Apple Hires Back Old Newton PDA Developer

Apple just hired Michael Tchao back from a 15 year stint out of Cupertino as VP of Product Marketing, reporting directly to Phil Schiller, SVP of Product Marketing. More »

Nike's T90 Ascente Football Ball Has More Engineering Than Most Cars

I would have thought that there is a finite amount of engineering that could go into a football / soccer ball, but the Nike T90 has proven me wrong. More »

Transformers Nikes Come in Sweet Toy Box

Just for a moment, we're going to put our haughtiness aside regarding non-sustainable packaging and the collectible sneaker movement to enjoy Nike's clever new Transformers shoeboxes. More »

Nike Salutes Your Right To Keep And Bear Awesome T-Shirt Guns

Have you seen that t-shirt gun in the new Nike commercial? It's cooler looking than any t-shirt gun I have ever seen—hell, it may be the coolest product Nike has ever made. And they are actually selling it. More »

Robot Parkour Ad by Nike

Without the limitations of, you know, human bodies and gravity and all that junk, the already-crazy sport of parkour (or "extreme running") becomes even more amazing. This bit is from a Nike ad and features a computer-animated, hoodie-wearing robot. More »

Buy the Hat from Back to the Future: Part II

You've seen the shoes and you've scored the jacket. But what about the most garish garment of Marty McFly's 2015 ensemble, his eye-straining, iridescent hat? Yes, now even that masterpiece is for sale. More »

The Shoebox Fightstick Is Made For Cheap Chun-Li Combat

We didn't think things could get sadder in these economically trying times than the Tupperware arcade stick. Well folks, things just went from bad to leap from the nearest skyscraper status. More »

Nike Wii Blazer: White Because the Wii Is Also White

If the NES Air Max sneakers weren't your thing, then maybe you'll appreciate the Wii Blazers. But if not, Nike will release every Nintendo f'ing console in shoe form until you buy one. More »

NES Air Max Sneakers Are Dignified Even If Geriatric

They aren't exactly what we pictured, but we can't deny that Nintendo and Nike's dual venture NES Air Max sneakers do invoke fond memories of the drab Nintendo Entertainment System. Featuring two tones of gray and a stripe of muted reddishness, only the keen sneaker aficionado will know notice the subtle reference to the Start button, but anyone who doesn't get it might not be worth talking to anyway. Available now, our guess is that collectors will gobble stock quickly if they're not already gone. [kicksonfire via Kotaku]

Apple Patents DRM For Pairing Only Official Nike Shoes With Nike+ Sensor

Everyone knows joggers can make the worst criminals—look at them, all smug with their fitness, rubbing it in your face on the sidewalk in front of your house as they make a quick and effortless getaway from whatever malfeasance they've just hoisted on an innocent and unsuspecting car-preferring public. And the intellectual property violations? Boy, don't get me started. But now those degenerates may be getting what's been coming—the days of pairing Nike+ with shoes other than those made by Nike may be numbered, if a recent Apple patent has anything to say about it. More »

Apple's Next-Gen Running Shoe Has Force Sensors, GPS Support

Apple wants to take Nike+ to a different new level to perform precise, real-time tracking of runners' performance and—shiver—offer location-based information and advertising. Their latest patent not only details how they will get rid of the current RFID sensor and add a series of force sensors instead—as well as GPS support—but also how they are contemplating other "authorized" shoes. Does this mean they are abandoning their relationship with Nike? More »

LEAKED: First Shots of iPhone Nike+ Interface

We've long known that Nike+ has been in development for the iPhone. Now we're finally getting a peek at the first alleged shots of the interface. From what we can skim, Nike+ users will get all of the nifty performance graphs right on the phone (before this stuff was available on the web only). But the biggest improvement over the old Nike system may be Google Maps support: More »

Innervision Plastic Bike Should be Called Re-Bicyclable

Designer Matt Clark has come up with Innervision: a prototype polypropelene bike designed to be fully recyclable. And, incidentally, to look rather cool indeed. The frame is in two parts, which are welded together: an inner frame with strong triangular truss-structure and an outer frame for a better look. Both split into two, so the bike is easy to manufacture. For now it's made of new plastic, but Matt intends future ones to be made of recycled polypropylene. Apparently it rides well, thanks to that stiff inner body. And it's got a pretty good theft deterrent system: anyone hacksawing it free from a bike lock would have a useless half-bike. Unless they bought the toy plastic welder perhaps. [Bike Commuter via Gadget Lab]

Replace the Nike+ Receiver Battery For $5 and Say No To Nike and Apple's Overcharging

Do you buy a new remote every six months when its batteries die? Because Apple and Nike expect you to pay another $30 for a new Nike+ receiver when the battery on your current one dies. Fuck. That. Instructables has a how-to on how you can replace it with $5 worth of materials and 10-15 minutes worth of work. Since you're using electrical tape to secure the battery, the inside may not look as pretty as it did when you bought it; but your insides are pretty disgusting as well, so who are you to judge? [Instructables]

Nike's High Tech Team USA Olympic Track Suits Shave Fractions Off Races

This is not a leaked American Gladiators uniform. It's Nike's design for the US Olympic Track and Field suits. They're made from Nike's proprietarily named (but possibly a poly-nylon blend synthetic) swift materials. Nike claims the socks and arm coverings, with their dimpled surfaces, break up drag to the tune of 12 to 19% in those areas. The suits, Nike claims, can bring a typically sub-10 second run in the 100-meter dash down by .02 seconds. [Gizmag]

