Xiaomi launches smart shoes powered by Intel for fitness freak
Chinese smartphone maker, Xiaomi had first made its presence in the sports tracker scene with its popular Band. Now, Xiaomi in partnership with Intel has developed smart shoes that can keep track of your movement.
Known as Xiaomi’s ’90 Minutes Ultra Smart Sportswear’, it is powered by Intel’s Curie module under its Mi Ecosystem, which is also known as MiJia on its Mi Home crowd funding platform. The 90 Minutes Ultra Smart shoes by Xiaomi’s MiJia have apparently been designed by the Shanghai International Science & Technology institute in order to meet the needs of professional athletes.
The shoes are cushioned in multiple layers made to give maximum comfort for runners and provide long lasting durability. It has heel-piece air cushion, antibacterial removable insole, scattering heel-piece landing impact, and then turning into the spring-back energy.
The Intel Curie is a low-power module of the size of a button, which was built around the 32-bit Intel Quark SE System-on-Chip (SoC). It also comes with 384kB flash memory and 80kB SRAM, which is described by the manufacturer as the ideal module for always-on apps and fitness activities. It features an x86 host CPU, Pattern Matching Engine, and a sensor hub.
The module also comes packed with 6 axis combo sensors, accelerometer, gyroscope, and Bluetooth Low Energy, and a battery charging unit. It can sense movement and store data such as distance covered, speed, calories lost. It can also identify when the user is running, walking or climbing. The processor derives its power from a coin sized battery that should last up to 60 days before it needs a replacement.
The Xiaomi 90 Minutes Ultra Smart sport shoes is available in surf blue and black color for men, as well as black and pink for women. There’s also an additional blue special edition color option featuring reflective materials for higher visibility at night. The shoes can be pre-ordered from Mi Home’s China website for 299 Yuan and will start shipping from April 15, 2017. Currently, the shoes are only available in China.
