However, if you’re way better than I was (and most of you probably are) and shoot hoops by yourself regularly, then you might want to get one of these SKLZ Shoot-Arounds. They’re basically chutes that fit standard hoop rims that guide the ball back towards your direction after you make your shots. The cool thing is that you don’t have to keep running back and forth to retrieve the ball so you can work on improving a single shot at a time.

The entire set includes the four-piece Shoot-Around ball return chute, attachment nuts and bolts, and rotating insert ring with four rim straps and hooks. If you’re interested, you can purchase one online from Amazon for about $39(USD).

[via The Green Head]

The club is undergoing the unusual head-shaving to promote UK online betting site Betfair. The team is an underdog in their upcoming match, so every little bit of attention helps, I suppose.

I’m a bit at a loss how people will be able to scan these photos though, unless they have telephoto lenses on their smartphones. No matter what the original purpose was, it’s certainly an unusual place to find QR codes. At least these ones are temporary, unlike those QR code tattoos.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[Dailymail via Ubergizmo]

This unique “heads-up” display offers color-coded LEDs help you keep track of your heart rate and pace without looking down at a watch or other electronic gadget. The gadget clips onto pretty much any pair of sunglasses, and tucks in neatly along the arm between your ear and lens. Sportiiiis communicates wirelessly with ANT+ compatible devices such as a wrist-worn heart-rate monitor or bike cadence sensor, and provides quick visual feedback, and alert you when you drift outside of your targets.

For instance, a green light in the middle indicates you’re right at the perfect heart rate, while amber or red LEDs to the edges tell you if you’re too high or too low from your ideal heart rate or running pace. Special software for Mac, PC or smartphones will allow you to set up workout profiles for your Sportiiiis to monitor. A small tap on the side of the device will also provide an audible heart-rate cue, and double-tapping lets you flip between multiple paired sensors.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sportiiiis should be available some time later in November, and will retail for $199 (USD). Sunglasses and remote sensors not included, though.

[via Gizmag via Crave]

The watch is water-resistant to 50 meters. It records swim metrics including swim distance, stroke identification, stroke count, and pool length. The watch is low profile so you can get a wetsuit on and off easily while wearing it. The watch can also be fitted with a mount for bike handlebars and has a battery inside good for 20 hours of use.

A Virtual Racer feature lets the user race against a previous time. Garmin also includes support for wireless ANT+ sensors and a lot more. The Forerunner 910XT will be released sometime this quarter, and will sell for $399.99. You can pre-order it over at Garmin’s website now.

Kianoosh used Automator – the macro/workflow program in OS X – to pull match and score data from NBA’s mobile website. Kianoosh says this is important because the desktop version of NBA’s site uses Flash to display scores. Here’s the scoreboard in action back on April 13, when there were still scores to display:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The great thing about this project is that, in Kianoosh’s words, “it doesn’t care about the information.” You can use it to track scores from other basketball leagues or even other sports as long as you make the necessary tweaks on the software. Which I know nothing about. Fortunately you can check out KianTech for the detailed instructions as well as the parts list.

[via Hack A Day]

I guess the tennis-playing version of those annoying horns are the grunts and groans of the players as they bash that little ball around. If you like to watch Wimbledon, but you don’t like to listen to the grunts over the top of the commentary, an experimental video player has landed just for you that will only work while the Wimbledon tournament is going.

The NetMix player is cool because it has a slider that will let you choose how much of the court sounds and grunting you hear and how much of the commentary you hear. Unfortunately, the  app will only stream the big matches from Center Court at the stadium, but at least it works for both Windows and Mac users.

For any action sport, you need a camcorder that’s up to the task. It needs to be small and very strong. An action sports camcorder needs a bunch of different mounting options too. I usually use a GoPro camera for my racing stuff, but this new Replay XD1080 camcorder looks pretty appealing. The little camera looks more like a flashlight than a camcorder and it is waterproof and impact resistant.

