NIKE has announced the NIKE+ FuelBand, a wristband that tracks and measures everyday movement "to motivate and inspire people to be more active." Activities can now be measured through a new metric called NikeFuel: the more active you are, the more NikeFuel you earn.

"The NIKE+ FuelBand is a way for Nike to further evolve the exciting possibilities of merging the physical and digital worlds," says NIKE President and CEO Mark Parker. "Nike has always been about inspiring athletes, and the NIKE+ FuelBand will help motivate them in a simple, fun and intuitive way."

Designed to be worn throughout the day, the ergonomic NIKE+ FuelBand uses accelerometry to provide information about different activities through movement of the wrist via a LED dot matrix display. Four metrics are available: Time, Calories, Steps and NikeFuel. Unlike calorie counts, which vary based on someone’s gender and body type, NikeFuel is a normalized score that awards equal points for the same activity regardless of physical makeup.

Users set a daily goal of how active they want to be, and how much NikeFuel they want to achieve. The NIKE+ FuelBand displays a series of 20 LED lights that go from red-to-green as the user gets closer to their goal. The FuelBand syncs with the Nike+ website through a built-in USB, or wirelessly through Bluetooth to a free iPhone app, to record activity and track progress every day. The app interface also provides encouragement and motivation as goals are achieved.

The Nike+ Fuelband is available for preorder in the US at Nikestore.com for a suggested retail price of US$149 (US). To use Nike+ FuelBand, the following is needed:

° A Mac or PC with built-in USB (on the Mac you'll need Mac OS X 10.4 or higher;

° Internet access (broadband is recommended);

° An optional mobile app available in the iTunes App store; for updates on compatible mobile devices, visit Nikeplus.com.