The connected fitness market is quickly growing and ICON's streaming fitness service iFit recently raised $200 million to invest in technology, expand its content library, and reach more potential users.
"Where we are very distinctive in this exploding connected fitness marketplace is that iFit is interactive. iFit is interactive with equipment, with our trainers, with our workouts, and with our members," ICON Health and Fitness Vice President of Marketing Colleen Logan told Cheddar.
Logan says the iFit technology is so interactive that users will not have to "imagine" a workout destination — the streaming service will take you there. "We don't have you imagine you're climbing the mountain. What we do is actually take you to the mountain, so we take our crews and our mountaineers and we shoot the whole trek," Logan said.
The technology also allows users to feel the mountain. "Our technology actually controls the incline and decline of the treadmill so as you start out in the rainforest or as you make your way up the summit you're feeling the incline and decline as the exact topography," Logan said.
As the connected space continues to grow with competitors like Peleton, Logan says with new capital they now have the opportunity to take advantage of the connected fitness trend and offer a range of products.
"While a lot of people in the connected fitness space offer one product at one price point we have tremendous range because we don't think fitness should be a luxury," Logan said.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
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A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
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