Magellan has debuted their first ever sports line up of GPS receivers. Two models, a running-only Switch and the multisport Switch Up will be available this spring.
Both models have a high resolution display, 8-hour battery life, nine customizeable sports profiles and are compatible with other ANT+ devices and sensors. A high sensitivity GPS receiver is built in, and they’re waterproof to 50m.
The Switch Up ads barometric altimeter to measure elevation, a thermometer, vibration alerts and a quick release mount to help you quickly move through transitions. It’s available with an external battery pack to stretch battery life to 24 hours total. The different modes let you see different, presumably more relevant, information depending on which sport your participating in, narrowing it down even between road and trail running.
Lastly, you’ll be able to upload your training data to review and compare with friends. Full PR with pricing after the break…
PRESS RELEASE: Magellan GPS announced today the launch of its first two products in its new fitness line: Switch and Switch Up. Designed to meet the needs of runners, cyclists, and multisport athletes, the new Switch Series is a powerful, adaptable, and customizable family of crossover GPS watches that will integrate seamlessly with third party sites.
“We are very excited to launch our new fitness line,” said Clark Weber, senior director of fitness products at Magellan. “We have combined Magellan’s heritage in GPS technology, deep consumer insights, and the power of third party sites to offer a fresh perspective in the fitness category.”
The Switch is a powerful fitness training device packed with innovative features that include nine customizable sport profiles, easy to read high resolution display, eight hours of battery life, a high sensitivity GPS receiver, 50 meter water resistance, and compatibility with ANT+TM sensors. Designed primarily for runners, it is also a crossover watch that is convertible for multisport needs.
The Switch Up has the same powerful features as the Switch but also boasts a barometric altimeter for precise elevation data, a thermometer to monitor and capture outside temperature, vibration alerts for notifications in louder environments, and an innovative quick release mounting system to easily transition between sports. Designed for true multisport athletes, the Switch Up is the first of its kind in the fitness category.
“We are cyclists, runners, and multisport athletes. We are the end consumer,” said Mike Maxson, senior product and marketing manager at Magellan. “If you spend a lot of time training, your devices need to be both powerful and adaptable. Features like our quick release mounting system and customizable sport profiles were born from this insight.”
The Switch Series breaks away from the pack with innovative features, including Activity Pacer, which not only shows runners if they’re on target with their goal, but provides specific targets to attain the desired result. For endurance athletes, Magellan offers an optional Battery Pack Extender that provides 16 hours of additional battery life, for a total of 24 hours.
“The Switch series has been designed for easy use out of the box without making compromises for hardcore athletes,” adds Maxson. “Customers can create up to nine different activity profiles based on their preferences. With a few clicks, you can switch from road running to trail running mode with different screens, data fields and settings best suited for your activity.”
Magellan will make it easy for customers to upload, view and store activities at a new Magellan fitness website launching in Spring 2012. This fitness hub is also ideal for customers looking for an online source to store and automatically distribute activities to their favorite social networks and fitness websites. For those who prefer to upload directly to their favorite fitness site, Magellan Switch devices are compatible with MapMyFitness, TrainingPeaks, Strava, and more. In addition, Magellan will be releasing an API that allows any third party website or application to access activity data with customer permission.
The Magellan GPS Switch series will be available Spring 2012. The Switch has an MSRP of $249.99 or $299.99 with Heart Rate Monitor; the Switch Up with a Multisport Mounting Kit has an MSRP of $299.99 or $349.99 with a Multisport Mounting Kit and Heart Rate Monitor.
