Pace me with your rhythm stick: Yamaha is improving the connection between music and physical workouts with the release this month of the BF-1 BODiBEAT digital music player (¥29,800). The BODiBEAT chooses the songs in a playlist you upload to the device that go best with the pace of your workout. A languid ballad will accompany a meandering walk, a jog is greeted with something up-tempo, and a full-blown sprint brings out the raciest numbers in your music library.

Songs downloaded to the player are classified by the BODiBEAT's software according to their pace, and a built-in accelerometer monitors the speed of your workout so that the music is played. In the BODiBEAT's Free operating mode, as the speed of your workout changes, so does the music. In the Fitness mode, you can set the device for either walking or jogging, and then the BODiBEAT tracks your heartbeat via a pulse monitor attached to the earphones that clips on to your left earlobe, and if your heartbeat is too low for whichever activity chosen, it quickens the beat or, conversely, slows it down if your heart is working too hard. The mode includes "warming up" and "cooling down" phases.

In the Training mode, users can program a detailed exercise plan broken down into segments with different paces. Among the goals that can be set are a specific distance to be covered or a specific heartbeat to be reached.