Acting IRS head apologizes, blames 'foolish mistakes' for targeting of conservative groups

By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

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The outgoing head of the IRS blamed ?foolish mistakes? made by employees for the agency?s targeting of conservative groups, denying that partisanship played a role in the controversy.

Steven Miller, the acting commissioner of the IRS who submitted his resignation from that role earlier this week, appeared on Friday before the first Capitol Hill hearing on the revelations that IRS officials had inappropriately singled out conservative groups for extra scrutiny. He apologized for the tax-collecting agency?s actions, but blamed incompetence, rather than political score-settling, for the scandal.

?As acting commissioner I want to apologize on behalf of the IRS for the mistakes that we made and the poor service that we provided,? he said in a brief opening statement.

?I do not believe that partisanship motivated the practices of the people described in the IG report,? Miller added. ?I think that what happened here was that foolish mistakes were made by people who were trying to be efficient in their work.?

House Republicans convened, on Friday, for the first of what?s sure to be many hearings into the actions by taken by IRS officials to single out conservative and Tea Party groups for additional scrutiny.

Miller appeared before the House committee charged with handling taxes on Friday, where he faced pointed questions from Republicans and Democrats alike.

The hearing comes a week after an inspector general?s reports detailing abuses by IRS officials first became public. The revelation that the IRS had targeted conservative groups seeking nonprofit status erupted this week into a major political controversy for President Barack Obama, who publicly denounced the actions of the IRS officials, and pledged to cooperate with Congress in investigating the root cause of the controversy.

?It is just simply unacceptable for there to even be a hint of partisanship or ideology when it comes to the application of our tax laws,? the president said Thursday at the White House.

But the administration?s actions have scarcely satisfied conservatives, who have demanded criminal prosecutions as a result of the controversy, and have suggested that the IRS?s actions might have been a politically motivated effort to target ideological opponents. (The inspector general report found no evidence of external influence on IRS field agents to pursue conservative groups.)

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., joins The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd to talk about the IRS scandal. He discusses whether ?the IRS situation hurts chances of passing bipartisan immigration reform, Benghazi, and the gives his opinion on the new Media Shield Law.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who?s seen as possibly having his own presidential ambitions one day, called the IRS fiasco evidence of a ?culture of intimidation? by the Obama administration; House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, accused the administration of ?remarkable arrogance? over the IRS controversy and revelations that the Justice Department seized phone records of Associated Press journalists.

Friday?s hearings before the House Ways and Means Committee will give Republicans a perch to advance many of those attacks on the administration. Along with Miller, J. Russell George, the Treasury?s inspector general for tax administration, will also appear.

?This committee wants the facts, and the American people deserve answers to why they were targeted on the basis of their political beliefs,? Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., the chairman of the committee, said following Miller?s resignation on Wednesday. ?The IRS has demonstrated a culture of cover up and has failed time and time again to be completely open and honest with the American people.?

Related stories:

Obama names acting IRS chief, denies knowledge of IRS report

This story was originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 7:43 AM EDT

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Breakthrough for IVF? Selecting the most promising embryos

May 17, 2013 ? A recent study in Reproductive BioMedicine Online? on 5-day old human blastocysts shows that those with an abnormal chromosomal composition can be identified by the rate at which they have developed to blastocysts, thereby classifying the risk of genetic abnormality without a biopsy. In a new study the same group has undertaken a retrospective study, using their predictive model to assess the likelihood of any embryo transferred resulting in a successful pregnancy, with very encouraging outcomes.

One of the greatest challenges in assisted reproduction is to find the one embryo, which can develop successfully. Now, combining time lapse imaging of IVF embryos cultured for 5 days to the blastocyst stage with trophoblast biopsy, it has proved possible to correlate the rate of blastocyst formation with chromosomal abnormalities. Such an approach should allow early and widely accessible non-invasive identification of the best embryo to place in the uterus.

"Recently the world of IVF has become very excited by the use of time-lapse imaging (TLI) of early human embryo development to follow the change of embryo morphology over time," explains Martin Johnson, Editor of Reproductive BioMedicine Online. "The data can then be compared with the outcome after the embryos are transferred. The hope is that this morphokinetic analysis will enable reproductive specialists to predict more successfully those embryos most likely to generate pregnancies. The advantage of using morphokinetic analysis to predict outcome is its minimal invasiveness."

The majority of embryos that fail to initiate a pregnancy do so because they have abnormal chromosomes. Unfortunately these embryos cannot be recognized by embryologists using conventional microscopy. Only biopsy of one or a few cells of the early embryo followed by preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) can establish whether the number of chromosomes is normal or not.

