Cut those awkward heart-rate-monitor straps with TomTom’s Runner Cardio GPS watch

By Lee Crane Published April 7, 2014

Runners tired of licking their heart-rate-monitor straps and girding them to their chests before every run will finally be freed from that ritual with TomTom’s new Runner Cardio and Multisport Cardio GPS watches. That’s because the latest version of the Amsterdam-based company’s fitness GPS watches now feature built-in optical heart rate monitoring technology from Mio. Using a light on the back of the watch, the Mio monitors changes in blood flow and tracks heart rate without the use of extra straps or sensors.

This technology also makes it easier for athletes to stay on target by displaying heart rate and using alarms to notify the runner when a certain heart rate has been reached. The Runner places heart rates into five zones: sprint, speed, endure, fat burn, and easy. Set the target and the watch does the rest … well, except for the running.

Recommended Videos

Like the previous versions of the Runner, the Cardio version tracks and display pace, speed, distance, and calories burned. The Multisport Cardio connects to cycling sensors like speed and cadence using Bluetooth Smart. After the run or ride all the data can be uploaded to Web fitness-tracking sites like TomTom’s MySports, MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPeaks or Strava so athletes can let friends or coaches see all the hard work they’ve been doing.

The Runner Cardio is available now for pre order on the TomTom website for $270. The Multisport, which also connects to Bluetooth Smart cadence and speed sensors is $300.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Lee Crane's career in action sports spans print, TV, and digital media; his work and handsome mug have appeared in and on Fox…

Topics

Emerging Tech

Checking body medication levels may now be as easy as sucking on a peach-flavoured lollipop

Forget the clinic swab; this lollipop wants a lick

Lollylab

Checking your body’s medication levels is usually no one’s idea of fun. Now researchers are trying to change that with Lollylab, a candy-coated, lollipop-like device that can collect saliva and measure levels of acetaminophen in under two minutes.

The prototype created by researchers whose work was published in ACS Sensors transforms a familiar object into a miniature testing device. In a pilot study, six adults ingested the peach-flavored Lollylab before and one hour after a standard 650-milligram dose of acetaminophen. The device repeatedly detected the pain reliever in their saliva, and participants reported it was more comfortable and easier to use than traditional saliva swabs.

Phones

A US state just approved an AI doctor. For now, it’ll only prescribe acne cures.

Aside from acne, Nolla's AI can also handle redness, fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmentation and dark spots, and under-eye bags.

Nolla Derm AI doctor app.

The first AI doctor is here. Despite all the skepticism and risks associated with AI models going haywire, the state of Utah just approved Nolla Health, a company that is providing an AI healthcare expert capable of writing prescriptions without any human in the chain. For now, it will only write acne prescriptions for Utah residents over 18 years of age, willing to pay a token monthly subscription fee that's lighter than your Spotify bill.

The big push here is that the Nolla Derm app will reduce the costs of medical consultation, save users the hassle of clinic visits, and take out the problem of waitlisting from the entire healthcare equation. “Unlike telehealth platforms that use AI only to collect information before handing patients off to clinicians, Nolla's AI system is designed to independently issue initial prescriptions within tightly defined, physician-approved treatment protocols,” writes the company.

Emerging Tech

AI’s massive appetite could make cheap smartphones much harder to find

The smartphone aisle is getting pricier, and AI may be partly to blame.

Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

Buying a genuinely cheap smartphone could soon become a lot harder, and the reason has little to do with what’s happening inside the smartphone industry itself. The enormous amount of hardware being poured into AI data centers is pressuring global memory supplies. That has helped drive up the cost of making phones, and manufacturers appear increasingly reluctant to absorb those extra costs at the cheapest end of the market.

According to Counterpoint Research, prices of existing smartphones have increased by around 15% globally this year, while newly launched devices are roughly 25% more expensive than comparable models from last year. The impact hasn't been equal everywhere, either. Smartphone prices have climbed 21% in India and 19% across Asia-Pacific, compared with just 5% in the US.