This is kind of a tricky question and comes down to 3 things in my mind:
1- What exactly do you mean by "analysis"?
2- What exactly do you mean by "compatible"?
3- What devices do you already have, specifically head unit or bike computer
Depending on your answer to those questions there are number of different options. Not knowing exactly what you're after I'll try and offer some information.
Most power meters, PowerTap included, operate under a basic architecture where you have a sensor or series of sensors (hub, chest strap, speed sensor maybe etc.) and those sensors broadcast data to something. Traditionally that has been a "head unit" of some kind like the Joule, LYC or a Garmin. These head units are then plugged in to a laptop and data is extracted and can be analyzed on desktop software like PowerAgent or WKO or it can be uploaded to websites like TrainingPeaks or Strava. PowerAgent let's you do this in one click after you input your Strava and/or TrainingPeaks credentials. Others can certainly chime in here and offer other opinions but if you are using PowerAgent currently the easiest thing you can do would be to sign up for a Training Peaks or Strava account, use PowerAgent to download your data, maybe take a quick look and then for any future "analysis" use Training Peaks or Strava etc. which you can view on your phone or tablet either via their respective apps. or just on a web browser. Again, there are all kinds of options out there for analysis and while we have our own opinions it really comes down to you and what you're trying to do. We simply try and make it as easy as possible for you to get PowerTap data to wherever you want it.
One final note- many sensors, including PowerTap (
click here for more info.) are adding Bluetooth Smart capability for the reasons you mention regarding convenience etc. This allows sensors to communicate directly with your phone but in most cases it will mean that the head unit you currently have can't display data while you ride and you'd have to put your phone on your bars which has a number of issues that I won't get into here but the trends are definitely heading this way and the solutions will get better and better. For example, in addition to offering a PowerTap hub that combines ANT+ and Bluetooth into a single component we are working on a new Joule GPS device that also has Bluetooth Smart so we can pair to Bluetooth sensors but also "download" or transfer data to the phone post-ride to our mobile app (
more info. here)
kbd wrote:
Can power data be analyzed on a smartphone or tablet? I have been using power agent on my laptop, but it is getting old and is too slow. I have been considering to replace my laptop with a tablet, but I am not sure if it has the ability to be used for power file analysis. I was thinking that my phone could possibly be more convenient than a tablet or laptop, but I'm not sure if this would be possible?!?!?
Are smartphones and/or tablets compatible with analysis software? If so, what are the system requirements needed?
Jesse Bartholomew