Garmin Forerunner 110

UPDATE: I’ve posted a Garmin Forerunner 110 review

The Garmin Forerunner 110 was announced this morning, updating the popular line of fitness watches with a sleek new entry level product. The Forerunner 110 will have a simplified menu system and will be available with or without a heart-rate monitor. One interesting note is the use of the SiRFstar IV chipset; I believe this is Garmin’s first use of this product.

I’ll update this post with the product page link, pricing and availability date as soon as we receive them.
UPDATES:

• Garmin Forerunner 110 web page
• MSRP $249.99
• Availability: 2nd quarter 2010

Here’s the full news release…

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the Forerunner 110 sports watch – a sleek, intuitive and affordable solution for runners, joggers and walkers who simply want to know the most essential of real-time workout data: how far and how fast. Forerunner 110 was announced in preparation for world-class marathons in Paris, Boston and London, where it will be on display at Garmin booths in each location.

“Forerunner 110 fills the needs of runners of all levels by focusing on simplicity without sacrificing accuracy,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Within seconds of stepping outside, you simply press start and instantly know your distance, pace and time – all without any complicated setup or excessive accessories.”

Inspired by the countless runners who have the same request at race expos and retail outlets – “Show me the Garmin watch that has GPS and is easiest to use” – Forerunner 110 is the ideal entry-level device for easily tracking progress and goals in exercise and training. In addition to displaying time and distance, Forerunner 110 shows pace in one of two ways, averaged out either over the current lap/mile (if auto-lap is enabled) or over the duration of the run. Runners wearing a Garmin heart rate monitor (included in some bundles or available separately) can monitor how hard they’re working while they exercise as Forerunner 110 displays current heart rate data and features heart rate-based calorie computation. Between workouts, the simplified menu system helps users review run data, change auto-lap, set an alarm or edit the user profile.

Water-resistant and slimmer than any other GPS-enabled fitness watch on the market, Forerunner 110 boasts a high-sensitivity SiRFstarIV GPS receiver with Garmin’s HotFix® technology to quickly acquire and sustain satellite reception, perfect for wooded trails under dense trees or in the urban canyons of skyscrapers.

Available in three stylish color combinations – black/gray, charcoal/red and gray/pink – Forerunner 110 looks fashionable on the run, in the office or out on the town. Lasting up to 8 hours in GPS/training mode and up to three weeks in power-save mode, Forerunner 110 can be an everyday watch even on an off day of training. Users can save time by charging the battery and uploading workout data to Garmin Connect™ at the same time through an easy-to-use USB connection, which also is used to upload free software updates quickly from www.garmin.com.

Because Forerunner 110 stores and displays up to 200 hours of saved history, runners can see their totals even when they haven’t had a chance to upload to Garmin Connect. But once at Garmin Connect (http://connect.garmin.com), users can quickly and easily log their workouts, track their totals, set goals, share workouts with friends and family and participate in an online fitness community of more than 20 million activities around the world. Garmin Connect displays metrics such as time, distance, speed, elevation and heart rate. This information is shown through charts, illustrations, reports and a variety of map representations including street, photo, topographic, and elevation maps as well as the popular Google Earth application.

Forerunner 110 is the latest breakthrough from Garmin, which has spent 20 years developing technologies and innovations to enhance users’ lives, making Garmin a household name in the automotive, aviation, marine, wireless, outdoor and fitness industries. For more about features, pricing and availability, as well as information about Garmin’s other products and services, go to www.garmin.com, www.garmin.blogs.com and http://twitter.com/jakesjournal. To watch step-by-step, feature-specific tutorial videos for Forerunner 110 and other Garmin products, visit the online learning center at www.garmin.com/learningcenter.