 Kickstarter has spawned some pretty amazing projects, from art and dance to technology and games. With some of the most popular being in the technology field, gaining well over and above the necessary funding for the idea.
The Leikr Team, based in Copenhagen Denmark, decided to try their hand at a Kickstarter venture. They had an idea for a 2" color touchscreen GPS watch, that would display road or trail maps. While this sounds simple enough, this group of engineers (who once worked at Nokia) added in Wi-Fi, ANT+ and Bluetooth, along with a Gorilla Glass front. The crowning glory is 8GB of internal memory, to hold OpenStreetMap data.
Athletes are the target audience for this stylish, yet functional watch, for a couple of reasons. First, the battery power, which may improve with additional testing, is clocked at 6 hours. This is an acceptable amount of time for most training applications, but would not compare to the other fitness GPS watches in the market. We would not recommend the Leikr for extended periods away from a power source, such as on backpacking and camping trips.
Another key feature for athletics is the customizable, tiled information screen, which will show up to 6 sections of data at any given time. Pace, distance, speed, heart rate, cadence and calorie counts are just some of the choices that can be show on screen, to optimize the workout.
The Leikr watch will be the optimal sports companion when the final version is released. Offering an IPX-8 waterproof rating (higher than many current sport watches) while maintaining a manageable weight of only 55g (1.9oz). The built-in GPS receiver has an incredibly fast fix level, acquiring satellite signals in just 30 seconds.
Download targeted workout regiments for any fitness level and share data for analysis or comparison using Endomondo, one of the most recognized online athletic communities worldwide. |
