The Department of Defense’s global positioning system became fully operational in 1995. Since then the private and public uses of gps have exploded. Gps is used for mapping, surveying, tracking and navigation. From the earliest hand held gps devices to the current gps watches it is evident that this is a useful and beneficial technology and the applications for it will continue to grow.

Fitness watches are becoming the norm for many serious and recreational runners, cyclers, and other outdoor enthusiasts. One of the best watches for running is the Garmin Forerunner. These gps enabled watches come in a variety of models including the 101, 201, 205, 301, 305, 405, 405cx, 50, 60 and the 310xt. All models are gps enabled and all but the model 101 are able to upload and download information to a computer. Mapping software allows users to view their real time course progression as well as their pace, altitude, heart rate and calorie consumption.

The Brickhouse Alert mobile gps watch is made for children and will allow parents to check on the whereabouts of any child wearing this handy device. It can also be used for the elderly, mentally challenged, chronically ill people or workers who spend a lot of time alone and may need fast emergency communication. Not only does it have a built in gps locator, it also has a distress alarm and a built in cellular speaker phone.

The Suunto X9mi is designed for military, tracking and hunting operations. It has a three hundred sixty degree compass, orange backlighting for safe use at night and allows one to produce routes through woods or fields and watch progress in real time.

It’s hard to say what the future will bring to the field of gps watches. If past technology is any indicator it’s a sure bet that the technology will become smaller, cheaper and more available to the masses. When that happens it will be a pretty good bet that everyday wristwatch timepieces will be an oddity of the past available only in antique shops and flea markets