JupiterResearch: Motionlingo: Is a GPS System Required for Outdoor Sports?

Andrea Wood at JupiterResearch takes a look at the Adeo motionlingo – "a GPS device that plugs into a portable media player to provide audio queues and updates while exercising." Wood is pretty positive with her experience and provides her pluses and minuses on the device. She concludes with:

The motionlingo sells for $149 US, and is a pretty cool device for those active folks who don’t want to check a wrist-worn device to analyze performance. So while I may not need GPS when I’m outdoors, it’s a novelty that can enhance the sporting experience.

I had a chance to review the Adeo motionlingo and I wasn't too impressed. The unit I recieved didn't work properly and the software (both on the PC and online) was rudimentary and seemed like an early beta. When I expressed my concerns to the company that I would have to ding the product in several areas if I were to review it, they said an exec would contact me. However they never did and I decided to shelve the review instead of panning the product.

The device seems promising, but for $149 there are a lot better uses for the money. You can get a Garmin Forerunner for a little bit more or use Bones in Motion's BiM Active service, which turns certain GPS-enabled Sprint Nextel handsets into a personal activity monitoring device for $9.99 a month. The other option for Apple (AAPL) iPod nano owners is to purchase the $29 Nike+iPod device. It's not GPS but you can't beat the price (if you have a nano already)....