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Microsoft To Offer Band Refunds, Announces End of Apps and Services (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the end-of-the-road dept.

Microsoft is officially killing off its Microsoft Band and Microsoft Health Dashboard apps and services on May 31st. "The software giant already discontinued its wrist-worn Band fitness tracker more than two years ago, but the company has kept the Band apps running to support existing users," reports The Verge. "That will now change on May 31st, with the backend services ending and the apps being removed from the Microsoft Store, Google Play, and Apple's App Store." From the report: Existing Band users will be able to export their data before the end of May, and services powered by the cloud will cease to function in June. Band users should still be able to record daily steps, heart rate, and workouts, alongside activity data, sleep tracking, and alarm functionality. If a Band user resets a device then it will be "impossible to set up the device again" according to Microsoft.

Some Microsoft Band users will be eligible for a refund from the software giant, though. Microsoft is letting active users who have synced data from a Band to the Health Dashboard between December 1st 2018 and March 1st 2019 apply for a refund on their hardware. Surprisingly, Microsoft is offering $79.99 for Band 1 owners, and $175 for Band 2 devices. If your Microsoft Band is also covered under warranty, the same refund values will be available.

41 comments

  1. Fad by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    These tech companies have no clue what to do with all their cash. What a waste. At least give it back as dividends.

    1. Re:Fad by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Half the problem is nobody knows what fad will take off and which will flop. Many thought the iPhone was a fad, saying people want "real keyboards".

      The other half is that MS is usually a step behind real competitors in the consumer market.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Fad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's very true. Even the most successful tech investors get maybe 1 hit out of 10 investments. The catch is that the hit more than makes up for the flops (and usually they get a few moderate performers in there too that they can sell off)

    3. Re:Fad by rtb61 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why the fuck would anybody buy in goods as services when corporations routinely abandon them. Come on, they offer this shit and I guess most people like me look that the goods as a service and the first consideration, will it last, is it a shitty investment, in cost, time and learning (apparently wasting your time learning the product, well, HA HA sucker).

      So yeah goods as a service, straight away a big no, because they routinely cancel them. Why waste my time and money. Either it entirely runs locally or I simply refuse to buy it. Goods as a service either free of simply go away, not interested because corporations routinely lie about the quality and longevity of a product and not just a little but a whole damn lot especially American corporations (the seppo name is not without reason).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    4. Re:Fad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice! Typical spammer behavior; only a fraction of the spam is truly successful but you keep spamming like crazy since you are always so hungry!

    5. Re:Fad by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      +I still want a real keyboard but manufacturers don't want to make them.

      hell I just want real buttons, a scrollwheel or something or at least the home and back buttons as real buttons but noo.. that's too expensive component to put in a phone costing 500$+.

      I hope they'll make a comeback as sales slow down and they figure out they can't just pump out the same model with cheaper assembly every year.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    6. Re:Fad by rednip · · Score: 1

      If it's such a big consideration, perhaps you could spend, say, 5 minutes looking for them? Best phones with a physical QWERTY keyboard, which shows three phones with an 'old fashioned keyboard' (two blackberries, one motorolla) and notes that the Samsung S8 has a keyboard case option made by the manufacturer. Also there are plenty of small bluetooth keyboards and third party case options, yet I've never seen one 'in the wild'.

      Whenever this topic is broached there is always someone who complains about the lack of physical keyboards and claims that it's the option they are willing to switch for, but the reality of it seems different.

      --
      The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
    7. Re:Fad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah. Yes. I see your point, but I will raise you two more:

      1) People on average are incredibly stupid and at least 20% of any given population will buy into whatever crap you put out there. If your aggregate population is large enough (Microsoft users) that 20% is a huge deal.

      2) The sell-on "long data tail" here is priceless. Those idiots who bought the Band and uploaded their tracking date had it sold and re-sold and re-re-sold and spun into marketing and sold right back at them. Things like this are a gold mine.

      So congratulations! You are not one of the 20% -- THIS TIME. Odds are that sooner or later you, too will fall for something and your data will be uploaded just like the Band users. MS. Apple, Google, Amazon, etc all cast VERY wide nets. They may or may not bring up buried treasure (iPhones) every time, but be assured they will more than make back their investments in data capture.

  2. Oh boy by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    All 7 users will be really pissed.

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    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Oh boy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Colorado incel Kendall is probably 5 of 'em. "OMG OMG OMG shiny fangirl device!"

    2. Re: Oh boy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I still use my band daily. Oddly enough i was wondering if support might end. Now I know the answer. I noticed the Associated Press tile was not updating.

      My son was using his band, but not syncing with his iPhone. Bummer

    3. Re: Oh boy by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Okay, make that 9 then.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  3. Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 1, Funny

    A Zune by any other name...