DeLorean Shows Up at Nike Hyperdunk "Back to the Future" Sneaker Premiere

As you already know, today was the launch of the limited-edition Marty McFly-inspired Nike Hyperdunk sneakers. 350 pairs were sold almost instantly (some are now for sale on eBay for as much as $2,000), a hundred of them at the UNDFTD shop in Santa Monica, where L.A. Lakers' megastar Kobe Bryant arrived in a DeLorean time machine to be greeted by hundred of fans, some of them camping outside for more than 24 hours. Seriously, I'm a Back to the Future fan too, but what kind of obsessed fanboy can wait for more than 24 hours for a stupid piece of merchandise? Ah... hrmmm. OK, never mind. [Hypebeast]

Nike+iPod Patent Shows Heart Rate, Temperature and Hydration Monitors

The main complaints about the current Nike+ Gear aren't that it doesn't do a good job keeping track of how far you run, it's that it doesn't measure stuff like heart rate, body temperature and other factors runners care about. Nike hears you. Their latest patent for upcoming Nike+ gear expands on the current concept and features all kinds of sensors over a person's body, even possibly adding a GPS receiver so you can automatically map out the path you took on your run. More »

Your Smelly Ass Feet Are Killing the Planet

Your feet? They smell like a baboon's butthole. Especially at the gym. So, the brilliant dudes at places like Nike and Adidas have started lining their socks with nano-bits of silver to fight microbials and the intense funk radiating from your tootsies. It works (woohoo), but every time you wash them, some of the particles inevitably come loose from the sock and flush down the drain, ultimately winding up in local waterways. Where they poison fishies. To death. Not cool. In conclusion, have less stinky feet, thanks. [American Chemical Society via io9]

Nike+ SportBand Coming Next Week

We found this official teaser for the Nike+ SportBand on the Nike site, leading us to believe (you know, if Nike isn't lying) that the kit is coming next week. It's great for people who don't really need iPods when running but still want the ability to track and display your progress. However, that means Nike could be leaning away from the iPod integration and getting more money in their own pockets instead of sharing with Apple. [Shiny Shiny]

Apple Patents Nike + iPod on Steroids: It Wants to Pump You Up

The standard rule of Apple patents applies: Just because it's on file, doesn't mean they're going to put it out. But I hope they do, America's fat ass needs this. It's an advanced fitness suite, like Nike + iPod cranked up to 1100. There's hardware that keeps tabs on your heart rate and other vitals, a rewards tracker, and a component for syncing up groups. All of it's connected by an iTunes-like app that tracks your current fitness level, goals, schedule and a whole mess of other stats—it'll even make a workout for you—which it syncs to your iPod or iPhone to follow at the gym. More »

Nike+ SportBand Coming in April?

MacLife.de says Nike's SportBand, an armband that connects to the Nike+ running device, might be finally coming to retail some time in April 2008. The armband will still be wireless and still require you to shove a Nike+ kit into your shoe in order to track how fast/far you run, but you won't have to carry an iPod Nano on you, which lowers the chance of muggings (but raises the chance of being bored while running). Once you're done with your workout, take out the attached USB stick and plug it into your computer to sync data with nike.com. [MacLife]

Nike + iPod to Jack Directly Into Gym Equipment

Nike + iPod is great for running, not so great for most other stuff in the gym. So, Nike and Apple are teaming up with most of the major gym equipment makers—Life Fitness, Precor, Star Trac and Technogym—to make their cardio equipment Nike + iPod-friendly. You'll be able to track workouts on stair steppers, ellipticals, bikes and treadmills and upload them to NikePlus.com, like the standard Nike + iPod. Of course, this all requires to your gym to either buy new equipment or upgrade what they've got, so you might have to wait a while to get on board. [AppleInsider]

Nike+ Sportband Snubs Apple, Makes iPod Unnecessary

The next iteration of the Nike+ line of running-enhancing gear just hit the FCC, and it looks like Nike went ahead and ditched Apple for this go around. This one is the Nike SportBand, a little device that fits into a bracelet. It communicates with the Nike+ doodad in your shoe and stores its data. You then plug the SportBand into your computer via USB to track your runs, cutting the iPod out of the loop entirely. As a sedentary blogger, I could care less about this, but perhaps you "healthy" and "active" people can get some kicks out of it. [FCC]

Nike SPARQ Parachute Makes You Run Faster, Eventually

The Nike SPARQ Parachute is designed to create drag "to force athletes to push themselves harder to achieve speed" and look like a moron in Central Park. Why would I want more drag as I'm already dragging my feet to the coffee shop to have a cafe au lait, two croissants and one brioche with chocolate nuggets is beyond me. Just $50 and a box of steroids separate you from becoming the next Ben Johnson. And a jump from knowing all the tech specs of this thing: More »

Old Websites Sure Are Funny

Digging through websites cached from the 90s is akin to seeing a celebrity's high school yearbook pictures—during the early, awkward years of the web, brave companies made a stab at winning consumer hearts through 15" CRTs and 14.4k dial up modems. Inspired by this MSU page, we decided to take a gander through the Internet Archive's Wayback machine (a service that started saving pages in 1996). Needless to say, we found some funny stuff. More »