MP3 sneaker: sounds practical to me

[brinkeguthrie]

from darren rovell:

The ultimate shoe?posted: Friday, February 17, 2006 | Feedback

It's NBA All-Star Weekend, and we all know what that means: nonstop scoring, celebrities and the unveiling of some pretty cool shoes. One shoe you will see on the feet of Tim Duncan is the $250 Adidas_1, the shoe with the microprocessor in it that enables a custom adjustment to the level of cushioning in your shoes. One shoe you won't see, but sneakerheads might be buzzing about, is the "Code M" by Dada.

Dada isn't a huge force in the shoe industry, but I have to hand it to them for going up against the big giants with bold new products that the Goliaths haven't thought of. They don't have hundreds of people working on innovation. But a couple years ago, I was impressed when they rolled out the Spinners, mini silver rims on basketball shoes that spun when you stepped down. It wasn't a huge seller, but it was something I had never seen.

Well, this idea is going to blow people away: The Code M has an MP3 embedded in the tongue of the shoe. You can download up to 100 songs into the shoe through a USB port. That port also serves to recharge the battery, which has a six-hour life.

"I noticed that people would come to the gym with all these other appliances like Sidekicks and iPods, and I realized that the athletic shoe manufacturers were losing out to the brands that fashioned the trends," Dada chief executive Lavetta Willis said. "This will simplify a lot of people's lives."

So how do you listen to the music? You can either use a wireless headset, which Willis said works from as far as 30 feet away from the shoes, or you can listen through the shoe's speakers.

Code M shoes are expected to be sold in traditional outlets for $199.99 in the coming months, but Willis said there is also interest from electronics retailers.

[NJTank]

lol what will they think of next

Last year Manny Ramierez had MP3 sunglasses and used them in the OF.