Adidas

Sporting brand adidas has become the latest company to employ Powerfoyle solar-charging technology to keep the wireless music playing. The RPT-02 SOL wireless headphones have also been made using post-consumer recycled plastic.

Although you may not give much thought to the weight of your sports sunglasses, you likely would notice if they were exceptionally light. Adidas' new 3D-printed specs certainly fit the bill, as they reportedly tip the scales at a mere 20 grams.

Adidas has taken shoe design to interesting places recently, playing with unique materials such as biodegradable fabrics and ocean plastics last year. Now the design team has binned the laces to create the UltraBOOST Laceless performance running shoe.

​Some big names in the footwear realm are exploring the potential of 3D printing to give their shoes an edge. Adidas is one that seems to be pretty much sold on the value of this emerging manufacturing method, and has today revealed the first shoes it will mass-produce using 3D printing. ​

Adidas has been exploring the possibilities of 3D printing when it comes to footwear for a little while, now culminating in the launch of its first 3D-printed trainer for the public, the 3D Runner. ​

Adidas has announced that it is ready to begin commercial production of footwear at a robot-staffed factory in Germany. The so-called "Speedfactory" in Ansbach will apparently allow the firm to produce more shoes, with greater precision and with new designs.

Adidas has done away with a staple of most covered footwear and launched a laceless football boot that's to be worn in-game by some of the world's top players this weekend.

Building technology into a round ball appears an emerging trend. Just as the globe turns its focus to next month's World Cup, Adidas is unveiling its miCoach Smart Ball with built-in sensors to track everything from the power of your strike to the finesse of your free kick.

What could possibly go wrong? Adidas is preparing to release a smartphone app that takes your favourite photos and maps them onto a pair of sneakers, which you can then order. The example shoes actually look pretty sweet, but lord knows what Joe Public will want on his kicks.

The sports apparel market has no shortage of solutions for cold weather. But athletes have fewer options in hot, humid weather. Adidas offers one more. Its new Climachill fabric combines several cooling elements to keep athletes more comfortable during hot summer sessions.

Last week Adidas unveiled the Samba Primeknit knitted football boot but in a new announcement today, it has combined the boot and sock into what it believes will be the football boot of the future. The all-in-one foot-sock hybrid PrimeKnit FS will be released this year.

On one hand, we have smartwatches that aim to put basic smartphone features on your wrist. Then we have wearable fitness trackers that are sprouting screens and becoming more like those full-fledged smartwatches. Today Adidas joined the latter party with the miCoach Smart Run.