by The Editors on October 3, 2008
Thanks to “a new mezzanine and high-tech, three-level pick module designed and implemented by Tompkins Associates, Sole Technology is utilizing vertical space, and this “vertical change” has doubled the company’s capacity while increasing processing volume and lowering labor costs” at it’s 315,000 distribution center. God, what a mouthful of business blather that was.
Working with Tompkins Associates, we were able to design and implement a brand new distribution center in 12 months,” added Theo Song, vice president of supply chain at Sole Technology. “The new facility is helping us support our growth needs, as well as better satisfy our customer requirements. The overall process, or implementation, was actually quite smooth, and the new DC is performing well beyond our expectations.”
That warehouse looks pretty impressive, no? We’re guessing these Tompkins Associates people could work wonders with our garage as well. Maybe we should call them.
[Link: Supply & Demand Chain]
by The Editors on September 30, 2008
Fact: the only game system we own in the Nintendo DS. It is the single best video game system ever invented; it’s small, sleek, and cheap. Because of this, however, we thought we’d miss out on Shaun White Snowboarding.
All that is going to change on November 16, 2008 when SWS drops in on the DS and Sony PSP platforms.
Built from the ground up on both platforms, each version includes exclusive and unique features. Using intuitive controls, players can ride and compete on mountains around the world. They can also express their creativity through rides and customization and challenge their friends through wireless multiplayer. The game is scheduled for release on November 16, 2008.
We want it now!
[Link: Game Focus]
by The Editors on September 29, 2008
We heard about the new Nixon headphones at the ASR show, but the first we’ve seen of the Nixon Master Blaster is on a snowboard website in the UK. Here’s the breakdown on the product:
Step into your own comfortable cone of silence. A patent pending ball and socket construction allows almost limitless range of motion for a completely custom fit. Handcrafted real leather ear cans and headband with lightweight metal speaker cabinets ensure comfort and durability. Add a 50mm dynamic driver delivering crisp, full sound and we’ll bring the noise.
They are listed online for “pre-order” only at a price of £160, which by tomorrow should be about, what, $500?
[Link: The Snowboard Shop]
by The Editors on September 8, 2008
We hate to say it, but anyone who thought the 80s revival was over is thankfully wrong. Who would think that anyway?
From the look of some of the products on the floor at the September 2008 ASR show, the neon wave is just beginning to peak. Which is great for those who lived through it the first time. And even more fun for kids who’ve never seen color before.
Funny thing is: we like it all. Bright colors are rad. Video games are rad. And, the Dragon Domos (pictured above) are totally rad.
Follow the link for a few more rad things we saw at the show
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on August 26, 2008
We’ve been trying to corner Skullcandy’s Rick Alden into an IM interview for a while now, but it looks like the audio accessories CEO has more important people to talk to: like Inc.com for instance.
Today the site featured a story titled: How I Did It: Rick Alden, Skull Candy, which explains how the company’s three-year grown is up 24,077.4 percent. It’s a question we’ve been trying to answer for months.
I’d walk into snowboarding and skateboarding shops that I’d sold bindings to or that I’d known for 15 years, and say, “Hey, man, I think you ought to sell headphones.” They’d look at me a little bit funny, like, “Gee, Rick, maybe you didn’t realize we’re a skateboard shop. We don’t sell consumer electronics.” So I’d say, “How many of your customers have iPods? Music is a lifestyle experience, and you are a lifestyle shop — and we’re selling a product that is relevant to your customer base.” Still, convincing them to carry Skullcandy took a lot of work.
After spending nearly two decades circling the snowboard industry as an event promoter, the founder of Device Step-In Bindings, and other odd jobs, it’s great to see Rick taking his snowboard knowledge out into the world of electronics and kicking ass.
[Link: Inc.com]
by The Editors on August 25, 2008
It could be argued that Red Digital Cinema is 59-year-old Oakley founder Jim Jannard’s third lightening strike. He completely rearranged the way motorcycle/BMX grips were made, then moved on and revolutionized action sports eyewear. It would seem that selling Oakley to Luxottica for $2.1 billion would have been a nice place to pause and maybe buy an island in the South Pacific, spend a few years painting nude island girls, and call it a life. Not Jannard.
Instead, he decided to completely re-wire the image capture business with a revolutionary camera designed from the ground up to digitally do what no one had ever done before. Jannard seems driven by an ability to look at stagnate industries and ask, “Why are they still doing things the old way?”
