If you’re using an Android or iPhone sports tracking app with voice cues, then you know the built in text to speech (TTS) engine sounds a bit dull and robotic. Enter SVOX Classic Text To Speech (TTS) Engine, available in the Android Market and App Store. SVOX’s HQ voices are an enormous improvement over the stock TTS engines and are served up in 25 languages, some with more than one to choose from. Once installed and set up properly with your particular voice of choice, any application which uses TTS (sports tracking, navigation, ebook reader, etc.) will suddenly sound better, almost to the point of natural.

I’m using SportsTrackLive’s SportsTracker Pro for my daily running and no other Android sport-tracking app has as many convenient audio cue options. However, the more I rely upon current stats being fed to my head through earbuds, the more weary I grow of the characterless, female voice of Android. The standard voice isn’t all that bad, but it’s just boring enough so that you consider limiting it’s use over time. Until I discovered what SVOX had to offer, I didn’t realize I had the option to change my Android’s voice so easily. There’s no hacking involved at all.

Begin by installing the SVOX Classic app (free), open it and check out the voice samples before you download them. Once you chosen your narrator’s voice, proceed into Settings>Voice input & output>Text-to-speech settings, scroll down and tick Svox Classic TTS’s box. Then tweak your Svox settings and scroll back up to Default Engine and tick Svox Classic TTS. Eh, though I’d like one, I don’t have an iPhone so no instructions here. It should be equally as simple as Android’s setup is.

I’ve chosen a couple voice cues from SportsTracker Pro and recorded the outputs using stock Android and SVOX Classic TTS engines. Both samples use a UK female voice. (All SVOX voices cost between $2 and $3.)

If you run into any installation problems, leave a comment and I’ll try to help. Have fun!

Pico TTS sample SVOX Classic TTS sample

QR for Svox at AppBrain.com

This post will continue to receive updates as the Android ecosystem changes often. Please read my review of Zephyr’s HxM Bluetooth heart rate monitor.

Features to look for in a sports tracker

1. Easy access to data during your workouts. Pace, distance, time and heart rate should be easy to read on a single screen.
2. Map access during outdoor workouts. Preferably, maps should cache to SDcard to save on data costs. The latest Google Maps affords limited caching now, which most sports tracker apps use. A couple others incorporate offline maps from a variety of map sources.
3. Wireless sensor compatibility for data such as heart rate, breath rate, temperature, blood pressure and so on. The only wireless standard presently compatible with available Android handsets is Bluetooth. You’ll need to be running Android 2.1 and higher, as well. The field of available Bluetooth sensors is small, but it’s packed with quality. Zephyr Technology’s HxM and BioHarness heart rate monitors offer the best features and have SDKs allowing developers quick integration with any app. Polar makes a reliable WearLink+ Bluetooth sensor for an alternative option.
4. Data should be importable and exportable. Standardized .gpx, .kml and .kmz file types can be used with a variety of 3rd-party services and software, allowing you to analyze your workouts with greater detail as well as keeping all those hard-earned workouts together on your hard drives.
5. Direct uploading to a web portal companion which allows you to dig into the data and analyze your workouts how you see fit. Using a variety of metrics, workouts should be organized in a log, preferably in a calendar for ease of access.
6. Options for mobile data usage. You should be able to run the app and record your sessions in Android’s “Airplane mode”. Mobile data is needed to acquire uncached map tiles, to use A-GPS and to synchronize your workouts with the web portals. Sometimes a mobile connection isn’t possible or expensive with roaming. A-GPS brings quicker GPS fixes but is not necessary.
7. Configurability. From how often waypoints are recorded, to satellite sensitivity, to user details and lap statistics. The best fitness apps have precise methods of calculating energy spent using min/max heart rate by way of extra configurability options.
8. Voice feedback. Plenty of options here makes for a winning concept. Properly configured, you might not have to touch or even view your mobile between start and finish. You should be able to choose the data you want to hear and how often it’s announced, allowing your eyes to remain focused on the trail.

