Just when we thought we could not make more things smarter, Xiaomi and Intel team up to prove us wrong yet again. The most unlikely of all manufacturers have come together to make smart shoes. It’s actually a pretty smart idea and unlike the smart-band or a fitness app, the shoes will track the fitness data of the user per step, giving a more precise approach towards information sharing with the user.
The 90 Minutes Ultra Smart Sportswear (that’s the actual name of the product) shoes will be powered by an Intel chip – the Curie chip, which can store all the information that is tracked by the shoes such as calories burnt, distance travelled and other similar data. The chip will also help find out whether the user is walking, climbing or running based on the movements that it detects.
The shoes will fit well into the Mi Band portfolio that Xiaomi has already used, to establish its fitness and sports tracking abilities. The shoes have a battery life of about 60 days and will cost around $44. For comfort, the shoes will feature air cushions, anti-skid textures on the base, an arched-sole design as well as antibacterial insoles. The shoes will be available in four different colour options, namely, black, blue and pink. There is also a special blue edition of the shoes available which will glow in the dark for those who prefer night runs. The shoes themselves look sporty enough and will probably pass for jogging and light sporting activities. They will be available through the Xiaomi store, but the availability will only be in China for now. Once they are ordered, shipping will take place on April 15.
Although the technology comes from Xiaomi and Intel but the shoes themselves have been designed by Shanghai Runmi Technology Co. Ltd. This isn’t the first time that Xiaomi has come with footwear, apparently, as they had previously tied up with Li-Ning to create sports shoes as well, according to a report by TechPP. The new shoes, according to Xiaomi have been created just for athletes, keeping in mind their needs from their footwear during training and games, in order to gauge their performance and also measure how fast they run, as well as the distance that they cover. So far, the company has not revealed if the shoes will be available outside of China.
It does however, makes us start to wonder, why Nike and Adidas haven’t jumped on the smartwear bandwagon until now.
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