insole iPod integration!

Some high-end cars now come with iPod in-car integration to get rid of the spaghetti of adapters and wires that are cluttering up cars. But in-sole integration?

At first sight, I though Apple and Nike had got together to put iPods inside trainers. The headline “Nike encourage you to tread carefully on your Nano” came to mind. But the story is more sophisticated than that.

You buy a pair of shoes kitted out with a sensor embedded in a pocket under the insole, transmitting data up to a slim receiver plugged into the bottom of the Nano. As well as pumping out tunes to keep your pavement pounding pace up, your iPod can give you a running commentary (pun intended) of your progress through the headphones.

There’s also a facility to sync up with Nike through iTunes, keeping a record of your exercise.

One downside is that your Nano will have to be strapped to your arm, or kept in a pocket, as the protruding receiver plugs into the slot normally used by the The Register helpfully points out - buy a packet of breakfast cereal that comes with a free pedometer.

Although the 2.4GHz radio link is advertised as running a propriety protocol, how long before someone comes up with an even better use for it?

And in a moment of inspiration, Geared Up Blog suggests that it's called the iPed Nano. Brilliant!