fitness

OK New Years resolution types, if you're the kind of person who performs better when being watched, PumpOne's Fitness Builder app might help you hit a few goals in 2010. But first, heed the company's January 5 tweet: "TIP-Don't get caught up in the New Year's Resolution hype. Fitness should be part of your lifestyle, not a hobby for the next 3-4 weeks."

Touted as a top app from fitness publications and users alike, Fitness Builder's most recent version (2.4) was released in late December and includes a Share Workout feature by which users can not only e-mail specific workouts to specific contacts, but get into workout specs and create their own e-mailable versions. It's open-source for the fitness fiends.

If this sounds up your alley, shell out $9.99 (at the Apple store only) for the Fitness Builder app. Once you've got it on your iPhone, you can upgrade to Plus for an additional chunk of workouts and videos, or you can wait until March, when PumpOne co-founder and president Craig Schlossberg tells me his company plans to release Fitness Builder Pro (for personal trainers, for $19.99 a month) and Fitness Builder PT (for physical therapists, which comes with an extra 1,000 videos and images, for $49.99 a month).

"We're building what we think and know people will use and is going to be easy," Schlosser says. "Doctors are busy and won't spend hours of time reviewing videos. There is a lot of time spent in a session with a physical therapist explaining what is going on. That time can be spent working."

These professional versions build on the Share Workout feature, but include the ability for trainers and therapists to swap out the PumpOne logo with their own (this is perhaps Schlosser's favorite feature: "I mean, it really is crazy," he exclaims); to fully customize the workouts with their own images, videos, instructions, etc.; and to retrieve performance updates from patients once the workouts are done. If a workout is sent to someone without the app, that person simply clicks on a PDF with embedded images, printable instructions, etc.

The problem with physical therapy today, according to PumpOne:… Read more

If you're going to make fitness-friendly tech, teaming up with an athletic company is a good way to go. At least Sennheiser thinks so. The headphone manufacturer elected to work with Adidas when updating its sport line of earphones.

The line includes four new models--the MX 680, the CX 680, the OMX 680, and the PMX 680--ranging in design and price. For more details on each, check out the slide show, but the most compelling info is the fact that the headphones are super sweat and water resistant. Expect to see them on the virtual marketplace later this month.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Wishing that your MP3 player would act more like a personal trainer? Me neither, but Philips is banking on finding an audience of motivation-starved fitness types for its newly announced Activa MP3 player ($129), available worldwide in April.

To put a new spin on working out with your MP3 player, the Activa gives gym rats real-time voice feedback on their performance. Only time will tell if the voice is more in step with the Wii Fit style of chipper encouragement, or with the Tony Little brand of aggressive shouting.

Assuming that the voice can be switched off for those … Read more

If you can get only one gadget to tag along on your workouts, make it an MP3 player. Samsung would certainly appreciate it if you made the new W1 your selection in that regard. Today, ahead of the CES 2010 schedule, the company announced two new portable audio devices for the coming year, one that is the super fitness-friendly W1, aka the MyFit.

The W1 stands out from the crowd with an entire menu dedicated to features that are designed to get you in optimal health. Indeed, it's the first player we've seen to include built-in fat and … Read more

Anyone who has tried to lose weight knows that two things work: diet and exercise. Hiring a personal trainer might help motivate you to exercise, but studies show that keeping a journal actually helps dieters stick to the plan. That's where Calorie Balance Diet comes in. It's a free utility that makes it entirely too easy to figure out just how many calories you need to achieve your dietary goal, and what foods you should and shouldn't eat to help you stay on track. It also helps you keep useful schedules and records.

A simple wizard lets … Read more

Natali Del Conte fills Justin's diminutive shoes today, and boy it could not be more appropriate with today's stories. Big news of the day is daytime talk show goddess Oprah Winfrey's plans to end "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and we're hoping our very own Natali Del Conte will take over.

According to WholeFitness.com, staring at breasts for 10 minutes will prolong a man's life by 5 years. Yes, this could possibly be the greatest piece of health care news ever, and we're hoping they incorporate it into the current legislation.

After some really awesome voicemails, we finally get into some tech talk with high-definition primetime entertainment. The majority of shows have switched over to high-definition broadcasts, but we're particularly disappointed that "Family Guy" and "American Dad" aren't available in high definition yet. Jeff gets really disappointed to learn that almost all cartoons are animated in South Korea. Guess that makes "American Dad" even more ironic. Included in the same list is "America's Top Model." Wilson is particularly disappointed.

Jeff will be out next week, so hopefully it won't be Wilson alone curled up in a snuggie talking about Apple and washing machines. In the meantime, be sure to keep sending in those voicemails as we prep for Thanksgiving. If you're in the New York metropolitan area, be sure to check out Ms. Del Conte on WCBS as she hosts the local news for Black Friday.

Correction at 4:50 a.m. PDT November 18: Cammie Dunaway incorrectly described Wii's October sales figures compared with other next-generation game consoles. Wii sales were nearly the total of its rivals combined.