The camera records in 1080p HD resolution and offers other resolutions too. It can record at 30 fps in 1080p or up to 60 fps in 720p resolution. The camera has a 135-degree field of view that doesn’t cause distortion and can even shoot still shots in a time-lapse mode with shots every 3, 5, 15, or 30 seconds.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The camera has an HDMI output, supports live streaming, and it has an integrated mic. The price of the new camera is unknown, but the original ReplayXD sold for about $190. Replay will start taking pre-orders for the XD1080 on June 10th here.

The new cards come from a company called Panini America and will be offered with four different basketball player cards to start. Apparently, the cards will be stuffed into random packs of five cards that sell for $20 per package, and the cards will be limited inserts into the retail packages. The cards have a small LCD screen on them and are still made of cardboard.

That screen is able to show about 20 minutes of video content to the user and it has 2GB of storage. The user can upload more audio or video content to the card as well via USB adapter that is included.

[via LA Times]

The Contour+ sells for $499.99 (USD) and comes with the camera, 2GB SD card, USB, HDMI cable and three different mounts for securing the camera to stuff. The camera supports full 1080p resolution video at 30fps, and 720p at up to 60fps. It also has a super wide-angle lens that can be easy adjusted by turning a ring around the end of the lens up to 170-degrees.

The camera also streams video to Bluetooth devices with an app available for the iPhone and Android smartphones. That will let you see what you are recording while you are out and about without having to wait until you get home and just hope you got the shot. The camera also has a GPS receiver to track your speed and elevation and record that data as you go.

Using the GPS inside of the Nokia N8 smartphone, along with additional sensors on the snowboarder’s body and board, PushSnowboarding is able to report on critical stats like speed, airtime and altitude and send them back to the N8 for later review. The sensor kit can actually measure heart rate, orientation, pressure, and even the “rush” the rider senses.

The kit uses a variety of sensors connected to Arduino processors, each of which transmit data back to the phone via Bluetooth.

Most of the sensors measure real physical statistics, the “rush” sensor simply measures galvanic skin response – which is often used in so-called “lie detectors”, so it could just be telling us the snowboarder is about to tell a terrible lie too. Snake oil science aside, the whole getup is still pretty cool.

This week, the team has headed out to the Burton Snowboard US Open to show off the system in action, and to capture a bunch of new rider data. For now, we’ve got footage from their last outing, back at the European event back in January so you can see how it works:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

What’s really cool about the Push Snowboarding project is that it’s an open platform, so you can actually go up on their site and grab the code, schematics and even sampled rider data to play with.

The Clear29 LT Longboard is a clear polycarbonate skateboard, accented with bright LED lights attached to its undercarriage. Because of the placement of the lights on the underside, it provides the illusion that the skate deck is literally floating above the ground – especially when viewed from the side.

The lighting is powered by a simple 9-volt battery, but they don’t mention how long the run-time should be. But since they’re power-thrifty LEDs, I’m betting you can get in a nice long ride. In addition to the LED illumination, these 29″ x 8.5″ longboards include translucent wheels with ABEC5 racing bearings, held on by 9″ Gullwing Mission trucks for a smooth ride.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

They’re available in five colors: blue, red, green, amber and white LED versions. I think they should offer a version where you can change colors yourself – or even do some sort of disco chase light sequence. But for now, you’ll have to settle for single colors. You can get your hands on the Clear29 LED skateboard over at Gadgets and Gear for $199.95 (USD).

During the NFL Scouting Combine this weekend, some players were wearing high-tech shirts from Under Armour that have sensors that are around the chest height. The sensors inside the clothing were used to measure the players’ respiratory system, heart rate and G-forces as they ran and performed other tasks.

According to the NFL, the sensor-laden shirts will help trainers to get players into peak form. The G-force sensors for instance will let the trainer and coach know that the player can’t cut as well from one side as the other so they can work on the off side to improve performance. Eventually, the sensor-laden shirts will find their way to the consumer and other sports.

[via NFL]

The GPS device is called the upro MX and will ship this May for $199. The pocket-size gadget has a 2.2-inch LCD screen and weighs just three ounces. There will be no annual fees to use the GPS device, and it comes out of the box ready to go with 25,000 courses in its database.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The device can be upgraded to support high-resolution aerial photos of the courses too. That upgrade to support the aerial photos costs money, but Callaway isn’t clear on what the up-charge will be for the service. You can pre-order the upro MX here.

