EQUIPMENT


From Subs To Darts: Inside The High-Tech World Of Dart Making

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT on 02-04-11    No Comments


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Colin "Jaws" Lloyd Hard at Work On His Missles -- via sky sports

I swear I am not making this up: There really is a pretty bad-ass business in making super-tech darts.

Here is a post I ripped off from SkySports on how one Colin “Jaws” Lloyd makes darts in the Target Darts factory in Essex, England. I will spare you the usual blog drivel of coyly reformatting this story so it sounds original. Instead I will give you the  link.

I can give you a nice teaser: The darts use technology from submarines.

Dive! Dive! Dive!




Soccer Tests New Tech Waters In Upcoming Rules Meeting

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT on 02-04-11    No Comments


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via Method Learning

It's a Ball. It's a Sensor. It's a Ball Sensor: via Method Learning

Without question, the nastiest fight we have ever had — and I mean THE nastiest — here at The Sports Circuit, was over the techno future of soccer.

To me, the game is missing a major opportunity to reinvent itself for the modern age. How cool would soccer be if the ball had sensors, players were modeled in real time with radio frequency tags and there was more than one ref to keep everyone  from play acting the Battle of Iwo Jima every game.

But Dan and Seth, who both played the game, thought I was an idiot. They feel, like many soccer players, that  ”real football” is the last game that needs to be reinvented for the modern age — a sentiment that is echoed by the soccer elites. FIFA president Sepp Blatter was widely quoted last year during the World Cup that human error is part of the game.  Just like it is in life, right?

Well, that might be changing. One of the British football rules organizations, called the IFAB, will be meeting next month, and they will be taking a look at goal line sensors. Finally the idea would be to us a sensor-containing ball (see the picture here) to keep track of when the thing actually crosses the goal line.

Obviously this is nice a first step. Now if soccer could figure out how to call a time out, and do away with the nonsense that is extra time, then we might be on to something.




Blind Man Drives Daytona

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT on 01-30-11    No Comments


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There’s a pretty cool story running around the web about a blind man driving at Daytona.

So I figured I would dig into it, and sure enough this is one slick piece of sports tech.

Mark Riccobono, the Executive Director of the National Foundation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute,  is using technology developed by something called the Blind Driver Challenge. Think X-Prize, except this is for cars that a blind person can drive. Mark will be making what organizers claim is the first public display of the technology.

I will crank off more details as they emerge, but for now much of this technology comes out of the DARPA Urban Challenge and is built around several drive-by-wire tools that allow for remote computer control of a vehicle — in this case a modified Ford Escape.

For sure, this is a first step. Essentially this is an electronically controlled car. But given how tough a track Daytona is, I bet his times are faster than many sighted drivers. Not bad, Mark.




Behold: We Have Airbags For Skiers

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT on 01-27-11    No Comments


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This has got to be the easiest blog post of all time:

Yes, Virginia, there really will be airbags for skiers!

The Italian firm Dianese, which makes inflatable ski tools for avalanche safety, is apparently making an airbag system for skiers.  The idea is that the bag will deploy during a dangerous fall.

Be warned: The average skiing Joe won’t get airbags for some time. For now this will be for top-level racers, probably downhill skiers, only.

But still, what starts at the top of the sport eventually will filter down to the bottom. And heaven knows, we all could use the security out there on the slopes.




Vick To “Showcase” Shock Blocking Technology

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT on 01-26-11    No Comments


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Some guys just know how to use their eh … “past experience” to make some coin.

Convicted felon, gun owner and  NFL QB Michael Vick will now be the official corporate spokesperson for cutting-edge composite manufacturing firm Unequal Technologies.

I kid you not, the Philly-based company makes the gear that goes inside of everything from sports gear, to protective clothing, to shoe insoles to, again, I kid you not, bullet proof vests. Mr Vick, who has direct experience in all aspects of protective clothing, wore an Unequal vest during several games after his rib injury early this season.

All teasing aside — one has to wonder who handles Vicks PR — the move has tech implications. It shows how readily available innovation in sports gear is. If Vick can find new tools to use, considering that number of sports equipment alternatives out there, other players are bound to find new technologies that can improve the survivability.

