Gadgets! - Endomondo Pro tracker app

The Endomondo tracking app for your smart phone is one of the best apps I've tried to keep track of how many miles and calories I've burned on a walk or bike ride.

Its a GPS tracking app so you need to make sure the GPS is enabled on your smart phone to get all the data needed to track your workouts. You choose from a wide range of workouts from walking, running, biking to kite surfing, really too many to list here. You let the GPS locate you, then start your workout. There's even a count down to give you a few seconds before you start your workout. The app will chime in once you hit the 1 mile mark with the time it took to get there. It will update you if you are doing laps with your split time too.

Gadgets! - LG HBS-700

From time to time I'll bring you some gadget info that you may find useful and so far I like my LG-HBS-700 stereo Bluetooth headset. No wires bouncing or tangling me up during a power walk or bike ride. The music plays crystal clear and its easy to skip through songs in a playlist. It stays put around my neck so even bending to do some exercises or dumbbell workouts is easy as the phone can stay on the floor or shelf and not on my hip getting in the way.

Volume controls are simple and I have found no static interference yet. I walk across a pedestrian bridge that spans the commuter rails and the power lines there don't effect the sound quality at all. When a call comes in, answering is easy as it pauses the music for you and its a simple touch of a button.

I use a Blackberry Torch 9850 and it paired with no problems. Its designed to work with Apple iPhone and Android phones as well. It also works well playing games on my Blackberry Playbook. It works with the music feature of my fitness app on the phone by pausing the music to give feedback during a workout. Although I did have a dropped call while using it with the fitness app, and I don't get enough calls during a workout to know if it was a glitch or not, its not enough to dislike this headset.

The ear buds fit into the ends of the headset for storage and held there magnetically, but I find they pop out easily so don't grab them from your pocket or gym bag by the buds as you may pull the bud out of the body of the headset. Charging is done simply via micro USB.

Overall I give the LG HBS-700 Bluetooth stereo headset 4.5 out of 5 stars and its currently listed on Amazon for around $60.00.