In their research Alison Campbell and colleagues of CARE Fertility, Nottingham, went one step further, describing the use of morphokinetic analysis to identify those embryos that have an abnormal chromosomal constitution. In that study, they cultured embryos under time lapse imaging to day 5, by which time they formed blastocysts. These were then biopsied by removing a few of the cells from the outer layer of the embryo, which will normally contribute only to the placenta. The biopsy was then analyzed for its chromosomal constitution. The authors then related the chromosomal make up of each embryo to its morphokinetic history. They found that a proportion of embryos with chromosomal abnormalities were delayed in initiating blastocyst formation and also reached the full blastocyst stage later than did normal embryos. The authors conclude that using this approach they could avoid exposing at least a subset of the embryos to invasive biopsy procedures.

"This non-invasive model for the classification of chromosomal abnormality may be used to avoid selecting embryos with high risk of aneuploidy while selecting those with reduced risk," said lead author Alison Campbell.

The same group has now applied this risk classification model retrospectively to examine the pregnancy outcomes in a series of unselected IVF patients without the use of PGS. A significant improvement in both implantation and live birth rates was observed when low risk embryos were transferred.

Scientist Markus Montag of the Department of Gynecological Endocrinology and Fertility Disorders, University Clinics of Heidelberg, said: "The idea of using time-lapse imaging and morphokinetic analysis is intriguing, because having available a completely non-invasive procedure to predict which embryo is euploid or aneuploid would allow the application of this technique for virtually every assisted reproduction cycle. The potential benefit of such an approach is obvious in view of published data on the incidence of aneuploidy even in oocytes from younger women."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/CDttPO_ZQd0/130516215421.htm

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Coral reef fishes prove invaluable in the study of evolutionary ecology

May 16, 2013 ? After reviewing recent research based on the study of habitat-specialist coral reef fishes, Boston University post-doctoral researcher Marian Y. L. Wong and Peter M. Buston, assistant professor of biology, have found that these species have proven invaluable for experimental testing of key concepts in social evolution, noting that studies of these fishes already have yielded insights about the ultimate reasons for female reproductive suppression, group living, and bidirectional sex change. Based on this impressive track record, the researchers maintain that these fishes should be the focus of future tests of key concepts in evolutionary ecology.

A major focus in evolutionary ecology lies in explaining the evolution and maintenance of social systems. Although most theoretical formulations of social system evolution were initially inspired by studies of birds, mammals, and insects, incorporating a wider taxonomic perspective is important for testing deeply entrenched theory. In their new study, the researchers suggest that habitat-specialist coral reef fishes provide that wider perspective.

"While such coral reef fishes are ecologically similar, they display remarkable variation in mating systems, social organization, and sex allocation strategies," says Wong. "Our review of recent research clearly shows the amenability of these fishes for experimental testing of key concepts in social evolution."

The new study highlights recent contributions made by one specific group of coral reef fishes -- habitat-specialist reef fishes -- to testing the robustness of mating system, cooperative breeding, and sex allocation theories. Habitat-specialist reef fishes are small bodied and well adapted to living within discrete patches of coral, anemones, and sponges. They include such species as the Pomacentridae (damselfish), Gobiidae (goby), Caracanthidae (coral croucher), and Cirrhitidae (hawkfish) families.

Being habitat specialists, these fishes are highly site attached and have limited mobility. They rely on their particular habitat for food, shelter, and breeding sites, and they experience high risks of mortality from predation if they venture outside their immediate habitat. Mating systems are highly variable both among and within these species, including monogamy (one male mates with one female), harem polygyny (one male mates with several females), and polygynandry (multiple males and females mate with each other). These fishes also exhibit great variability in social organization, including pair and group formation, with group members' being reproductive or non-reproductive depending on the mating system. "This behavioral variability, despite the relative ecological similarity of these species, presents a unique opportunity to test the various hypotheses for the evolution of different social systems," says Buston.

