Nike has always been marketed nicely and, come to think of it, it really did stuff in the direction it was pointing. Yesterday, it introduced the Nike+ SportBand, a wristband that features a new screen with a white background to enhance visibility and a welded seal to improve water resistance. It was designed to give runners real-time performance feedback on their distance, pace, time and calories burned with just a glance at their wrist. Runners that enjoy listening to music can continue hearing their run details through the Apple iPod nano, iTouch or iPhone systems.

The online running experience was also enhanced by Nike, merging the successful site nikeplus.com and its close to 2 million members together with nikerunning.com. "We're giving runners a seamless, comprehensive, one-stop online destination for all their needs" said Leslie Lane Global Vice President and General Manager for Nike Running. "From finding the right gear, the latest event details, tracking progress and connecting to friends through Nike+, we’re helping runners hit a new stride."

Due to merging, nikeplus.com has added many new features and social network connecting possibilities for users, including the following. “Personalization, the new navigational system includes a customizable homepage for members, providing at-a-glance views of your training, progress in goals and challenges, and your Nike+ Mini. Now you can personalize every run to illustrate your mood, weather, terrain, route and more. It's now easier to find friends, runners will now be able to search for like-minded and similarly-skilled runners, accept new friend requests and initiate challenges in conjunction with their favorite social media platforms. And because no good run should go unpublished, runners can broadcast their own successes beyond Nike+, with automatic updates to Facebook status, Twitter feeds and much more” are few of the features revealed.

Upgraded challenges, once runners tap into their own personal running network, Nike+ will now recommend challenges from the gallery to help inspire a little healthy competition with other runners who have similar running styles or profiles. You can even find new shoes; this feature asks a few simple questions in order to receive a customized shoe recommendation based on the latest shoe technology. Improved goals and challenges, in addition to helpful news, training tips, and event details, the newly redesigned site also features new professional coaching programs from some of Nike’s top running coaches and athletes. Runners can choose from a pre-set coaching program, or personalize their own routine and goals with more flexibility.

It will be available in the US on July 15, with a suggested retail price of $59 and it will come in grey with an interior pink band, anthracite (dark grey) with a yellow interior band, and black with a red interior band.

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