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TomTom announces new GPS sport watches free from Nike ecosystem

I use a GPS sport watch when jogging to track my progress and help motivate me through sharing results with friends. These two new TomTom products now support many online fitness services, and I will likely be picking one up as soon as I can.
Written by Matthew Miller, Contributing Writer

It's that time of year when I am training for half marathons and Tough Mudder competitions, and the Motoactv keeps finding a place on my wrist to help me train. TomTom just revealed its new GPS Sport watches that no longer has them locked into the Nike ecosystem.

TomTom announces new GPS sport watches free from Nike ecosystem
Image: TomTom

I previously took a look at the affordable Nike+ SportWatch, powered by TomTom, but couldn't live with the closed Nike ecosystem. I sometimes use my phone when I run, and need the flexibility to be able to get data into a service like RunKeeper, where everything is consolidated and shared with my running buddies.

I am extremely pleased to read that these new watches are multi-platform compatible and sync with services such as TomTom MySports website, MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPeaks, and MyFitnessPal. I don't know yet if they will sync to a smartphone, but since they sync to these services, you will be able to still view the data when one of these apps is on your phone. This openness alone means it is likely that one of these will be my new training watch.

There are two new, large-screen GPS watches coming from TomTom. The TomTom Runner is focused on services for the jogger while the TomTom Multi-Sport is waterproof and works to monitor cycling and swimming as well. The large displays and one-button control look good to me, and I look forward to hearing about pricing and availability.

From the press release, we see the following:

The new watches feature TomTom's Graphical Training Partner. Easy-to-read full-screen graphics help users get the most out of their workouts. They can view their real-time performance at-a-glance with three graphical training modes:

  • Race: Race against a personal best or most recent run. Quickly track performance with real-time graphics, to continue to improve run after run.

  • Goal: Set a distance, time, or calorie goal, and see progress toward that goal with simple, full-screen graphics and alerts.

  • Zone: Set a target for pace or heart rate (with optional heart-rate monitor) and track progress in a simple full-screen graph throughout a workout.

These two watches are only 11.5mm thick, have a battery that lasts up to 10 hours, are waterproof to 50 meters, use Bluetooth Smart to connect to sensors, and have a scratch- and impact-resistant glass display.

There is no pricing yet and availability is slated for midyear. It won't come in time for my June half marathon, but it may help me train for my October Tough Mudder.

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