Forget about the next iPhone or an iPad as thin as paper, Apple is pedaling in another direction these days. Just a few days ago, the company filed a new patent for an advanced smart bike now in development. Fresh off the drawing boards, and not yet named (but how cool would iCycle be?), the new smart bike will allow cyclists to link up with one another, share pertinent course data, individual health stats and much, much more. So just as Apple’s i-gadgets have dramatically changed the way consumers interact with and experience hand held tech, could the same soon be said for the bicycle?
Not surprisingly the new smart bike will require a hookup to an iPhone or iPod Touch to take advantage of all of it features. The system is anticipated to work in tandem with both the sensors of the iPhone and sensors to be built into the bike itself. Specs submitted to the U.S. Patent Office reveal that the first iteration will be able to provide real-time on-demand data such as 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.
But this is just to name a few of the features — more details are sure to reveal themselves as development progresses. And if you’re like us, you’re probably already brimming with questions about whether it’ll be a road bike or a bmx, what the design look like, whether it will have GPS, how expensive it will be — and generally what exactly will differentiate this new tech from just riding on a traditional, less costly bike and stopping on the side of the road to check an iPhone. But knowing Apple, this smart bike will surely pique enough interest to get an audience lined up around the block aching to just sit on the thing.
Via Wired
Great! Distracted Drivers and distracted cyclists all on the same road. Can not wait for the accident reports.