Stung by lower Wii sales and a couple of down quarters, Nintendo may be a bit off its game this year. But Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing, keeps focused on the company's strengths and positive numbers.

The recession and a paucity of blockbuster titles have taken a bite out of the overall video game industry this year, with revenue down from record levels in 2008. Nintendo certainly hasn't been immune. For the first half of the year, earnings fell about 50 percent from 2008, while Will sales dipped.

In the midst of this atmosphere, I spoke on Thursday with Dunaway, known to many video game buffs for her high-spirited appearances at E3.

Though I asked Dunaway about the company's revenue decline, lower console sales, and potential competition, she continually championed Nintendo's assets, including its Wii and DS consoles and recent popular games like Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus, as well as new titles like Super Mario Bros.

Dunaway's optimism about Nintendo may have been borne out by the latest results. Though overall video game revenue fell in October, the Wii bounced back to recover its spot as the top selling console, according to NPD.

Last month, Nintendo sold 507,000 Wiis, compared with 320,600 Sony PlayStation 3s and 249,700 Microsoft Xbox 360s. Coming in second in video game hardware sales was Nintendo's portable DSi and DS Lite, with gamers scooping up 457,000 units.

Four of Nintendo's titles also did well in October, finishing in the top 10. The company sold 232,000 copies of Wii Fit Plus alone, and 209,000 of Wii Fit Plus bundled with the Balance Board. Wii Sports Resort scored with 179,000 copies sold, while Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the DS found 169,000 new customers.

I spoke with Dunaway by phone before before NPD released the October sales figures. But she certainly knew ahead of time that the numbers would look good for Nintendo.

Q: The question on everyone's mind is Nintendo's performance this year. For the first half, earnings were down about 50 percent. Sales for the Wii have dropped. Your president, [Satoru] Iwata, recently admitted that sales of the Wii have stalled. What do you pin as the reasons for this downturn, both for the company and for the Wii itself? Dunaway: Let's talk about the U.S., and let's break it down into the separate platforms. So, speaking first about the Wii--what's important to understand is that in 2008, we sold 10 million units of the Wii, which was a record for any console ever in history. And so it's a high mark.

What's also important to understand is that the pacing of our software this year was quite different than it was in 2008. In 2008, our big titles were released early in the year. And this year's huge title, released a few weeks ago in October, Wii Fit Plus, is doing quite well. And then arguably, the largest title of the year, New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii, only releases Sunday [November 15]. So we believe that going into the holiday season, consumers will continue to look for the products they see as representing the best value and the most fun.

Now on DS, we also had a record setting year last year, selling over 10 million units, and we are actually 16 percent above that pace year-to-date in 2009. So the combination of DS Lite and our new product DSi is really resonating with consumers.

Then on software, here in the U.S., our software for both Wii and Nintendo DS is actually up over a year ago. So despite the fact that our big titles are yet to come, we still have had a good year overlapping a tremendous year with our software.

Can you talk about some of the new titles Nintendo has in store for the holidays and next year? You mentioned Super Mario Bros. is a key title for the holidays. Are there others? Dunaway: Looking to some of the additional titles for the holidays, New Super Mario Bros., for the first time enables four people to play a Mario game together. And it is going to be something that provides tremendous challenge to experienced gamers, and something a brand new gamer can jump in with their friends and family and enjoy. So that one will be a monster hit.

We also on the DS side have a new Zelda title--Zelda Spirit Tracks--coming on December 7. And Zelda titles are always strong performers, and it's a franchise that loyalists look forward to, line up to get copies of. And it's a title that we also think expanded market consumers will enjoy because of its heart. It's really about solving puzzles and going on an adventure, which is something that really anyone can have a good time doing.

Then as we go into next year, while we haven't announced timing, we have announced that we'll be launching a new Pokemon Gold and Silver, which has broken all records on its launch in Japan. [We're also launching] a title that will be great for loyalists called Sin & Punishment and a title called Endless Ocean that really provides a wonderful family experience on the Wii.… Read more

Sinking sales and a price cut for the Wii knocked Nintendo's first-half earnings by 52 percent.

On Thursday, the game maker reported a profit of 69.5 billion yen ($767.8 million) for the six-month period ended September 30, compared with 144.83 billion yen for the same period last year.

Sales for the period also tumbled, falling 34 percent to 548 billion yen.

Nintendo blamed the shortfall on weak sales of its Wii combined with its recent price cut for the game console. In September, the company trimmed the cost of the Wii in the U.S. by $… Read more

Fitness Assistant is an intuitive tool that lets users track their nutrition and physical activity. Although similar Web-based tools are available for free, Fitness Assistant does deliver both an easy-to-use interface and relevant features.

The program's interface is uncluttered and intuitive, displaying the day's calorie balance, calorie composition, and a monthly calendar. Graphical buttons across the top of the interface give users access to the program's features. Everything was well-organized and easy to find. Although the program does not have a Help file, it does have a set of FAQs online. As for features, the program contains … Read more