The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered what to do with all of the coolness that people write, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter and Facebook, this is a better forum for sending it on to y’all. Most times these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout at all these places for good stuff!
So with that, let’s get into the action!
DCRainmaker.com posts in the past week:
Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page of DCRainmaker.com this past week:
Kinda a quiet week. Putting together that VIRB 360 review took quite a bit of processing time (video is my slow spot).
Sports Tech Deals This Week:
We’re into the final push of solid May sales – with many wrapping up tomorrow (Monday). As I’ve noted in more detail on my sales landing page, May sales are very common. One of the best deals here is the Garmin FR735 for $315 (normally $450). It’s still receiving Connect IQ and feature updates and is just barely one year old. Great little lightweight tri/running watch.
Oh – and for some weird reason an entry in the table for ‘All Suunto gear is 25% off’ isn’t showing up. I’ve got some techies trying to figure it out, but FYI. Note that the only watch excluded is the Wrist HR model on that one. Many of the trainers listed below have sold out, but if you really want one of these I highly recommend checking frequently. I keep seeing inventory pop in for a few hours here and there, even as recently as a few hours ago for most models. So…FYI.
⚡ Both myself and my wife have been using these since last fall, after years of using the Beats Studio Buds...man, these things rock. Sure, they're good for sports, but frankly, I use them on planes, editing, and such more than anything else. In fact, I've been listening to them now for 8 hours as I type away on my flight across the ocean. Only briefly putting them in the case to top-up.
⚡The Fenix 8 is now down to $799 for the 42/47mm AMOLED editions, and from $899 for the Solar/MIP editions. This is the first big sale, outside of a short $70 discount back in January by Uncle Amazon.
This is the lowest price to date on this watch, bringing it down to a very strong $499. This unit includes maps and is more or less a plastic Fenix 7 Pro. The FR970 just came out this week, adding ECG functionality and a few other software features...but at $250 more!
This has become one of my favorite drones, given it's tiny size (fits in my running shorts pockets) and ease of use. While there's the new Pro drones, those are nearly 2x the price (and more for Pro-Max), and honestly, the video quality isn't really achieving that price point. Also note the checkbox to get yet an extra free battery (thus 3 batteries in total, based on the way it's currently coded in Amazon).
Pro Tip: This very first video I just published three minutes ago, based on popular request from all of you!
Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:
Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet.
1) Apple’s Needleless Blood Glucose Monitor’s Challenging Road Ahead: A good write-up of the challenges faced. Obviously I really hope Apple can crack this nut, but it’s a hard road. A really hard road, even more so than Apple Watch in so many ways – most notably FDA approval. That requires far more accuracy than Apple Watch comes anywhere near today with more simplistic HR measurements.
2) Concept 2 Adds Strava Support: If you’ve got a supported Concept2 rower, you can actually now sync your workouts to Strava. Nifty…and thanks to Richard for sending this in!
3) What it costs to bike sponsor a WorldTour Team: In case you have some spare cash lying around. On the bright side, smaller sponsorships are far far cheaper. For example, a company with a trainer might pay $100-125K for a major/well known team, or they might pay only $10-15K for a ‘lesser known’ team (talking WorldTour teams only here). And some power meter sponsors for major teams might pay nothing at all, but are selected for technical reasons too. While others are again up in the $50-$100K range. But my name isn’t Paolo.
4) DJI announces their new DJI Spark: This is definitely an interesting one. With the size of the body the same as a cell phone, it makes it even better for sports (taking cycling, hiking, xc-skiing, even trail running). I did a lot of that with my DJI Mavic before, which is still really small. But…umm…size matters…more? Either way, review coming sometime in June. Oh, and purchasing pro tip: Don’t order the white version if you plan to use in the snow…I’d argue red is easiest to find if SNAFU occurs.
9) GoPro open-sources their metadata video format: I missed this a few weeks ago, but stumbled on it today while looking for something totally unrelated. It’s good to see this spec out there now. Previously only certain partners got access to it. This should help more 3rd party companies start to use GoPro’s GPS and ancillary data streams within their Hero5 generated videos.
Sports Technology Software/Firmware Updates This Week:
Each week I quickly highlight some of the new firmware, app, software and website service updates that I see go out. If you’re a sports technology company and release an update – shoot me a quick note (just one-liners are perfect, or Tweet it at me is even better) and I’ll make mention of it here. If I don’t know about it, I won’t be able to post about it. Sound good? Oh – and if you want to get a head start on things, this page is a great resource for watching Garmin firmware updates.
