Indonesian Digital News Archive

Garmin, the company that makes a host of GPS products, including handheld devices, watches and more, has announced the launch of their Garmin Adventures website. The new site is a place for outdoor enthusiasts to share their latest adventures and pick-up some tips on where to go on their next one.

The site provides access to Garmin's Basecamp software (available for both PC and Mac) which allows you to create an interactive timeline of any journey. The software simply imports track logs from any GPS device (presumably even non-Garmin products) and allows users to build a nice online story of their adventure. Basecamp allows you to connect photos, complete with geotagging, YouTube videos, geocache locations, notes and more. Details of the trip, such as distance, duration, amount of climbing and descending and so on are also included. And when you're done building your trip profile you can easily share it with friends and family too.

This is an interesting way of creating more interesting and interactive logs of a hike or backpacking trip that others can enjoy too. Garmin has posted a couple of examples online to give us an idea of what Basecamp can do. For instance, click here for an example of a hike through Zion National Park or here to take a virtual trip through the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota.

I'm intrigued with what Garmin has created here. It's a bit rough around the edges, but I can see how this could be a really fun way to not only share an adventure with others but also discover some cool places to go as well. It even works with Garmin's new Fenix watch that I wrote about a few weeks back. If you're looking for a new way to creatively share your adventures, this may be just what you're looking for.

There is absolutely no denying that technology has had a dramatic impact on our way of life, both for good and for ill. Thanks to our ever-growing reliance on gadgets, we now lead lives that keep us constantly connected to friends, family, work and the world at large. Those gadgets have brought a lot of convenience to our everyday lives, but they have also made things so easy that we sometimes forget what life was like without them. That's why this next story is such a compelling one.

Later this week a crew of 24 Māori sailors from New Zealand will set out on a grand adventure. The group will depart from their homeland and attempt to sail 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km) to Easter Island, one of the most remote places on the planet. That in and of itself has the potential to be a grand adventure, but these men will make that journey without the use of a GPS or any kind of navigational maps or charts. They don't even intend to bring a compass, something unheard of in the days of modern ocean exploration.

For centuries the Polynesian people sailed the South Pacific without those conveniences however and this group will rely on the ancient methods of their forefathers to reach their destination. According to the expedition website, the team will instead use their knowledge of the movement of the stars, the sun and moon and ocean currents to help them locate Easter Island, a tiny speck of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Navigating through traditional means isn't enough of a challenge for these two-dozen individuals however as they'll also be making the journey aboard two double-hulled sailing canoes that are not unlike what their ancestors would have used to explore the islands of the South Pacific. According to the expedition website, there is no record of a voyage like this one ever being undertaken and its success could shed new light on how the Polynesian people spread out across the ocean.

You can follow the expedition through both Twitter and Facebook, as well as Google+. It looks like they are in the final stages of preparation now and should be leaving sometime on Friday.

Thanks to CuChullaine of the Long Riders Guild for sharing this story with me. Simply amazing!

Yesterday I posted about a new GPS watch coming our way from Garmin that looks to be a great new gadget for travelers, athletes and adventurers alike. Not to be out done, Magellan also has a new offering for us in the form of the Switch Series of watches that are designed to enhance and track workouts in a variety of activities.

As you would expect with any GPS enabled watch, the Switch has the ability to track distance, speed, direction and more. It has a built in barometer, altimeter and thermometer and is water resistant down to 50 meters (164 ft), has the ability to track a host of fitness data, such as calories burned, average pace and a variety of other variable that can help improve performance. The activity pacer helps to keep you on track to reaching your goals and the GPS allows for marking waypoints, saving locations and offers basic navigation abilities.

That's just the beginning of the list of functionality that Magellan has packed into this watch however. It also includes 9 basic profiles for use in a variety of activities including running, cycling, swimming and so on. The display can be configured to provide the custom data that you want to see and athletes can also customize their personal alerts to stay on pace as well. And when they've finished with their workout, they can upload all of their data to the new Magellan Active website where they can track long term progress, share workouts and analyze the data.

Out of the box, the Switch has an 8 hour battery life, which means if you work out most every day you'll be recharging it regularly. An optional battery extender adds an additional 16 hours, which might prove very useful for some.

All in all, the new Switch watches seem like great options for outdoor athletes who take their workouts seriously. There are two models of the watch, the Switch and the Switch Up, with the former being aimed primarily at runners while the latter is designed for multi-sport athletes. Both versions can be purchased with or without a wireless heart rate monitor and the Switch Up also includes a bike mount as well. Prices range from $229.99 to $349.99 depending on which package you go with. Find out more here.

The focus of the Switch seems very different from the Garmin fenix that we saw yesterday. The fenix seems more versatile for outdoor use while the Switch seems like it is tightly focused on athletes. Both are very appealing and I can see benefits from owning either. Hopefully I'll get a peek at the Switch at Outdoor Retailer in a few weeks as well. Interesting stuff.

The battle for technology on your wrist has just gotten a bit more interesting. Over the past year or so, the Sunnto Ambit has been the darling of the outdoor community, offering adventurers a host of functionality, including GPS technology, in a stylish and rugged watch. But Garmin, one of the leaders in both GPS and outdoor timepieces, hasn't exactly been sitting on their laurels. Today the company has officially announced the newest addition to its line-up, the fenix watch, which looks to be an outstanding product designed specifically for the outdoor market.

As you've no doubt already guessed, GPS functionality is at the heart of the fenix. Garmin promises simple and easy to use, "hands-free" navigation no matter which direction the watch is facing or how thick the forest canopy overhead. Navigational tools allow users to not only mark waypoints (Up to 1000!) along their route but also download trails from their computer, while a built in tracklog plots the course and provides an easy "trackback" option to get you safely back to the trailhead.

In addition to the typical watch functionality that we'd all expect he fenix also includes an altimeter, barometer and 3-axis compass, all of which come in handy when hiking and backpacking, particularly in the mountains. It contains a database of sunrise and sunset times based on location, keeps track of distance traveled and elevation changes, and is waterproof down to 50 meters (165 ft).

 If all of that isn't enough, the fenix also has the capability to wirelessly connect to other devices to extend its capabilities even further. For instance, it can be paired with an external temperature cage to get more accurate weather readings. Runners will have the option to add a heart monitor to track performance more closely and the watch will even be able to interact with "compatible" smartphones to share data as well. If I had to guess which phones will be compatible, I'd say iPhone and Android, although I haven't seen that confirmed anywhere as of yet.



As with all GPS devices, battery life is key to performance. The fenix comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that is rated for 16-50 hours in GPS mode, which is to say when the GPS featues are activated. Sensor mode, which is when the watch is configured to work with external devices, will net you a battery life of about 3 weeks, while watch mode doubles that to 6 weeks.

The fenix is available for pre-order now with a $399.99 price tag. That puts it squarely in the same market as GPS enabled watches from competitors and is fairly reasonable considering the tech they've got packed in here. It is expected to start shipping in August.

I'm looking forward to checking the fenix out while at Outdoor Retailer next month. I'm sure Garmin will have it prominently displayed in their booth and I'd love a watch like this not only for travel but for daily runs and bike rides. If I get my hands on a review unit I'll be sure to share some thoughts.