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    Epson announces world's lightest GPS watch

    Epson announces world's lightest GPS watch

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    Epson has announced that it will be releasing a 50-gram GPS watch and monitor sometime this year.

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    A new GPS running watch and monitor released this year will weigh less than some of its non-GPS counterparts. Epson, which announced the monitor today, says it will weigh under 50 grams (a little less than two ounces), making it the lightest of its kind, and that it will be able to run for up to 12 hours with GPS enabled. Like other GPS watches, it's designed to track distance and speed for marathon or trail runners. The concept above shows a fairly simple rubber monitor that's supposed to be only 13mm thick, making it smaller than many traditional sports watches.

    This announcement marks a first for Epson, a brand better known for its printers and projectors than watches or sporting goods. However, the company is also a subsidiary of the Seiko Group, a name far more familiar to timepiece enthusiasts. For this monitor, Epson developed a new, low-power GPS module that it says is responsible for the light weight and long battery life. The watch will be released in Japan sometime in 2012, although we don't know how much it will cost or when it might be coming to other markets.