His team of engineers and scientists have created the first digital movie camera that matches the detail and richness of analog film. The Red One records motion in a whopping 4,096 lines of horizontal resolution—”4K” in filmmaker lingo—and 2,304 of vertical. For comparison, hi-def digital movies like Sin City and the Star Wars prequels top out at 1,920 by 1,080, just like your HDTV. (There’s also a slightly higher-resolution option called 2K that reaches 2,048 lines by 1,080.) Film doesn’t have pixels, but the industry-standard 35-millimeter stock has a visual resolution roughly equivalent to 4K. And that’s what makes the Red so exciting: It delivers all the dazzle of analog, but it’s easier to use and cheaper—by orders of magnitude—than a film camera. In other words, Jannard’s creation threatens to make 35-mm movie film obsolete.
Early on camera experts were treating the Red One like some kind of hoax. But most of them had no idea who was behind the camera and that he literally was capable of creating the impossible. Wired magazine’s Michael Behar breaks down the story, which makes us realize that Jim Jannard is probably the most incredible mind to ever work in the action sports business. He never competes. He simply moves the entire industry his way.
“I’m passionate about this because I’m building the camera I’ve always wanted to shoot with,” he says. “When my grandkids and great-grandkids look back, they’re going to say I was a camera builder. I did handgrips and then goggles and then sunglasses to prepare myself. But cameras are magic.”
[Link: Wired Magazine]
by The Editors on August 20, 2008
Jeffery A. Berg, the chairman and lead investor in Surfline/Wavetrak Inc., lead director of Swell.com, and founder and owner of Airborne Media LLC (publishers of FOAM magazine, Girls Learn To Ride, etc. . . . ) has just been named to the board of a Carlsbad, California-based interactive entertainment company NTN Buzztime.
Between 1995 and 2000, Mr. Berg was Chairman of AccentHealth. He led its financing and strategic development from its pilot phase to a network now providing segmented, patient education-oriented TV programming to over 10,000 medical waiting rooms. AccentHealth programming reaches 11.7 million consumers every month. . . . Mr. Berg has over 20 years’ experience as a professional investor, having founded Matador Capital Management in 1993, and before that working for 9 years at Raymond James Financial as an institutional securities analyst. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Florida and certification as a Chartered Financial Analyst.
For someone so involed in action sports online, we hardly knew Mr. Berg.
[Link: eMedia World]
by The Editors on August 14, 2008
We’ve tried to think of all kinds of ways to monetize surf web cams, but there is nothing better than someone just handing over $1 million. Even if they are Australian dollars.
According to as story on Goldcoast.com.au, the Queensland Government’s Smart State Innovation Projects Fund has handed the money to Coastal Watch’s Chris Lane (pictured right) to help “keep beaches safe.”
Most of that will go to fund the technology which will allow Coastal Watch cameras to count the number of beach users at a particular break, measure wave height, and the shoreline position hourly. . . .It will also provide real-time pictures of beaches which allow lifesavers to monitor areas from their clubhouse. . . “It’s good to be able to help out surfers to find the best surf or boaties where the chop is,” said Mr Lane, “but it’s great to be able to help keep people safe when they go to the beach
Right. And it’s great to have another $1 million, right? Surfline. . . . you listening?
[Link: Goldcoast.com.au]
by The Editors on August 12, 2008
In a new ad for HP Shaun White cruises into a room in green jogging shorts only to find all his friends wearing Shaun White masks that they’ve printed out on their HP Printers. “This is part of Feed Company’s ongoing back-to-school online campaign for HP,” according to a story on AdGabber.
Yeah, seeing a couch full of Shaun’s is a little unsetting, if you ask us. And no, it doesn’t make us want to buy an HP printer. Then again, maybe it ties into the whole Crash Course with Shaun White.
Click the link to watch Peanuts Thrown at Shaun White.
[Link: AdGabber]
by The Editors on July 20, 2008
Sometimes stories may need a little evidence to back them up. That’s where the Stealth Cam Epic Action Sports Video Cam comes in.
At only 2.5 ounces this little camera shoots 30 frames per second digital videos and stores it on a SD card. With a 4 gig card you can store up to 100 minutes of video (which should be about ten times as much video as most people need) and audio.
We haven’t tried it out, but it looks perfect for hiding around the house, or taking out and shredding with it. With the waterproof casing you can even wear it on your head while you surf, snowboard, or skate.
It’s epic.
[Link: Stealth Cam via SDBJ]
Thanks to “a new mezzanine and high-tech, three-level pick module designed and implemented by Tompkins Associates, Sole Technology is utilizing vertical space, and this “vertical change” has doubled the company’s capacity while increasing processing volume and lowering labor costs” at it’s 315,000 distribution center. God, what a mouthful of business blather that was. 
