There’s nothing you can’t put Android on these days, it seems. I could go on and on about the various household products, wearables, vehicles and appliances you can find Android in, but I want. Pick something, and someone has probably tried to put Android on it. I do want to highlight this $2,000 exercise bike by Peloton, though — mainly because it has a freakin’ huge 21.5 Android tablet attached to it.
This actually isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this. If you remember our coverage from CES 2011, a company by the name of Touch Revolution was on hand with a concept exercise bike with an Android tablet on it, funnily enough the same size as the Peloton bike you see above. While that product didn’t feature a functional interface for feeding bodily vitals and workout information (remember, it was only a concept), the Peloton is promising to deliver that vision in a fully functional product.
The tablet portion of this unique pairing has full HD 1080p resolution, a 1.5GHz TI OMAP4470 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, WiFi N, Bluetooth 4.0, ANT+, a 1.3 megapixel camera, Android 4.1 and more. It also features a proprietary Peloton data connector that I assume is what will be used to feed all the information the bike is collecting to the screen.
More than just showing you how you’re doing on the set of fake wheels, though, the tablet can be used to entertain you, feed you on-demand Peloton courses, or even allow you to participate in live Peloton courses, including face-to-face interaction with fitness instructors depending on which Peloton plan you’re paying for. That front-facing camera could also be used to video chat with your friends to trash talk them as you try and beat their workout scores.
It doesn’t look like this tablet will be outfitted with much in the way of entertainment features such as YouTube or games, but that could change at some point down the line. The project’s Kickstarter is seeking at least $250,000, and with $119,000 secured with 28 more days to go it doesn’t seem like these guys will have much resistance in trying to bring this unique workout equipment to market.
The cheapest backer option to get a bike as of the time of this writing is $1,500, though that option is limited to just 250 people. Once that is all claimed, there is an early bird special price of $1,700. Those outside the US will have to pay a minimum of $2,000.
Going up to $2,200 will net you the Fully Loaded Peloton Bike package, which will include headphones, biking shoes, a heart rate monitor, hand weights, a t-shirt and a sweat mat. This option is only available for those within the United States.
Finally, a $10,000 pledge will get you the Peloton experience, which gives you the bike, all of the aforementioned accessories, and a trip for two to New York to either teach a Peloton class or take one in person. Get over to Kickstarter and see if you can’t claim one for yourself.
How much do we have to pledge for the girl?
I’ll never understand why manufacturers do this. Wouldn’t it be a million times more cost effective to just create a simple universal dock, and an app for all Android tablets?
Same goes for “gaming” tablets like the Wikipad — why?
Making a universal dock for tablets would mean less money to be made for the manufacturer. Of course they won’t make a universal dock. For the app, exclusivity of an app, especially if it’s a good app, is what would make something like this attractive…
When someone is looking at the row of bikes/treadmills in the sporting goods store, do you think the average person is going to look at the one that “has a spot for a book” or the one that has a big monitor built in?
That said, we gladly bought a treadmill without the fancy screen and used a TF101 to watch Netflix for a long time before finally just bolting a 24″ TV to the wall in front of it.
Dan
first of all, this is a 21.5 tablet. Most tablets are just too small for treadmills.
I can duct tape my current tablet to my current exercise bike and get the same effect. Anyone want to fund me making an equivalent app? :)
MMMMM
Sweaty Women
Some things I will never understand.