If you happen to own a Skizee (Really? That’s the best name they could come up with?) then you’d be excited to see an open field with a nice layer of snow on it. You see, this device uses a 10.5hp 4-stroke engine to propel you along a snow-covered surface.

It might not provide the same dangerous thrill as you’ll get on the slopes, but it could be a good bit of fun. Now is it worth the $2,500 asking price? Doubtful.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Dvice]

The goggles look like the average goggles that a person on a dirt bike or ATV would wear to protect their eyes with the notable exception of the camcorder between the eyes. That camcorder has a 136-degree field of view so it sees all the rider sees. It camera records at 1080p resolution 30fps video glory.

If you want slow motion playback you can get 720p resolution with 60fps. The camcorder can also shoot 12MP still shots and the content is stored to a microSD card. The goggles ship with a 4GB card and support up to 32GB cards. Pricing and availability are unannounced at this time, but if you’re interested, you can contact the Liquid Image sales department at sales(at)liquidimageco.com.

The new Nike+ SportWatch GPS is new and improved in a whole new way. By pairing up with TomToms GPS services, you can rely on your watch for more than just checking the time. The GPS will function with other Nike shoe sensors to improve the data tracking during your run. The face of the watch is touch screen; with the first touch you can activate the backlight, then mark laps during your run. The backlight LED is adjustable so you aren’t sucking up crazy amount of energy by trying to look at it multiple times in the midst of a run.

A USB port has been molded into the watchstrap, and will not only upload your run data, but charge your battery as well. Your watch will also give you an automatic reminder when you have not logged in five days prior. To top it all off, you can go to Nikeplus.com to see your running data, which will include the GPS information, let you set goals, challenge friends and more. If this doesn’t help kick start a good running schedule, I don’t know what will.

The thing is from Hammacher Schlemmer and is called the Year Round Sled. It has trays that you use to make sheets of ice. After the ice is done, you connect the sheets to the bottom of the sled and off you go, no matter the weather.

If you happen to get a snowstorm in the winter, you can take off the ice forms and sled for real. The thing measures in at 38″ L x 20.5″ W x 6″ H and weighs 10.5 pounds. It will hold riders up to 200 pounds and sells for $89.95 (USD).

As you will notice, the reports are results-oriented and focused mainly on – surprise – stats, so don’t expect jokes or rants here. Not that those things matter to the target market of the StatSheet Network, but that should still give some comfort to fleshy sports bloggers. After all, that’s the main advantage of blogs over standard news outlets – the informal chit chat. I am curious though if these algorithms could work for other topics, like, I don’t know, gadgets, or video games.

[via TechCrunch via Slashdot]

EARL, the Enhanced Automated Robotic Launcher is, according to this video clip, “the single greatest piece of bowling technology known to man.” Hmmm. I thought the ball was the single greatest, followed closely by the pin.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you can see, EARL takes on PGA bowler Chris Barnes, and manages to hold his own for the most part. However, EARL’s perfection is ultimately its Achilles’ heel. Since humans can make tiny corrections to make sure they’re not wearing down the same spot in the alley over and over again, Barnes manages to beat EARL by a score of 259 to 209. Still, that’s about double a “really good” game for me.

My favorite part of the video is where Barnes says (referring to EARL,) “the capabilities are fairly limitless.” Really? What else can this bowling ball-throwing robot do? Cure cancer? Turn around the economy? Eh, at least it can get a Turkey. That’s way more than I can pull off.

[via Adafruit Blog]

Apparently with the desire to see the same carnage but on a much grander scale, Samsung decided to celebrate the launch of the Reality handset on the Verizon network by setting a Guinness World Record for the largest dodgeball game ever played. The game had 712 players and used 600 dodgeballs. No one can say Samsung doesn’t have balls now. Check out the video below for the fun:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The game was played in NYC at the 69th Regiment Armory. The blue team won the game and the balls were donated to local youth organizations. I’m not sure what dodgeball has to do with the Samsung handset, but whatever.