(note: When looking for a sports tracker, remember that GPS accuracy has little, if nothing, to do with the app itself, especially long established apps like these below.)

Tracker apps supporting wireless health sensor(s)

1. SportsTracker Pro www.sportstracklive.com This excellent app has been my favorite for nearly a year. Highly configurable with superior quality options and graphics. Currently the only app to support Zephyr’s BioHarness, supporting also Zephyr’s HxM and Polar’s WearLink+ heart rate monitors. A very active development team provides excellent customer support. The Pro version is $10 and is needed for wireless sensors and social networking features, to name a few. Should appeal to most athletes, especially those wanting a lot of configurable functionality. I love the “Big” screen option and all the voice cues Sports Tracker has.
2. Endomondo www.endomondo.com Lots of good features in a great looking, minimalistic app. Missing some important configurability more serious athletes want (limited voice cues, only basic caloric calculators), but sports some fun and innovative options others don’t have (Pep-Talk allows a friend to send a voice message to cheer that you hear during the run). Very active development team but they do take their time rolling out promised features. Free and paid versions. You should choose Endomondo if you want out-of-the-box readiness and don’t want to be bothered with advanced options.
3. Run.GPS www.rungps.net No other sports app has as many tools or been in development longer. The most configurable and missing nothing, you’ll want to read the user’s manual and stock up on patience before starting the 14-day trial. One you have it set up though, Run.GPS offers the most technically well-rounded sports apps, albeit in a somewhat outdated UI. Offline maps and detailed training reports are highlights here. Should appeal to more advanced athletes for serious training. Different price points from free to over $50.
4. SportyPal www.sportypal.com Like most other sports trackers on this list with origins pre-dating the first Android phones, SportyPal has been around for a long time and has always been a good app choice. Today’s versions offer up basic but solid functionality, modern and thoughtful interfaces and at least one exclusive feature via a plug-in for Sony Ericsson’s LiveView watch. Though I can’t seem to find the LiveView function worthwhile in the least. Free and Paid versions. Should appeal to those who want an app to “just work”. SportyPal Pro brings Zephyr HxM compatibility.
5. RunKeeper runkeeper.com RunKeeper is popular, very popular. Easy to use, good looking interface, lots of different services to subscribe to, available on iPhone and Android, RunKeeper has an evangelical following and probably the best marketing department. So how’s the app? Good, but point-for-point it just falls short on the features I find most attractive and depend upon everyday. Free and paid versions with an expanding range of paid services and subscriptions.
6. MyTracks REMOVED FROM RECOMMENDATION* http://mytracks.appspot.com/ MyTracks is a Google project and is produced by devs in their “Spare time”; 20% of the dev’s time is allocated. Of all the apps offering wireless sensor compatibility, MyTracks might be the most disappointing to me. In fact, besides unofficially supporting Bluetooth heart rate sensors in the HxM and WearLink+, MyTracks might have lost more features than it gained over the past year. Over the same time, MyTracks projects and promised features had me very excited. For example, MyTracks Tour de France project incorporated ANT+ wireless protocols, never seen in Android, to stream data from all sorts of wireless sensors. To date, the devs are still talking about what’s coming. So how’s the app? Raw but good. You’ll see data that many sports trackers don’t include, in a basic interface that brings out the Android geek in you. It’s unfinished, but I include it because it’s worth trying and keeping an eye on. Free.(UPDATE: I cannot recommend using MyTracks for the following reasons; 1) The app does not yet support wireless sensors 2) As of Feb 01, 2011 we lost the ability to upload map data. I understand how tough app development can be but this team has fallen way behind the competition.)
7. CardioTrainer www.worksmartlabs.com Definitely one of the most popular Android apps, CardioTrainer just added heart rate monitor support in February 2011. I’ve yet to try it out with my hrm, but I’ve tested it out a few times in the past. CardioTrainer appears to have RunKeeper’s business model of providing an app or service for every possible fitness and diet need.
8. Athlosoft www.athlosoft.com I have to apologize for having forgotten about this pioneer of mobile sports tracking. I remember Athlosoft and Run.GPS both with mobile sports tracking solutions in 2006 and 2007 and very nearly gave me the best reason to buy a Windows Mobile phone, the only mobile platform Athlosoft works with. Even if you wont consider a WinMo phone, check out their website for a look at probably the most complete solutions for any athlete training with a mobile.
9. LegLogger www.leglogger.com New sports tracking app with Zephyr HxM support. Will report back on this one soon.

