UPDATE: Looks like the ANT+ adapter for iPhone will be available later this week.

Garmin has announced the Garmin Fit app for iPhone and Android this morning, and an ANT+ adapter for the iPhone (that link wasn’t live when I posted this, but it probably will be later this morning). This is Garmin’s first fitness app, allowing users to track speed, pace, distance, time and calories. And at $0.99, it’s likely to gain a lot of users pretty quickly.

With an ANT+ enabled Android phone, or the $49.99 ANT+ adapter for iPhone, you’ll also be able to pair Garmin heart rate and cadence accessories with your phone.

Two more screen shots and then the full news release, which has more details…

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced Garmin Fit™ for iPhone and Android – its first fitness app that lets users track metrics such as speed, pace, distance, time, calories and with the help of Garmin accessories displays heart rate and cadence. Garmin Fit also maps and automatically uploads workouts to Garmin Connect™. Garmin also introduces its ANT+™ adapter for iPhone allowing users to use their Garmin ANT+ accessories with their iPhone.

“Garmin Fit is the ideal solution for users who are new to the fitness tracking landscape and for those looking to stay totally connected,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “To be able to utilize Garmin’s powerful fitness accessories with the same device that plays music, makes calls and uploads workouts automatically to share and analyze, makes Garmin Fit a must have app.”

Whether running on a local trail, cycling around the neighborhood or traveling for business Garmin Fit makes it easier than ever to see how far, how fast and where users have been. Garmin Fit ensures users will never be stuck without a way to track their workouts even when they forget to charge their Forerunner™ GPS enabled watch or fail to pack it for a trip. With the tap of a button Garmin Fit displays time, distance, pace and calories and even allows users to control their music from within the app. Never miss that important call – during a workout users will also be able to view and answer incoming calls and text messages without interrupting Garmin Fit ($0.99 USD).

Upon completion of a workout, users will be asked to name the activity and will have the opportunity to input notes about how the workout went or what the weather was like. The data will then be automatically sent to the user’s account in the ever-expanding and free Garmin Connect™ community (http://connect.garmin.com). Here 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 70 million activities around the world. Garmin Connect displays metrics such as time, distance, pace, 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. Garmin Fit will display the previous 30 days of Garmin Connect history as well as charts directly on users’ smartphones — giving them an extra tool to achieve their goals.

With Garmin’s ANT+ adapter for iPhone, available now at www.Garmin.com ($49.99 USD), users will be able to monitor and record their heart rate and cadence directly on their phone when paired with those optional accessories. One such accessory is a footpod sensor – which allows users who are training indoors to track their speed, pace, distance and run cadence.

Garmin Fit is the latest solution from Garmin’s expanding fitness segment, which focuses on developing technologies and innovations to enhance users’ lives and promotes healthy and active lifestyles.  Whether it’s running, cycling, or other athletic pursuits, Garmin fitness devices are becoming essential tools for athletes both amateur and elite.  For more about features, pricing and availability, as well as information about Garmin’s other fitness products and services, go to www.garmin.com/intosports, www.garmin.blogs.com andhttp://twitter.com/garmin.

Well this is the coolest thing I’ve seen on a GPS receiver in a long time. I picked up the new eTrex 20 yesterday and was happy to see that, as advertised, it promptly locked on to not only GPS satellites, but Russian GLONASS birds as well.

As far as I know, this is the first consumer receiver to feature GLONASS in the US. I know there is at least one smartphone available in Russia with it, but I’m not sure what else is out there.

We’ve seen recent reports suggesting GLONASS will improve reception in northerly latitudes and urban canyons. If you’ve got an eTrex to test in those environments, we’d love to hear from you. Chime in below!

By Catherine de Lange at Green Futures

‘Green City, Clean Waters’ will not only reduce water pollution but transform much of the city’s infrastructure, making it something of a sustainable idyll. The $2 billion, 25-year project was agreed by the Philadelphia Water Department and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in June.

The current water system combines stormwater storage and sewerage. During periods of heavy rainfall it overflows, causing sewerage to flow through streets and into the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The project will replace as much as one-third of the city’s existing impervious cover – about 4,000 acres – with natural or porous surfaces that can intercept stormwater, store it, and then release it at a controlled rate.

Proposals include natural water storage and filtering solutions such as rain gardens (native vegetation planted near waterways), kerbside planters and green rooftops. Porous asphalt, concrete and paving slabs will also be installed in car parks and on streets. Taken together, these technologies should prevent between 5 and 8 billion gallons of wastewater from overflowing each year – that’s up to 50% of the total for the area. Other benefits would include the creation of 250 green jobs each year, increased carbon sequestration from the vegetation, and a boost in recreational space.

The project will be funded through a combination of state and federal grants and loans, city water fees (adding $8 to a resident’s typical monthly bill), support from foundations and private investment. Just over half of the surfaces in need of replacement lie on private (non-residential) land, and so the city needs companies to invest in these changes. A number of incentives are being considered, such as on-bill financing (where the utility pays the upfront cost of the changes and the company pays it back on their bill over time), insurance discounts for those with green infrastructure in place, and tax levies.

Philadelphia is not alone in rethinking water management – although the scale of this project is unprecedented. “There’s increasing acceptance by politicians that water cannot be taken for granted”, says Nick Meeten, a specialist in urban water management at Huber Technologies.

In Europe, the city of Malmö in Sweden was one of the first to pioneer the use of green spaces to reduce sewerage overflow, and hosts the world’s first rooftop botanical gardens. Singapore has taken the use of rainwater runoff one step further, treating it for use as drinking water. For Meeten, the treatment and reuse of water is the thing to watch. He highlights membrane technology (low-energy filtration to give high quality water) as one solution “which really enable[s] a big step forward in urban water management”.

This article originally appeared in Green Futures, the magazine of independent sustainability experts Forum for the Future.

Image courtesy of sea turtle on flickr

Earlier this afternoon, DeLorme gave us a sneak peek at the forthcoming DeLorme inReach, which allows two-way messaging in the absence of a cellular connection. With plans starting at $9.95 per month, it sounds a bit pricey, but when you consider that the basic SPOT plan costs $99.99 per year, that’s not so bad (depending upon what the basic plan allows and the cost of the device). The device will work as a stand alone unit, or paired with the DeLorme PN-60w or Android smartphones. It’s late and I’ve got family obligations pressing, so for more info hit the link above and read all about it.