Garmin Forerunner 50 Slim Sports Watch Records Mileage and Speed

Garmin just announced its Forerunner 50, slimming down its form factor to more like a watch, but losing GPS in the process. All is not lost, though, because there's a motion-activated foot pod sensor that records your mileage and speed. Let's hope it's more accurate than Apple's badly flawed Nike+ iPod system, which can't tell the difference between two miles and four. More »

Paroos G100 GPS Trainer Has MP3 Player, Thermometer

Here's a competitor to the excellent Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS trainer, and this one's from Korean company Paroos. Its G100 adds music functions to its GPS tracking, featuring an MP3 player with 512MB of storage as well as an FM radio. More »

Live From CES: Garmin Forerunner 205 and 305

The Forerunner is just about the perfect real-time distance calculator for long-distance runners. But the previous model had one major drawback: The signal got lost in trees or even when jogging in big cities where tall buildings might block the GPS signal. Garmin claims to have fixed that problem with its 205 and 305 models by deploying a SiRFstar III chip architecture with higher gain sensitivity. The Forerunners have also been redesigned so that the antenna wraps around the wrist, which also gives it a better shot at finding a signal. The display is customizable, and an AutoLap function records lap data based on a specific time, distance or position. There is also a Virtual Partner that will pace you based on time, duration or distance. And there is a course memory feature that lets you download or swap routes with other runners. More »

Garmin's Two Forerunners at CES

Don't drop that GPS while you're running. That's obviously the lesson Garmin wants you to learn with its Forerunner 205 and Forerunner 305, now showing at CES. These next-gen products for the company's fitness line are small and light (obviously) and now have a design which wraps the GPS antenna around just part of your wrist so it has a better view of the sky while you're off training. A customizable display has a feature called AutoLap that automatically records lap data at a specified time, distance, or position and AutoPause that will pause the lap timer when you drop below the limit of your configured pace. Always thinking, Garmin. The 305 comes with a heart rate monitor that delivers real-time heart rate data exclusively to the user s device and is compatible with Edge 305. Both come with a USB PC interface cable, AC charger, docking station, Training Center CD, owner s manual and quick-reference guide. The 205 should run about $249 and the 305 should go for about $349. Look for them this February.