Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

Some recently-discovered patents by the technology giant Apple, show the possibility that the company will get into the outdoor sports market. The patented technology would allow users to track performance indicators like speed, air time and energy used in sports like snowboarding and mountain biking.

Much of what this would provide is already available, and it appears that it would add a lot of extra weight and bulk to the board. So, I don't think that this will be the next iPhone. Quotes like these, pulled from the patent filings, aren't helping the case any:

"It is well known that many skiers enjoy high speeds and jumping motions while traveling down the slope. High speeds refer to the greater and greater velocities which skiers attempt in navigating the slope successfully (and sometimes unsuccessfully). The jumping motions, on the other hand, include movements which loft the skier into the air. Generally, the greater the skier's speed, the higher the skier's loft into the air."

"The sensations of speed and jumping are also readily achieved in other sporting activities, such as in mountain biking. Many mountain bikers, like the aforementioned skiers, also crave greater speeds and "air" time. However, persons in such sporting activities typically only have a qualitative sense as to speed and loft or 'air' time. For example, a typical snowboarding person might regularly exclaim after a jump that she 'caught' some 'big sky,' 'big air' or 'phat air' without ever quantitatively knowing how much time really elapsed in the air."

Totally bodacious, "bra".

For the full scoop and info that may just make you never want to snowboard, ski or mountain bike again, check out Apple Insider.

via Gadget Crave

• Apple
• snowboarding
• mountain-biking
• skiing