Gallery

Other health and fitness apps

OnTri www.ontri.com

Heart Rate Monitor androidheartmonitor.com For use with Zephyr’s HxM, it does exactly what you think.

Wireless sensors (Bluetooth)

1. Zephyr Technology’s HxM and BioHarness The HxM is the best heart rate monitor for most Android owners offering reliable, medical-grade sensors, rechargeable batteries and adds cadence data. The BioHarness is the most sophisticated wireless bio sensor available anywhere, for any mobile platform. Prices are $99 and $710.
2. Polar WearLink+ An excellent heart rate sensor but it lacks rechargeable batteries and a cadence sensor. I used my WearLink+ for over a year before switching to Zephyr’s HxM last year. It performs flawlessly but you will go through a lot of coin-cells, which are difficult to switch out. Price starts at $95.
3. Frwd B Series Heart Rate Monitors for Mobiles (discontinued distribution outside of FINLAND) www.frwd.fi
4. Kyto Electronics Heart Rate Monitors (Bluetooth) www.kytocn.com model HRM-2805

Oh, the iPhone. In the year leading up to Apple’s iPhone launch, all those who knew me as “that Nokia dude” asked me if I was going to get one and what my thoughts on it were. Made sense, I’ve also remained a Mac user over the years. Well, armed with knowledge from a vast community of ardent Nokia/Symbian loyalists, I knew better. My answer always politely leaned, “The iPhone is a cute effort but I’ll stick with Nokia, thank you”. Why? Simple: Nokia is the largest, most innovative, most user-friendly… A company with a reputation for these and a lot more points was surely baking an answer to the iPhone that no loyal customer would want to miss out on. Nearly four years later it’s clear that I was wrong. For all the Nokia/Symbian fanboys that taught me to laugh at the competition, sorry, the joke was on us. The iPhone, love it or hate it, changed everything and Nokia is now choking on a contrail of silicon dust that’s not just coming from Apple’s charge forward. Nokia are still good, they just aren’t doing anything market-leading to earn my business. Time to try the competition!

So last month I broke form, went against my sensibilities and decided to buy a mobile not made by Nokia. I bought an HTC Desire. Before it was delivered, regret was everything I feared. Touch-only UI, “new” OS, buggy apps, poor multi-tasking, less-than-Nokia quality… I was leaving free(not) Ovi Maps and my beloved Nokia Sports Tracker for Frozen Yogurt with little green robots from Google. What was I thinking?

My HTC Desire arrived and within 15 minutes I felt like I was using a device I might have dreamed about as a little kid lost in sci-fi novelette fantasy. From purely my user experience, this mobile corrects and exceeds every standard Nokia had set for me. A month of use later and exploring the Android community, I have to say I’m thoroughly thrilled with my Desire. In fact, the only thing negative my new mobile has brought about is my attitude toward Nokia and it’s die-hard community of “Stick with us, a fix is on the way!” loyalists. I realized yet another lesson in life: Brand-loyalty makes fools of us. Save your loyalty for family, friends and… perhaps football:-) Am I an Android fanboy now? For now, yes. Google has taken what Apple revitalized and made it friggin’ exciting!

Why am I writing this post in a blog about running? My mobile is a part of my training and I use it to track my performance and health. Required tools to do these things are not only offered in the Android Market, but in a competitive one with many capable applications and accessories. With what I’m after, Nokia/Symbian really offered just Sports Tracker and Endomondo. You may perhaps debate Google’s part in a closed-versus-open argument when it comes to OS development, apps and tools. With what I’m after, Android gives me access to all the things I want, NOW, without a wait; Something Nokia/Symbian simply cannot do at present.

