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Tom's Hardware: Microsoft Smartband Coming In October With 11 Sensors

Posted by timothy on from the easier-sell-than-new-headgear dept.

New submitter TuxHiggs (2691251) writes "Last month, Forbes wrote that Microsoft was preparing a cross-platform smartwatch with the ability to continuously track your heart rate and sync the data to your devices. A trusted source with knowledge of the development has verified some of that information and provided Tom's Hardware with additional details about the device. The source confirmed previous rumors that the device is cross-platform compatible, and added there would be open APIs as well. The source also confirmed that the display is on the inside of the wrist as opposed to the outside. Design-wise, Microsoft has gone with a slim band design that is said to resemble a thinner, flatter version of the Nike Fuelband. While details about the hardware are scant, the source did reveal that there are 11 sensors under the hood and a mix of chips, including some from TI and Atmel. Finally, the release for this device is apparently set for October."

16 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Microsoft? by binarylarry · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No but they'll be doing the next best thing: failing hard yet again after being beaten to the punch by Apple, Google and Samsung.

    I know I'll never get sick of seeing them in pain.

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  2. Can my dick wear that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    will be smartest dick around. hope BSOD doesn't come too early, reboot takes long.

  3. It looks like... by Rashdot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Smartwatch: "It looks like your heart has stopped. Would you like me to:"

    - stop recording to save power?

    - use a backup?

    --
    This is not the sig you're looking for.
    1. Re: It looks like... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      More like
      "I detected your heart stopped. Would you like to active the defibrillator?"
      {Yes} {No} {Cancel}
      YES
      "Are you sure you want to allow this action?"
      {yes} {cancel}
      YES
      "Administrator password required for this action"
      {........}
      "The defibrillator function is used for the first time. Installation of device drivers required"
      "Would you like to install the drivers now?"
      {Yes} {No} {Later}
      YES
      "Need to download system files. Reboot required. Download now?"
      {Yes} {No} {Later}
      YES
      "Download failed. Try again?"
      {Yes} {Cancel}
      YES
      "Download complete. Install now?"
      {Yes} {No}
      YES
      "Are you sure you want to allow this action?"
      {Yes} {No} {Cancel}
      YES
      "Installation complete. Reboot now? All unsaved data will be lost"
      {yes} {cancel}
      YES
      "Rebooting"
      "WindowsWatch wasn't shutdown properly the last time. Starting in save mode. All drivers disabled".
      {Reboot}
      "You heart still doesn't beat. Do you want to active the defibrillator?"
      {Yes} {No} {Cancel}
      YES
      "Starting the defibrillator. Please read the EULA and click on agree"
      {43 pages of EULA later}
      {AGREE}

      --- BSOD ---

      Meanwhile the patient has died.

    2. Re:It looks like... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 3, Funny

      I see that you're not up to date on the recent trends in Windows land. These days, it's all about social integration, so it would really be:

      - post to Twitter?
      - post to Facebook?
      - post to LinkedIn?

  4. Re:Anonymous Coward: source name prefix is bullshi by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 3, Funny

    Because Microsoft's management team operates like a group of toddlers.

    "Apple's watch has 8 sensors! Oh yeah?! Well OURS has ELEVEN."

    *throws together a bunch of chips from companies they ran out of business into a bulky, ugly box that straps to your wrist and has a 2 hour battery life*

    Six months later:

    YOU GUYS AREN'T PLAYING FAIR I'M TELLING THE SEC

    Patent trolling lawsuits go.

  5. Sarten-X: A reasonable explanation by Sarten-X · · Score: 3, Informative

    Tom's Hardware has a decent reputation, unlike most of the rumor-mills that run their detritus through this place. That bit of credibility is an important detail of this story.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  6. It'd be good if they skipped the fads. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Time and time again these Apple-inspired technologies have proven to just be temporary fads.

    When it comes to Apple, their success is never about the devices themselves. Their success derives from the fact that they're basically a modern-day religion for a lot of people. Apple's customers buy Apple products as a status symbol, rather than something that's actually useful to them.

    The personal audio player fad went bust. The large form factor tablet fad went bust. The small form factor tablet fad went bust. The netbook fad went bust. The media center fad went bust.

    This "fitness monitoring device" fad will go bust, too.

    Google, Samsung and Microsoft would all be better off avoiding these fads. They don't have the quasi-religious status that Apple has, and it'll save them the time and money wasted on producing one-generation-only products that end up failing in the marketplace because they're damn near useless for anyone who isn't buying them just for a fruit-shaped logo on the back.

    1. Re:It'd be good if they skipped the fads. by davester666 · · Score: 2

      There are only a zillion companies today that wish they were the ones selling, including EVERY SINGLE competitor such as Samsung, Google and Microsoft:
      -iPods
      -iPad Airs
      -iPad Minis
      -iPhone 5S
      -iPhone 5C (yes, even this absolute failure, which only has either the 2nd and 3rd highest sales volume in the US since it was introduced)

      And by this, I mean that they wish they could take over selling these devices right now, even those all these 'fads' have gone bust.

      And Apple never sold netbooks, and I guess everybody has jumped on Apple's wearable fad before Apple has.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    2. Re:It'd be good if they skipped the fads. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bullshit. We've known that iPads would come one day all the way since 1968, and since most everyone needs a phone, it only makes sense to make a smaller version of the same for phone-y applications. These are not fads, that's logical development.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:It'd be good if they skipped the fads. by davester666 · · Score: 3, Funny

      1. my post was being sarcastic as to the idea that all the items were 'fads that had gone bust'.
      2. logical development or not, Bill was trying to foist his tablets on people for more than 10 years, and rather unsuccessfully...I guess Steve just looked at what Bill did, and went "Well, I'll just not do what Bill did, and do what Bill didn't, and my tablet will be wildly successful". It seems to have worked.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    4. Re: It'd be good if they skipped the fads. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Don't even try. You can't argue with religious zealots, just ostracise them.

  7. A solution without a need by stevez67 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They'll all fail because there simply is no mass need to drive sales.

  8. Re:Anonymous Coward: source name prefix is bullshi by rtb61 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Just the sort of thing the NSA would love. So monitors all elemental emotional state levels much like a lie detector when ever your wear it. Reports you location and incorporates a bug er microphone into the device. Hell the NSA would have wet dreams about making it compulsory. The soft sell would be, but it means you don't have to carry a drivers licence when police wrongly demand ID they just be able to lock onto your watch and get all the information they want 24/7/365. Hmmm, who will be watching whom, will your be watching your watch or will your watch be watching you.

    --
    Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  9. Re:Microsoft? by dreamchaser · · Score: 3, Informative

    Whats pebble?

    It's a smartwatch, and a woefully underpowered one at that.

    https://getpebble.com/

    For $250 I'll pass.

  10. Re:Microsoft? by dreamchaser · · Score: 2

    Where did I get it? From their website, but you'd know that if you'd looked. I understand the use for a smart watch. There really isn't one yet.