Nordic chip enables Bluetooth bike speed and cadence monitor

The Wahoo Blue SC, launched by Wahoo Fitness, has a lifetime mileage tracking feature and is compatible with the iPhone 4S and third generation iPads which support Bluetooth v4.0 wireless technology. The device uses a sensor mounted on a bike's rear frame between the pedal and rear wheel. A crank magnet tracks cadence and a rear wheel spoke magnet tracks speed and distance when they each pass the sensor. Nordic's nRF8001 chip also enables the bike sensor to run for up to 18 months from a regular 3V CR2032 coin cell battery under typical usage conditions of three bike rides a week. Wahoo is making its iOS application programming interface (API) available to all interested app developers and says it plans to develop similar APIs for other operating systems and product platforms. Mike Stashak, vice president of sales and marketing at Wahoo Fitness, commented: "By making our API open to all interested app developers, we confidently expect to see a wave of Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth smart sports and fitness sensors and apps for the iOS to start arriving over the coming months. And we intend to extend our API to other smartphone and tablet operating systems and platforms in the future."