GIZMOTONIC

Following Apple and Nike come Samsung and Adidas who have jointly announced the 'miCoach' (F-110), a name presumably chosen in homage to the accent of my Geordie brethren.

A GPRS/EDGE slider with 2MP camera and 2in LCD, the miCoach is a decidedly mid-range handset at best, but what it does bring to the table is a pedometer and heart rates monitor which can be hooked up to keep you informed how near/far away you are from an exercise-induced heart attack. The phone then has the audacity pluck to offer you training tips based on this data (increase/decrease intensity, distance covered, time spent, etc) with 'motivational' phrases such as "Speed up to power zone".

Personally, I'm not a great fan letting my phone tell me what to do - running machines tell me this data and if I wanted to run in the streets of London I'd be just as well off sitting down and smoking through a pack of cigarettes - but I guess it has a certain appeal.

Aside from this, the 'miCoach' has a gig of internal memory to record data/dump media files on, Bluetooth with A2DP, an FM tuner and relatively svelte dimensions of 101.5 x 45 14.5mm. It'll be available in 'Dark' Gray, 'Tech' Silver, 'Pink' Red (?), 'Cool' Gray, 'Sapphire' Blue, 'Misty' Blue and 'Sweet' Pink when it arrives this month and isn't likely to cost much on any decent contract.