force your customers to use only your solution Give them options while directing them to your own Make yours better than the rest while giving customers and partners choice