Nevertheless, my only wish in making this switch to Android is that I could have Sports Tracker along for the ride. I was really hoping to see their talents in the Android Market, nearly a year since leaving Nokia. An Android Sports Tracker presence would be all-benefiting.

My next few posts will highlight my Android running companion in all of its parts. Reviews of the latest sports software and services to available heart-rate hardware. Sport-friendly accessories will get coverage too, such as headphones and comfy arm-pouches.

If you’re in the market for a new mobile, I hope you get the chance to try before you buy. HTC, and Android, are doing some incredible stuff right now.

I received a surprise phone call two days ago from Jussi Kaasinen, one of the two-person core team of developers responsible for bringing the Nokia Sports Tracker Beta project to us since March of 2007. Together with the other half of that team, Ykä Huhtala, they founded their own company named Sports Tracking Technologies back in June of this year. Jussi told me that his call was partly in response to my earlier post and partly just to touch base with a long-standing user of the service.

Jussi wanted me to let everyone know that the Sports Tracking Technologies (STT) incarnation is very much alive and kicking, and that they have appreciated the huge volumes of suggestions and feedback that continually flood their inboxes every day. He also apologized for the “quietness” throughout the exhausting process of migrating from Nokia. STT is slightly larger now than the original two-person core team, but their available resources have been especially limited due to complicated intellectual property issues; Jussi said, “You wouldn’t believe the amount of diligent individuals it has taken to make this transfer the amicable success that it is!.” Our conversation lasted for about a half hour.

I will not be able to make any major announcements on their behalf today, sorry. What I can tell you is that STT are working around the clock to ready a variety of feature enhancements and compatibility refinements for products and services which promise to remain wholly sports-centric. Jussi agreed with my opinion that the “Ovi Journeys: The Evolution of Sports Tracker” recent write-up is more of an evolution of the former “Vine” project than anything to do with the new STT. Nokia wil remain in the picture, solely and importantly (imo), as a client of STT.

One thing is clear: STT are passionate about their horizons and are committed to the development and integrity of the Sports Tracker service.

I will continue my dialogue with STT later this week, so stay tuned.

Nokia N79 Active

There’s not much time left remaining for the contest set up by the guys at the Nseries Innovation Newsdesk where the Grand Prize is a Nokia N79 Active phone bundle, which has been called a “healthy twist on Nokia’s smallest Nseries”. The deadline for entries is March 14th!

The challenge for the contest takes advantage of the Nokia’s Sports Tracker mobile application’s geo-tracking features along with your creativity to draw a virtual heart on the planet. Sports Tracker tracks the travelled routes of your workouts, saving that route on a map for you to see, analyze and share with your friends. Sports Tracker also gives you the ability to add geo-tagged pictures and video synchronized along your workout route.

Nokia’s using this contest to promote their newest bundled package, the N79 Active, combining the brilliant N79 phone with a brand new product from Polar heart rate monitors made exclusively for Nokia. The “Polar for Nokia” Wear-Link heart rate monitor belt communicates with the Nokia Sports Tracker mobile application via Bluetooth, adding heart rate data to your recorded workouts. The N79 Active bundle also includes an arm pouch to carry your mobile during your activities.

To enter you easily install the Nokia Sports Tracker mobile application to your GPS-enabled Nokia phone and sign up for a free Sports Tracker account, both of which can be done at: http://sportstracker.nokia.com. Then, look for and join the group called “Location Artists- Win A N79 Active” while you’re logged into the Sports Tracker website. Now all you have to do is go outside, start up the Sports Tracker program on your GPS-enabled Nokia phone and perform a workout in the shape of a heart. Upload that workout to the Sports Tracker website and choose to share it with the Location Artists group.

The deadline is March 14th, so hurry! Look for an earlier post of mine for tips and tricks to draw your heart and good luck!