Garmin, Suunto, Polar and Timex new gadgets and updates

Looks like GPS is becoming more pervasive in fitness watches - Garmin today announced new running watch Garmin Forerunner 110 that will bring GPS to what seems like more basic watch than FR205, FR305, FR405 and FR310xt. Main theme seems to be simplicity with high level of accuracy. They will be showing the units at the major marathons in Boston, Paris and London so the watch seems to be geared to runners, walkers and joggers. For triathletes it seems that the 310xt remains the flagship.

Triathletes are probably looking forwards to the release of the new Timex unit that is the first version of Timex watch with built in GPS. They already have experience with GPS technology, but never had it integrated in the watch. We will see how well this will be done. From available information the unit will be ANT+ compatible so if you have ANT+ compatible power meter or HR belt the watch should be able to communicate with them.

Polar is releasing new sleek cycling computer CS500 that is based on their proprietary W.I.N.D. technology used in CS600 and RS800/RS800cx lines of products. The design looks very clever for cycling - I hate switching displays on CS600 especially when I wear my gloves and I'm in traffic. The rocker design seems to make it all very easy. Not sure though if I upgrade. The announcement on Polar site does not list power meter as one of the compatible accessories which is a shame. I hope it will work with it since I'm getting another Polar power unit I found few days ago so I can put it on my new road bike.

And last news is from Suunto that is releasing new designs of T6 line with release of three new color schemes and different packaging under the T6d name. According to their announcement the new units will ship in few weeks and will include the dual belt, but otherwise seem to be exactly the same as T6c. The new designs are Black Flame - black yellow (pictured), Black Smoke (Black and gray) and Black Fusion (Fusion with black housing - as opposed to the greenish one that currently ships). So unless you die to spend over 400 bucks for different design of the watch there is really not much new in terms of technology or functionality. Still the units look very good.

Few new HRMs from Garmin, Polar and Timex

This is just a quick post about some new HRMs that either already hit the market or will be released in upcoming weeks. There are some exciting new HRMs in the line-up of manufacturers that will make the 2009 season pretty interesting.

Garmin - leaving the GPS out

Let's start with the recently announced line of Garmin HRMs that are not sporting GPS capability. The FR60 that will come in mens and women version is HRM with ability to connect with ANT+ heart rate belt, foot pod, bike pod and cadence pod from Garmin. The watch will have standard set of features including ability to record up to 15 hours worth of workouts and capture 100 laps. Just like the Forerunner 405 this watch will connect wirelessly to your computer and transfer data to Garmin Connect site. According to the materials available on Garmin Blogs and Garmin site the watch will not support Training Center and programmed guided workouts. The watch should hit the market in Q2 of this year.

Polar - pushing the GPS to cycling

Polar just yesterday announced release of the CS600x cycling computer which is an enhancement of the flagship CS600 cycling computer. The CS600x integrates with the G3 GPS unit and captures the location information just like the RS800cx unit that was released late last year (and extensively reviewed on this site). The unit is sold in two packages - one with power and one without. It is very same packaging as with the CS600. None of the packages comes with the G3 sensor, but you can get the G3 sensor as an accessory. Other difference that I noticed from the comparison tool on Polar USA site is that the CS600x comes with the IR USB stick (just as the RS800cx). There are probably other differences, but they are not immediately apparent from the product description and feature list. Also I expect that Polar may make minor adjustments to the information on their website just as they did after the release of RS800cx.

Timex - focusing on the basics

Another addition to HRM line comes from Timex. The Timex Race Trainer Kit provides a good starting level HR monitor with ability to transfer data to ad from the computer wirelessly. What is interesting on this product is the fact that you are not only buying the watch, but also the access to the Timex Ironman online training site that is build on top of the Training Peaks engine. The watch integrates with the training site and according to the information available on Timex site there is ability to download workout data from the site to the watch and send the workout results to the site. Sounds like an interesting HRM for focused training. The training plans are designed by Dave Scott and Gale Bernhardt two large names in the triathlon world. You can find more details about this package on Timex site. Unfortunately I can not provide any more details on how well this package works as I have not used the watch or the Timex site yet.