Nike's 'SportBand' comes out as promised

(Credit: Nike)

It's always nice (and rare) to see a manufacturer actually release a product when promised. And Nike says it will be doing just that with the April 10 debut of its "Nike+ SportBand," which had been promised to come out this month.

It seems pretty much as billed before: The main difference between this latest portable fitness system and previous versions from Nike is that it doesn't require a media player to work. The armband gauges such stats as speed, distance, time elapsed, and calories burned while giving runners access to features on Nikeplus.com for tracking progress and competing with others.

Or you could save the $59 and let the boss monitor your physical state for you.