Fitness machine gives Treo a workout

(Credit: Star Trac)

Our personal opinions about exercise notwithstanding, we grudgingly acknowledge that the convergence of consumer electronics and fitness equipment does make some sense. What better way is there, for instance, to get slovenly creatures like us onto cardio machines than games and iPods?

Yet we can't help but question the wisdom behind the "Elite Cross Trainer" from Star Trac. The main technological feature of this elliptical machine seems to be the ability to send personal fitness stats wirelessly and on the fly to a Palm device, according to Luxist. There's nothing wrong with keeping track of your sweat factor, of course, but we wonder if it was really worth the investment to develop technology specifically for products from a company with a somewhat questionable future. (It just pulled the plug on its latest high-profile product launch, after all.)

The $4,595 tag doesn't exactly scream bargain either, given that it's supposedly aimed at the home market. That's the sale price, by the way.