According to the authors, habitat-specialist reef fishes are a tried and tested group of model organisms for advancing the understanding of the evolution and ecology of social systems in animals; the study of these species already has revealed many things about the evolutionary ecology of mating, social, and sexual systems. Despite their ecological quirkiness, they have been instrumental for testing the generality and robustness of key concepts that are widely applicable to other taxonomic groups. In fact, in some cases, they have been the only species in which experimental tests of key hypotheses have been performed, largely because of the ease with which their habitat and social organization can be manipulated in the lab and in the field. For these reasons, the authors argue that these species should be the focus of future tests of key concepts in evolutionary ecology.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/jgqYWJ7XAWE/130516123656.htm

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Ousted IRS chief regrets treatment of tea party

Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ousted IRS chief Steve Miller, right, and J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, are sworn in on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, prior to testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp speaks on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, prior to ousted IRS chief Steve Miller and J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, testifying before the committee's hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Ousted IRS chief Steve Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, prior to testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller, right, and J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, are sworn in on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, prior to testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The ousted head of the Internal Revenue Service apologized to Congress on Friday for his agency's tougher treatment of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. He said they resulted from a misguided effort to handle a flood of applications, not political bias.

"I want to apologize on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service for the mistakes that we made and the poor service we provided," Steven Miller, who has been acting IRS commissioner, told the House Ways and Means Committee as the panel held Congress' first hearing on the episode. "The affected organizations and the American public deserve better. Partisanship and even the perception of partisanship have no place at the Internal Revenue Service."

At a hearing that saw lawmakers from both parties harshly criticize his agency, Miller conceded that "foolish mistakes were made" by IRS officials trying to handle a flood of groups seeking tax-exempt status. He said the process that resulted in conservatives being targeted, "while intolerable, was a mistake and not an act of partisanship."

Though Miller and another top IRS official are stepping down, the chairman of the committee said that would not be enough.

"The reality is this is not a personnel problem. This is a problem of the IRS being too large, too powerful, too intrusive and too abusive of honest, hardworking taxpayers," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich.

Camp also said the tougher examinations that conservative groups encountered seemed to be part of a "culture of cover-ups and intimidation in this administration." He offered no other examples.

Camp's remark about cover-ups drew a sharp retort from the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan. Levin said if the hearing became a preview of the 2014 political campaigns, "we'll be making a very, very serious mistake."

The administration has been forced on the defensive about last September's terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, and the government's seizure of The Associated Press' telephone records as part of a leaks investigation.

Republicans are hoping to link the issues in an effort to raise questions about President Barack Obama's credibility and make it harder for him to press a second-term agenda.

Friday's hearing is the first of what are expected to be many on the subject by congressional panels. Underscoring the seriousness of the episode, Miller was sworn in as a witness, an unusual step for the Ways and Means panel and one that could put Miller in jeopardy if he is later shown to have misled lawmakers with his testimony.

Levin said that the IRS's mistreatment of conservative groups meant the agency "completely failed the American people." He said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that makes decisions about tax-exempt groups, should be "relieved of her duties."

Miller said the IRS struggled to efficiently handle growing numbers of applications for tax-exempt status.

The agency has said between 2008 and 2012, the number of groups applying for tax-exempt status as so-called social welfare groups more than doubled. Along with that was an increase in complaints that such groups were largely engaging in electoral politics, which is not supposed to be their primary activity.

"I do not believe partisanship motivated the people" at the IRS who engaged in the harsher screening for conservative groups, Miller said.

In recent months, Republicans on the Ways and Means panel had repeatedly asked the IRS about complaints from conservative groups that their applications were being treated unfairly.

On Friday, numerous Republicans wanted to know why Miller and others never told them the groups were being targeted, even after May 2012, when the IRS has said Miller was briefed on the practice. Miller was previously a deputy commissioner whose portfolio included the unit that made decisions about tax-exempt status.

"I did not mislead Congress or the American people," Miller told Rep. Charles Boustany Jr., R-La., one of several Republicans who challenged him about why he hadn't mentioned the targeting in the past.

Also testifying Friday was J. Russell George, the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.

In a report he issued this week, George said IRS officials reported they were not politically pressured to target conservative groups. Asked about that conclusion, George said Friday, "We have no evidence at this time to contradict that assertion," but in prepared testimony to the committee he said he is continuing to investigate that question.

George's report concluded that the IRS office in Cincinnati, which screened applications for the tax exemptions, improperly singled out tea party and other conservative groups for tougher treatment. The report says the practice began in March 2010 and lasted more than 18 months.

The report blamed "ineffective management" for letting IRS officials craft "inappropriate criteria" to review applications from tea party and other conservative groups, based on their names or political views. It found that the IRS took no action on many of the conservative groups' applications for tax-exempt status for long periods of time, hindering their fundraising for the 2010 and 2012 elections.

Republicans have spent the past few days trying to link the IRS' improper scrutiny of conservatives to Obama. The president has said he didn't know about the targeting until last Friday, when Lerner acknowledged at a legal conference that conservative groups had been singled out.

