3 Mar 2009, 0018 hrs IST, REUTERS

NEW YORK: For some of us, the iPhone will always be a slightly scary emblem of the brave new world: an impossibly sleek device that allows you to
make a call, hear a song and find your way home.

Now you — and your personal trainer — can also use it to listen to your heart, as new technology turns the iPhone into a heart monitor and fitness tracking system. Tech firm iTMP Technology Inc has developed a module called SM Heart Link, a “wireless bridge,” which collects data from sensors — such as chest straps and cycling sensors on bikes — and sends it to the iPhone for tracking.

The iPhone can now double as a heart rate monitor and bike computer, tracking and storing workouts and even sending the data to medical assessment websites. “In a matter of seconds you can calibrate your fitness,” itMP Inc founder and CEO Michael Williams said. “Your calorie expenditures are broken out between fat and carbs and they are based on your metabolic data, not population-based tables.”