“Don’t order the white version if you plan to use in the snow…I’d argue red is easiest to find if SNAFU occurs.”
Exactly my reasoning for ordering the red. Probably won’t help much if it plays submarine while I’m out kayaking. My biggest peave is DJI charges my credit card for the full amount even though I’ll be lucky to see the Spark sometime this summer. DJI & customer care are rarely put in the same sentence so I knew going in that how the game is played.
Yeah, I’m not sure how they manage to screw up the whole shipping/pre-order thing so badly each time. I’m interested to see if Spark will be better and/or if they learned any lessons from Mavic.
I fully understand they can’t solve the issue of 3rd party retailers promising unrealistic dates. Totally get that. But I feel like since DJI gave me a specific date when I ordered a product directly from them, they should be able to deliver upon that based on their projections. Those projections (like any proper project) should have padding and such built into them. We’ll see.
And as for support – I totally agree with you there. The DJI Care Refresh that I paid extra for seems questionable at best on speed. It took two weeks turnaround for a facility that was within a few hours driving time. Never mind that folks now are saying 4-8 weeks is the norm for a Care Refresh turnaround, which is nuts.
Of course, outside of those two items – they’re doing everything else right.
I’d be careful using the Spark while kayaking, not at all waterproof. They recommend against using it rain, fog or snow – and to avoid landing in puddles.
Yeah. It’s pretty good in rain (snow is more problematic because of signal blockage) in terms of electronics. Your phone is likely the weak point there.
It’s one of the few areas that Airdog has an advantage in that it’s fully waterproof (minus the camera you attach to it of course). The early beta unit I used had completed 2-3 landings in the ocean (salt water no less) without issue. For the record, those landings occurred pre-me.
Could also be worth mentioning polar’s release of the A370. Which seems to be the A360 with a software update and new colors. Really, really let down by Polar. They seem to be so far behind the competition at this point.
Same dimension, resolution, poor batterylife, and using the same bands as the a360, and about the same retail price as the a360 upon release.
Would be interesting to see if they actually did anything worth while “under the hood”, or simply re-priced the a360 with a slight software update.
Yeah, I’ve got one arriving any minute now…assuming UPS likes me. I’m doing a separate post on it – so I skipped it above.
The main thing is the new sleep algorithms (software), the 24×7 HR (software with potentially a battery update), and then the ‘connected GPS’, which means it’ll use your phone for GPS while outdoors.
Hi Paulo – I just linked to the generic Amazon page for the Spark, and then from there based on your country it’ll autodirect to the local Amazon country page. In your case in Portugal it looks like it believes it’s Amazon Spain.
As you have mentioned, you are not a car guy. You drive a Fiat 124 Abarth Spider and we hear no exhaust, we see no heel toe rev matching downshifts, no redline through the 6 gears, or maybe you ended up with an auto:(
My passion for running( closing in on 87,000 miles run) is followed closely by my passion for cars.
Stay healthy my friend. Nick
Though, I did post a secondary (non-360) video on YouTube which does include the exhaust. :)
I did indeed end up with an auto, which is mainly why I got the car. I had simply ordered a cheap auto, the cheapest they had. And they gave mine away on accident. Thus, this was all that was left.
As for red-lining, I generally try to avoid posting things that might get oneself in trouble. :)
I’m using the photo button within VIRB Edit to give me a 360 (but flat) shot from the video. The downside is that it looks funky, so I then trim and process in Lightroom.
But I still have to find the exact shot/frame that I need for my ‘story’. On the flip-side, at least on the bike I shot with 2xVIRB 30’s (front/back) running the whole time to capture stuff there. However one of them had an SD-card error oddly enough. Sigh.
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Any news on the lezyne bike computer firmware updates mentioned a few weeks ago?
Good reminder. Just shot program lead your comment. Will post back when I hear back (note that Monday is a holiday in the US).
Thanks!
And it appears that Concept2 is also supporting Training Peaks.
“Don’t order the white version if you plan to use in the snow…I’d argue red is easiest to find if SNAFU occurs.”
Exactly my reasoning for ordering the red. Probably won’t help much if it plays submarine while I’m out kayaking. My biggest peave is DJI charges my credit card for the full amount even though I’ll be lucky to see the Spark sometime this summer. DJI & customer care are rarely put in the same sentence so I knew going in that how the game is played.
