Apple plugs Nike-Nano hook-up

Your Nikes can now talk to your iPod.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Nike CEO Mark Parker on Tuesday unveiled new products that connect the Nike+ Air Zoom Moire - a new running shoe outfitted with a sensor and receiver - with an iPod Nano to report running data in real time and track joggers' progress.

The Nike+iPod Sport Kit, which will be available through the Apple Store in about three months, is expected to cost $29.

According to a statement released by Apple: "Information on time, distance, calories burned and pace is stored on the iPod and displayed on the screen." This information is also reported via iPod users' headphones as they run.

Runners can program a particular workout into their iPod Nano using "The Nike+ Experience" software, available from 13 July. While running, a woman's voice will inform runners of their progress. When the workout is done and the iPod is synced with the runner's computer, progress is charted.

The announcement took place at a New York event with Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France bicycling champion, who is training for his first New York City Marathon.

Armstrong said in a statement: "If you can incorporate time, distance and calories burned together, and make it function for both the fitness runner and the high-level athlete, it will take working out to a whole other level."

Candace Lombardin writes for CNET News.com