What started with Nike developing the Nike plus application and the kit for use with iPod in the year 2006 has been subsequently modified and developed by them to further accommodate the subsequent iPhone 3GS & GPS versions of the iPhone. Seeing the increase in demand for this application, Apple Inc decided to incorporate Nike plus application in the iPhone 3GS and its subsequent versions. However citing some technical limitations Apple informed that iPhone 3G would not be compatible with Nike plus.
This was followed by severe criticism of Apple Inc for having in a way deserted the iPhone 3G users. Apple said that this had happened because of difference in the hardware configurations of iPod nano and the iPhone 3G sets. This remark however failed to console the iPhone 3G users and they felt deprived of their rightful dues. What surprised many people was that if it could work with the much more outdated Nano, it was strange that advanced versions could not support it. There were some rumors doing the mill that adding a Bluetooth device to the iPhone 3G version would allow for use of Nike plus. However Nike categorically denied this rumor through subsequent clarifications.
This hullabaloo over Apple Inc disregard for iPhone 3G users subsequently died down, when people discovered that the workout data being calculated by Nike plus was fairly inaccurate even in the iPhone 3GS set. Other appliance makers with better expertise rose to the occasion to deliver more accurate appliance like run keeper. What was more interesting was that they could develop appliances compliant with iPhone 3G, when Apple Inc and Nike could not deliver for reasons known best to them. This saved the day for Apple Inc as people got better options to look for.
Over the next few months, the market was deluded with a wide number of alternatives to Nike plus. And the icing on the cake – all supported the iPhone 3G when only Apple forgot to support it.
If you are an athlete, a sports buff or a regular gym visitor chances are that you might be using or seeing some other sportsmen working out with a Nike Plus application which is linked to a iPod nano or a iPhone 3GS. Up to the iPod nano versions, you needed to plug in a sports band to your gadget. However post this third generation nano version, this function has been incorporated into the main gadget and thus if you are using say an iPhone 3GS, the Nike plus feature is built in the set. For a iPhone3GS you just need to purchase the Nike plus Sensor separately. This sensor is to be slipped into your Nike plus compatible shoe and you can straight away start measuring the vital statistics of your workout plan like speed, average pace, distance traversed, time, calories burnt ,elevation, latitude , longitude and other workout tracking capabilities. This data can also be loaded to the Nike plus website to monitor your progress. You can also compare your scores against that of other athletes on the website.