Name: SEGA TOYS Karada Trainer
Category: health-related electronics
Price: JPY5775
Release date in Japan: May 24, 2008

If your 'get fit' New Year's resolution got sidelined to 'get fit when spring rolls around,' now's the time to get moving with the Karada (Body) Trainer. It's a 45-gram headset that pings you with reminders to keep up the pace - or in the maker's words, a 'walking and jogging navi' that will 'support your aerobic exercise' with the result of a 20% boost in the effectiveness of your workout.

After you've primed the simple controls with your age, weight, and desired intensity of workout, you place the earphone cup over your right ear and clip a pulse monitor onto the left earlobe. Measure your pulse and commence movement. Karada Trainer pumps pace-setting electronic music into the earphone and keeps an eye on your pulse rate. Move out of the pulse rate target zone, and the device picks up or slows down the rhythm to keep you in the zone. Vocal cues too tell you when you're over- or under-doing things, reminding you to pay attention to the rhythm. Toward the end of the workout you'll get a memo to start cooling down, and when the clock runs out, a warm 'Good job.'

That's all in one of the three operation modes. A second mode simply acts as a timer for unpaced workouts, and a third just plays audio from the separate audio player you've brought along. But the Karada Trainer has only one speaker 'for safety reasons,' so forget that last mode; when you tire of your Muzak-playing virtual coach and want real tunes, put away the Trainer and use your iPod's own (unsafe) stereo 'phones.

Yes, it's all similar to the Nike + iPod training aid gear, but simpler - no recording or analysis of run data, no fancy integration with music playlists, no calorie-burn estimates, and so on. But the Nike/Apple kit requires special shoes, and doesn't keep tabs on your ticker.

The Karada Trainer runs on a single AAA battery and connects to audio players via a stereo miniplug (sold separately). Recommended user age is an oddly precise 16-79 years old.

Okay, all ready to jog? Wait - you get an extra month's reprieve from exercise. SEGA originally planned to release Karada Trainer on April 26, but announced at the end of March that massive pre-orders have forced it to delay launch to May 24.

More info: http://www.segatoys.co.jp/karadatrainer/index.html (Japanese)

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