Microsoft Enters the Wearables Market With 'Band'

Microsoft has announced the availability of "Microsoft Band," a wearable device that goes on the wrist. It's designed to do health- and fitness-related tasks, like monitoring heart rate and how well a wearer sleeps, and its on-board GPS lets users map their run/bike routes. The company says Band plays nicely with iOS and Android devices in addition to Windows phones. It also has full support for viewing phone notifications and calendar alerts, and a built-in microphone enables queries through the Cortana personal assistant software. The display is rectangular, 11mm x 33mm (0.43" x 1.3"), and has a resolution of 320x106. They claim a battery life of 48 hours, with a charge time of 1.5 hours or less. The device costs $200.

Comments

its like theyre getting worse.

[nimbius]

when he iphone came out redmond took 4 years to consider the prospect of a competitive product. Once they released it, nobody cared because two smartphone manufacturers already existed in the market. The fitbit is a 7 year old product. most cellphone accellerometers do the same thing, including the windows phone. regardless microsoft decided to make this thing, 7 years into the market when everyone from nike to apple already have a competing product with greater market share.

Re:Device looking for a use case

[Maxwell]

You don' t have a Tag Heuer. You have a $50 battery powered quartz watch with a very expensive Tag Heuer sticker on it. A real, Automatic Movement Tag has about a 48 hour reserve, after that it needs to be worn, wound or placed in a winder.

Not the two markets overlap much, but there are a lot of watches out there that won't run for more than 48hours....

And back on topic, this thing looks really good. I don't care about the health stuff that much, but the smart watch features look great.

Got mine yesterday - Intriguing device

[archmcd]

I picked one up yesterday. I like the form factor. It's not as bulky as my MOTOACTV, but it still seems to have a lot of usefulness. Some of the things missing out of the gate include the ability to do voice input if you're on anything but Windows Phone 8.1, the ability to load music on it and use it without your phone for a run (with bluetooth headphones - something my MOTOACTV can do), and I really wish it had NFC so I can use it for mobile payments.

As for the first two gripes, those may get fixed with a future software update. The last one I guess I'll have to get over. I can use my phone.

All in all, it seems Microsoft may finally be thinking outside the box. Not everyone wants a microtablet on their wrist, and with the right software updates, this thing could be just as capable.