When Garmin announced the FR60 GPS sport watch in January its real promise lay with its ANT+ wireless data transfer technology. ANT+ allows the FR60 to transfer data wirelessly with any exercise device compatible with the protocol. Furthermore, the FR60 itself includes an ANT+ USB stick that can be plugged into a PC or laptop enabling exercise data to be transferred to a computer.
Yesterday, Garmin announced several alliances based around ANT+. Big fitness industry names like indoor rowing device maker Concept2 and Nautilus are among the companies enabling their products to sync with Garmin’s FR60 and ANT+-compatible heart rate monitors.
Today, Tanita, one of the new ANT+ partners, officially announced the first product to sync with Garmin’s FR60. The BC-1000 Body Composition Monitor, which measures among other things muscle mass, body fat and daily caloric intake, will wirelessly sync with the Garmin FR60 immediately displaying and recording measurements on the watch. Once you’re in range of your computer, the FR60 transmits the data via the ANT+ USB stick to the included Tanita HealthyEdge Software.
The Tanita Body Composition Monitor will ship this summer in two package options. The BC-1000 packaged with the wireless USB stick will cost $279.99, while the second package also includes the Garmin FR60 bumping the price up to $399.99.