Many of the groups were applying for tax-exempt status as social welfare organizations, which are allowed to participate in campaign activity if that is not their primary activity. The IRS judges whether that imprecise standard is met.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said the FBI was investigating whether the IRS may have violated applicants' civil rights.

Obama has rejected the idea of naming a special prosecutor to investigate the episode, saying the investigations by Congress and the Justice Department were sufficient.

Obama has named Daniel Werfel, a top White House budget officer, to replace Miller.

Also Thursday, Joseph Grant, one of Miller's top deputies, announced plans to retire June 3, according to an internal IRS memo. Grant is commissioner of the agency's tax exempt and government entities division, which includes the agents that targeted tea party groups for additional scrutiny.

Grant joined the IRS in 2005 and took over as acting commissioner of the tax exempt and government entities division in December 2010. He was just named the permanent commissioner May 8.

When asked whether Grant was pressured to leave, IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge said Grant had more than 31 years of federal service and it was his personal decision to leave.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-17-IRS-Political%20Groups/id-ec0c600b8d3c4109bfa9c5ce98ec2a1e

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?Angry? Obama says acting IRS chief fired

President Barack Obama arrives at the East Room of the White House, May 15, 2013, to deliver remarks on the IRS??Bluntly declaring "I am angry" about the IRS scandal, President Barack Obama said late Wednesday that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had forced out Steven Miller, the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Speaking in the East Room of the White House, Obama called Miller's ouster "the first step" to prevent similar misconduct in the future and vowed to "do everything in my power" to make sure it never happens again.

Obama said he had reviewed the Treasury Department Inspector General's report that details how the IRS targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.

"The misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable. It's inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it and I am angry about it," the president said in a brief prepared statement. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency?but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives."

Obama said the "responsible parties" will be held accountable. Lew "took the first step by requesting -- and accepting -- the resignation of the acting commissioner of the IRS because given the controversy surrounding this audit, it's important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward," Obama added.

The president's statement from the East Room of the White House came a little more than an hour after a meeting with senior Treasury Department officials to discuss the controversy.

Obama said he had directed the agency to implement recommendations from the inspector general -- the Treasury's internal watchdog -- to ensure no repeat of the "outrageous" misconduct. "The good news is it?s fixable," he said.

Looking to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers of both parties have denounced the IRS's behavior, Obama promised: "We will work with Congress as it performs its oversight role, and our administration has to make sure that we are working hand-in-hand with Congress to get this thing fixed."

Lawmakers, in turn, should "treat that authority with the responsibility it deserves and in a way that doesn?t smack of politics or partisan agendas," Obama said. He said Washington must "make sure that the laws are clear" and suggested that "too much ambiguity" may have played a role.

?I?ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again ? by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards, and, going forward, by making sure that the law is applied as it should be: in a fair and impartial way," Obama said.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed skepticism.

?More than two years after the problem began, and a year after the IRS told us there was no problem, the President is beginning to take action," the Kentucky lawmaker said. "If the president is as concerned about this issue as he claims, he?ll work openly and transparently with Congress to get to the bottom of the scandal?no stonewalling, no half-answers, no withholding of witnesses.

Congress is "determined to get answers, and to ensure that this type of intimidation never happens again at the IRS or any other agency," McConnell said.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder promised angry lawmakers that the Justice Department will undertake a national investigation into the IRS wrongdoing.

"We will take a dispassionate view of this," said Holder, who faced tough questioning from the House Judiciary Committee. "This will not be about parties ... anyone who has broken the law will be held accountable."

Holder said he had launched an investigation last Friday into why the IRS subjected conservative groups to more review when they applied for tax-exempt status. The IRS inspector general's report said that a group of low-level staffers in an Ohio office were responsible, and a top IRS official has apologized on their behalf.

But Holder promised that the investigation will look well beyond Ohio, and suggested that civil rights laws could have been violated.

Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., asked Holder at the hearing whether an "apology" from the IRS protected them from criminal prosecution. Holder answered, "No."

The Obama administration is under fire over the IRS, the president's handling of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, and the Justice Department's secret collection of telephone records of Associated Press reporters and editors.

Republicans have been hammering Obama on all three matters. While Democrats have largely defended him?and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?on Benghazi, they have joined their GOP colleagues in denouncing the IRS and in expressing deep concerns about the AP phone records.

