Motorola is launching a new portable device called the Moto ACTV. It’s kind of a 21st century watch — presumably for people that haven’t already decided that their cellphone is a a 21st century watch.
The Moto ACTV is aimed at the fitness enthusiast crowd. It function as a portable music player, but it can also track your mileage as you run or ride a bike, and estimate how many calories you’ve burned.
The little device can be used with a wristwatch-band, armband, or other attachment. It has a 600 MHz processor and GPS and is powered by Google Android. It has a capacitive touchscreen display, FM Radio, and enough storage capacity for up to 4,000 songs.
Motorola will also offer Bluetooth headsets — including one with a built-in heart rate monitor. You can also track your stats on the web at a Moto ACTVÂ portal. Your information will be automatically uploaded over WiFi.
You can also synchronize the Moto ACTV with a Motorola smartphone so that you can see text messages and other notifications from your phone on the ACTV device.
While the Moto ACTV looks a lot like Apple’s iPod Nano, the fact that it’s designed from the ground up as a fitness device may help set it apart.
On the other hand, the iPod Nano starts at $129. Motorola’s little device will run $249 for an 8GB model and $299 for a 16GB model when it hits the streets in November.
via Engadget
i’m guessing the added cost is for the cell modem, and the cost bump/ip-ownership-money-trail related to it alone, and not just in this device, is more what people should be reacting to…?