The change in equipment players use is coming. And it is coming fast.




iPod Speaker Docks for the Sports Fanatic

Posted by Dan in EQUIPMENT on 01-14-11    No Comments


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new thuuzAre you a big sports fan?  Not just a “catch a game now and then” fan but the kind of person who has a den so full of sports memorabilia it makes your family and visitors a bit uncomfortable?

If so, have we got the product for you.  Toss out that old iPod dock and get a load of Speakal.

The company announced at the recent 2011 CES a “lineup of advanced docking solutions that include lifelike replicas of football, basketball, and soccer. And there is some real technology here. The units have two speakers, a 15w sub-woofer that gives your iDevice legit 360 degree sound distribution and volume touch controls.

As you can see, the miSoccer is pretty nifty and the forthcoming other sports docks should rock a tailgate no matter what sports you prefer.




Nike+ Watch Sends Personal Trainers To The Shower.

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT on 01-12-11    No Comments


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Sp11_RN_PR_Sportwatch_3Quarter_OnWhiteLooks like Nike has decided that being a personal trainer should no longer be a career. The company has announced a new, uber-cool sports watch for 2011 that will pretty much to everything that a highly paid trainer does. But do it all from your wrist. And with no yelling and screaming.

Last week the company revealed its new Nike+ Sportwatch GPS. The unit is not bad looking, not horrible to read, and at least in early demos, the system does offer a reasonably easy path to connect workout data from the watch to a PC.

Which means just about any form of exercise can be done faster, more efficiently and with better results.

Pretty much anything involved in getting in shape, like running, jumping, and sweating, is captured  in the watch and then, when properly configured, uploaded to Nikeplus.com.

Now there are issues. Users still need to actually work out with this tool to have it do any good. And there is some tinkering to get the watch to work correctly. But it’s not hard to see this sort of Web0enabled remote monitoring device being standard issue for just about any athletically inclined eojock.

Meaning trainers are joining the soup kitchen lines of most other knowledge workers on the web. There is just not much for these folks to do.




Quick CES Roundup

Posted by Dan in EQUIPMENT on 01-10-11    No Comments


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ces_logoMy intrepid co-host Jonathan Blum spent the last week out in the wilds of Las Vegas at the 2011 Intenational Consumer Electronics Show and when he wasn’t sneaking off to the more adult oriented AVN show, he saw a few cool things.

It looks like Toshiba might be the first to market with a no-glasses needed 3-D television. Rather than force the viewer to wear those annoying glasses there will be a thing screen in front on the panel that does the same thing.  Nintendo is going to use a similar technology on the new DS that is coming out this year.  This is huge, especially if you are watching a big sporting event at home with friends.  Inviting a bunch of friends over for a 3-D Superbowl party isn’t all that fun if only 4 people have the glasses.

Oregon Scientific has a new action camera on the way, that should be a hit with extreme sport fans. The ATC5K is a waterproof (up to 10ft) and shock resistant 640 x 480 VGA camera with 32 mb of internal memory, but is expandable up to 4GB by SD card.  It is easily mountable and should be a hit with ER doctors all over the country as they piece together what happened to their patients.




Santa’s Sleigh 2.0: A Looong Snowmobile Jump

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT on 12-21-10    No Comments


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Here is Dan’s Dream Vacation: Going as far as he can on a snowmobile … in the air.




The TSC Gift Guide Countdown: The Muckster Tailgating Shoe

Posted by Jonathan in EQUIPMENT on 12-02-10    No Comments


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The pet lovers of the world may know and love Muckster boots for the “contaminant” resistant rubber, or airmesh linings that actually don’t turn your feet into sopping wet piles of flesh — or maybe just for their overall indestructibility.

But these animal mavens are missing the point. These $70 shoes are without question the greatest tailgating, sport-watching, postgame-imbibing piece of footwear on the planet.

Get some good warm socks, slip on these bad boys and you are ready to play some touch football, throw back a six pack, sit in the stands and cheer and then head to bar afterward, all in an indestructible shoe.

Seriously, these are a tremendous sleeper holiday tech present for the sports fan.