Interfacing portable media devices and sports equipment

Abstract

Circuits, methods, and apparatus allow sports or other equipment, such as gym or other cardio equipment, to write data to a media player. Examples further provide the uploading of this data to a computer and third-party website. To monitor progress, the third-party website can be used to track workout data over time. The third party-website can also collect data from other users, which is particularly useful for providing a competitive environment. This data can then be graphically displayed in various ways to provide encouragement.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A portable media player comprising:
 circuitry to form a communication link with an item of sports equipment;   circuitry to transmit media through the communication link to the item of sports equipment;   circuitry to receive control information from the user for controlling the transmitting of the media; and   circuitry to store workout data received from the item of sports equipment via the communication link.   
     
     
         2 . The portable media player of  claim 1 , further comprising circuitry to transmit user profile data to the item of sports equipment via the communication link. 
     
     
         3 . The portable media player of  claim 2 , wherein the workout data depends at least in part on the user profile data. 
     
     
         4 . The portable media player of  claim 1 , wherein the workout data is written to the portable media on a periodic basis using the communication link. 
     
     
         5 . The portable media player of  claim 1 , further comprising circuitry to graphically format the workout data. 
     
     
         6 . The portable media player of  claim 5 , wherein a communication link with a computer is formed by circuitry of the portable media player, wherein the graphically formatted workout is transmitted from the portable media player to the computer via the communication link. 
     
     
         7 . The portable media player of  claim 6 , wherein prior workout data is stored by circuitry of the portable media player, the prior workout data is graphically formatted by circuitry of the portable media player, and graphically formatted prior workout data is transmitted to the computer via the communication link. 
     
     
         8 . The portable media player of  claim 1 , further comprising circuitry for determining, based at least in part on a selected workout, whether a memory of the portable media player has sufficient capacity to store all of the workout data for the selected workout; and 
     
     
         9 . The portable media player of  claim 8 , further comprising circuitry for providing a notification to the user in the event that the memory does not have sufficient capacity to store all of the workout data for the selected workout.