Adidas reinvents the soccer ball with Bluetooth

Soccer fever is about to hit fever pitch, and one of the most supportive sidekicks for soccer looks to have reinvented the ball. Because tech makes everything better.

It’s a ball, but it’s not like your every day regular soccer ball, with Adidas redefining what a soccer ball should be in the “Smart Ball,” a soccer ball with integrated impact and motion sensors for receiving information on how hard of a kick you had, ball spin, and the trajectory the ball will take.

Alvaro Negredo and David Silva with the Smart Ball

This information is sent to a device courtesy of Bluetooth Smart, with the iPhone and iPod Touch taking the data to help would-be soccer stars (and even a few professionals) improve their game.

“Everything we do at Adidas is about helping athletes perform at their highest level and the Smart Ball is designed to help players train and refine technique, allowing athletes to improve flair, skill, power and control,” said Christian DiBenedetto, Senior Innovation Director at Adidas.

Aside for being the first “smart ball” we’ve ever seen, the Adidas miCoach Smart Ball also has the privilege of being the first soccer ball we’ve seen that you need to charge, with wireless charging possible for the internal technology handled through a charging dock.

Inside the Smart Ball (right) on its charger

Availability for Australia isn’t yet known, though the ball won’t be cheap at all, with America getting the ball for $299 USD and European stores receiving it for the same figure, except in Euros (299), with availability from Apple Stores.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen the sporting good maker dabble in technology, though, and it probably won’t be the last, with the miCoach Smart Ball joining the Adidas Twitter shoe, a concept that came out of the 2012 Olympics.