In the vast canon of techie terms, the word “dongle” ranks somewhere between “thingamajig” and “whoseamawhatsit” as an official-sounding device. It may be fun to say, but it doesn’t exactly instill much technical confidence in the person or entity that is pushing the newfangled “hoobajoob” on you.
In Nike’s case, the sneaker stalwart was charging $29 for running enthusiasts to track their jog-gress (jogging progress!) via their various Apple devices working in concert with the Nike + Shoe-dongle– a device implanted under the inner sole of your active footwear.
Well, after a lengthy experimentation period, Nike is no longer requiring Apple-using fitness freaks to monitor their training by slipping their tiny dongle where the sun don’t shine. Instead, they’ll stay hot on the trail of your cross-trainers with those magical monitoring initials: GPS
By spending a mere $2 in the Itunes App Store, runners can download the new Nike + GPS to their favorite iThings and run like the wind– or the tortoise. No matter what you run like, the program works by connecting with the GPS radio in most newer Apple gadgets (iPod, iPhone, iPad) to allow you to record your time, map your runs and browse previous runs. Users can also share their runs and get competitive by comparing themselves with other users on the Nike + site. You might be tempted to best your local rivals times, but remember, slow and steady wins the race– though you could stand to pick up the pace a little bit.
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