Yeah, I’m not sure how they manage to screw up the whole shipping/pre-order thing so badly each time. I’m interested to see if Spark will be better and/or if they learned any lessons from Mavic.
I fully understand they can’t solve the issue of 3rd party retailers promising unrealistic dates. Totally get that. But I feel like since DJI gave me a specific date when I ordered a product directly from them, they should be able to deliver upon that based on their projections. Those projections (like any proper project) should have padding and such built into them. We’ll see.
And as for support – I totally agree with you there. The DJI Care Refresh that I paid extra for seems questionable at best on speed. It took two weeks turnaround for a facility that was within a few hours driving time. Never mind that folks now are saying 4-8 weeks is the norm for a Care Refresh turnaround, which is nuts.
Of course, outside of those two items – they’re doing everything else right.
I’d be careful using the Spark while kayaking, not at all waterproof. They recommend against using it rain, fog or snow – and to avoid landing in puddles.
Yeah. It’s pretty good in rain (snow is more problematic because of signal blockage) in terms of electronics. Your phone is likely the weak point there.
It’s one of the few areas that Airdog has an advantage in that it’s fully waterproof (minus the camera you attach to it of course). The early beta unit I used had completed 2-3 landings in the ocean (salt water no less) without issue. For the record, those landings occurred pre-me.
You forgot the Pioneer bike computer deal.
As to the concept2 news, there is also the connect IQ app to record from the rower: link to apps.garmin.com
Thanks – added in!
Could also be worth mentioning polar’s release of the A370. Which seems to be the A360 with a software update and new colors. Really, really let down by Polar. They seem to be so far behind the competition at this point.
Same dimension, resolution, poor batterylife, and using the same bands as the a360, and about the same retail price as the a360 upon release.
Would be interesting to see if they actually did anything worth while “under the hood”, or simply re-priced the a360 with a slight software update.
Yeah, I’ve got one arriving any minute now…assuming UPS likes me. I’m doing a separate post on it – so I skipped it above.
The main thing is the new sleep algorithms (software), the 24×7 HR (software with potentially a battery update), and then the ‘connected GPS’, which means it’ll use your phone for GPS while outdoors.
Hi Ray,
The link to the DJI announcement is for an Amanzon.es page.
link to amazon.es
Can you check it, please?
Thanks,
Paulo
Hi Paulo – I just linked to the generic Amazon page for the Spark, and then from there based on your country it’ll autodirect to the local Amazon country page. In your case in Portugal it looks like it believes it’s Amazon Spain.
If you’re looking for DJI’s home page, it’s here: http://www.dji.com
Enjoy!
Ok, but still no DJI Spark available in Amazon Spain. :-(
Already checked the DJI webpage. Thanks
As you have mentioned, you are not a car guy. You drive a Fiat 124 Abarth Spider and we hear no exhaust, we see no heel toe rev matching downshifts, no redline through the 6 gears, or maybe you ended up with an auto:(
My passion for running( closing in on 87,000 miles run) is followed closely by my passion for cars.
Stay healthy my friend. Nick
True.
Though, I did post a secondary (non-360) video on YouTube which does include the exhaust. :)
I did indeed end up with an auto, which is mainly why I got the car. I had simply ordered a cheap auto, the cheapest they had. And they gave mine away on accident. Thus, this was all that was left.
As for red-lining, I generally try to avoid posting things that might get oneself in trouble. :)
Any update on the progress of the Stryd review Ray?
Slowly but surely. On my work-list this week.
Awesome. Looking forward to it!
Someone might have already asked, but is there a race report coming from the race you did 1.5 weeks ago that we saw on Strava? :)
Tomorrow, sorry!
I used mostly the 360 cam for taking photos, which has taken a boatload more work to get pictures to a non-360 state. :-/
No worries, I just really like to read them and it’s been a while ;)
Be interested in what it took to do that.
I’m using the photo button within VIRB Edit to give me a 360 (but flat) shot from the video. The downside is that it looks funky, so I then trim and process in Lightroom.
But I still have to find the exact shot/frame that I need for my ‘story’. On the flip-side, at least on the bike I shot with 2xVIRB 30’s (front/back) running the whole time to capture stuff there. However one of them had an SD-card error oddly enough. Sigh.
Will you test the Polar A370 ?
Already am. :)