On Monday, Obama dismissed Republican charges of a cover-up in the Benghazi situation as a "sideshow" lacking any merit. He has yet to comment directly on the AP issue.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/amid-scandals-obama-speak-6-p-m-irs-212951803.html

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Canada's housing market correction healthy, says Jim Flaherty ...

OTTAWA ? Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is dismissing fears about Canada?s housing market, saying the current slowdown is welcome news and that there is no need for further government intervention.

While some observers are expressing fears that a steep correction is underway that will bring down housing values and possibly affect bank credit ratings, Flaherty said Tuesday that he believes government mortgage tightening last July actually helped avert what could have turned into a housing bubble.

Housing ?crisis? is nothing to worry about ? so as long as we leave the dollar alone

Andrew Coyne: If there is one sure way to turn the household debt problem into a raging crisis, it would be to abandon our inflation targets in pursuit of exchange rate ?stability.? Let?s not, shall we? Read more.

?I?m comfortable about where we are,? he said in a telephone interview from France where he announced new government financing for the construction of a visitor?s centre at the Vimy Ridge war memorial.

?I?m pleased in particular that the condo market in big cities has fallen back. I?m also pleased with some other moderation in new house construction and in demand for mortgages. I think these are healthy developments because I think we were beginning to see some indications of the beginning of a bubble.?

These are healthy developments because I think we were beginning to see some indications of the beginning of a bubble

He called the recent slowdown ?healthy? and at least in part a consequence of his decision to tighten mortgage rules last July.

A new Teranet house price report released Tuesday showed home price increases slipped to two per cent in April from 2.6% in March. Analysts noted that was the weakest performance since the recession for April, traditionally a good month for sales and prices.

While home sales have fallen nationally, and starts are now in the 180,000 a year range, well down from over 200,000 last year, home prices have stubbornly resisted that trend in most markets.

However, analysts note that prices are often the last indicator to kick in when a residential market falls, and some have speculated that prices could plunge by as much as 25%, even further in the overheated Vancouver market.

The Office of Superintendent of Financial Institutions has told banks it is looking at their holdings of non-insured mortgages ? those with at least 20 per cent equity ? to determine the systemic risk should values plunge.

But Flaherty said he has no plans to further tighten government-backed mortgages for homebuyers with as little as a five per cent down payment. After tightening rules four times in the past four years, Flaherty said he has done enough.

?I?m not going to intervene in the mortgage market, I don?t need to,? he said.

Over the weekend, Flaherty participated in a Group of Seven meeting in England, where he warned about waning resolve to reduce deficits and debt among southern European countries.

Flaherty said he had not changed his mind even though austerity is being blamed for depressing growth and in some cases exacerbating governmental deficits, since lower growth usually means lower tax revenues and higher costs.

Northern European countries agree with his position, he said, describing the U.S. stance on fiscal restraint as ?ambiguous.?

?If you don?t get your fiscal situation correct in government, then you can forget about getting education, health-care, research and development and other important initiatives ?. because you won?t have the fiscal means to do it.?

As well, governments risk not having the means to respond to the next economic crisis, he warned.

The minister said that governments can still stimulate economic activity while controlling spending.

?As I said to my G7 colleagues, it isn?t an all or nothing game, it?s about trying to get the right balance,? he explained, pointing out that his March budget retained previously-introduced austerity measures while committing funds to infrastructure projects and job training.

From Canada?s perspective, he says the government remains committed to balancing the budget in 2015.

Going forward, Flaherty said next month?s G8 (including Russia) meeting in Northern Ireland will again seek to tackle the issue of country hopping by multinational corporations seeking the best tax advantage.

?We?re all agreed we have to make sure that large corporations that operate globally pay their fair share of tax and that they don?t try to use one or the other of our jurisdictions not to pay their fair share. We are firmly resolved on that,? he said.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/05/14/canada-housing-market-correction/

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Runtastic brings a GPS watch, fitness monitors and more to the US

Most app developers have few incentives to build their own hardware, let alone the resources. With 25 million mobile users, Runtastic has both -- so it only makes sense that the company is bringing a slate of complementary exercise gear to the US for the first time. The initial catalog won't shock cyclists and runners who have ever toyed with tracking their progress, but it's certainly complete. Along with Runtastic's take on a GPS watch ($150), there's also an app-friendly heart rate monitor ($70), a speed sensor ($60), an armband and a bike mount. While the peripherals only truly make sense for Runtastic loyalists, they're available today through Amazon -- and they might seal the deal for athletes who want a harmonious blend of hardware and software.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Wearables

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/TmfVqD0bS24/

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