adidas launches world's first smart basketball shoe

22 Nov '05

3 min read

Using the adidas_1 Basketball shoe is simple. Just switch it on and play. The shoe accounts for all stoppage in play to conserve battery life. If the heel experiences no compression for five minutes, the shoe goes to “standby mode”. One of the lights on the shoe blinks to let you know the shoe is resting, but not off.

It keeps checking for activity, and, if the heel compresses again, it wakes up and goes back into play mode. If there is no compression after two hours, it moves to a softer setting and switches itself off, or “chill mode”. When switched on, it gets firmer to protect against extreme movements.

The shoe will be available in limited quantities in the U.S. in May, with a global introduction in August, 2006. It retails for $250 and will be sold through adidas Sports Performance store and selected retailers.

Germany based adidas is the second largest sporting goods company in the world with its core brands adidas and TaylorMade–adidas Golf.

Excluding the Salomon business segment, which is planned for divestiture at the end of September, the adidas Group had 14,217 employees and reached sales of €5.9 billion in 2004. The Group's net income attributable to shareholders from continuing and discontinued operations reached €314 million in 2004.

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