Why spend a couple hundred dollars to track all the info of your bike rides when you already have a several hundred dollar iPhone or iPod in your jersey pocket anyway? That's the question Apple is apparently asking too. In a patent filed last year, but just uncovered last Thursday, Apple may be getting into the smart bike business with a bike that would use iPods or iPhones to not only track cyclist data, but also help teams communicate on the raceway.
Patently Apple summarizes the patent as be able to monitor "speed, distance, time, altitude, elevation, incline, decline, heart rate, power, derailleur setting, cadence, wind speed, path completed, expected future path, heart rate, power, and pace". It calls the patent "extraordinarily detailed and packed with interesting twists that the sporting cyclist will really appreciate".
The system Apple proposes offers a number of advantages over typical systems, such as being able to share real-time information and statistics with other bicycles operating the same system. Apple's system could provide real-time information to servers to be processed and viewed remotely. Patently Apple even points to a hands-free system for inputting commands via voice commands and the ability "to automatically or in response to a user instruction, record video, audio, or take photographs reflecting the course, and geo-tag the generated media for publishing".
What's more, the system is designed specifically for audio and video. Wireless communication will allow cyclists to talk on-the-go and share data, so teams can coordinate during practices and races. The patent also indicates integration with external displays--possibly a tiny LCD or LED screen that would attach to a bike's handlebars for real-time data tracking.
I don't know about you, but Cat Eye, Garmin, and all the other bike computer/tech manufacturers better watch out. Apple may drop out of the TT gate with a vegenance.
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