    --
    That is all.
    1. Re:Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      To be fair, Apple copies also. Apple didn't invent touch-screens; they just knew where to put it and how to organize the UI around it. And they swiped GUI's from Xerox (per Mac/Lisa), but made it more practical and cheaper than Xerox knew how.

      The trick is knowing what to copy, how to coordinate copied components together, and what to skip.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by gravewax · · Score: 2

      why not? Apple does the same, copying is a very successful business model.

    3. Re:Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      why not? Apple does the same, copying is a very successful business model.

      There is a big difference between "copying" and just producing technology in a form that people want.

      It's like no one was allowed to produce rubber tires, because someone invented wooden wheels a long time ago, and rubber wheels are just copying the real invention.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    4. Re: Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Copy? I purchased my Microsoft Band months before the iWatch came out.
      Apple is the copycat here.

    5. Re:Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those analogies are moronic. Apple does the equivalent of putting simple to use instruction and a fresh coat of paint on, they don't do anything like the levels of innovation from going to wooden wheels to rubber. Hell a lot of their products have LESS functionality than the existing competition but they do it cleaner and prettier.

    6. Re:Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A Zune by any other name...

      Is an ipod.

    7. Re:Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Band and especially the band 2 was far beyond anything available at the time. They were the best "fit" devices of the era. In 2015 when I got my first Band, the Apple Watch didn't really do anything except mirror your phone.

      It wasn't until the Apple Watch 3 I ditched the Band.

    8. Re:Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      Taking something that exists (particularly if that something is a component, like a touchscreen) and making it better, is not copying.

      Apple does copy, but your examples are terrible.

    9. Re:Does Microsoft do anything but copy? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      There seems to be disagreements over what exactly "copying" means.

      Both MS and Apple aggregate various existing technologies for their "new" products. The difference is Apple is smarter about how it puts them together and also about what not to copy. Therefore, "copying" itself is not the difference maker.

      Apple merges the Mona Lisa with a Rembrandt, while MS merges Dogs-Playing-Poker with Velvet Elvis. An exaggeration, but you get the idea.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  4. A law to forbid hardware to become a brick needed by flood78 · · Score: 2

    It's unbelievable how many hardware are becoming bricks because the company don't want to support it anymore...

    A law should force companies to publish at least the server-side code so people could still use their hardware!

  5. Band on the run by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    Was for running, now just running away.

    1. Re: Band on the run by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Take my band, please!

    2. Re:Band on the run by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      I had that 45 when I was a kid... flip side was "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five".

      (/me hears a million Slashdotters ask "what's a 45?")

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:Band on the run by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      What's a 45? It was the gun that won the west.

  6. WUT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why would I want to edit a table in Microsoft Band App when I have 3D modeling programs?
    --
    "Is Wreck Ralph The Next Casey Neistat for Young Wannabe YouTubers?" #SomethingPositive & Hard work ! :)

  7. Re:A law to forbid hardware to become a brick need by slickwillie · · Score: 1

    Maybe someone can port Linux to it.

  8. Possible first step:requiring disclosure by Picodon · · Score: 2

    An easy-to-implement first step would be to require the prominent disclosure of such limitations, on the box and any advertisements, online sales pages, etc..

    Something like this (depending on the device):
        Locked device
        Using (and resetting) this device requires service from the manufacturer.
        Such service may be discontinued at any time, at the discretion of the manufacturer,
        after which you will no longer be able to use or reinitialise this device
        (for example to transfer it to another user).

    It's only a first step (whose effectiveness would obviously depend on consumers' attitude), but perhaps legislators would be able to agree fairly quickly on something benign like that.

    1. Re:Possible first step:requiring disclosure by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      We have laws mandating appliance and car manufacturers supply spare parts for X years after the product is discontinued. Why not have the same for digital stuff that relies on servers?

      Not just fitness gadgets, online games, online music/video libraries, anything that requires any external service to work. Either they keep it going for X years, they offer a way to operate without it that doesn't reduce functionality, or they pay out.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  9. Re:A law to forbid hardware to become a brick need by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I reverse engineered the bluetooth protocol (called Cargo, btw) to use the MSBand in my research as a self-contained battery powered biosensor - thankfully, MS wrote the Windows app in .NET, so MSIL is readily available. Is there an interest in making my work publicly available? It's not quite the same as their ecosystem, but far more useful :)

  10. Re:A law to forbid hardware to become a brick need by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

    In a way, they may have made it better:

    services powered by the cloud will cease to function in June. Band users should still be able to record daily steps, heart rate, and workouts, alongside activity data, sleep tracking, and alarm functionality

    Of course, maybe they'll still track you but just not give you the benefit of accessing that data.

    I have a different brand of "fitness tracker" and all I want to do is track steps, heart rate and sleep.

  11. Re: A law to forbid hardware to become a brick nee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How can we locate your work? I would be interested in continuing to use mine.

  12. Landifll by johnsie · · Score: 1

    More plastic for the landfill

  13. Release firmware source by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Give the device a second life

  14. A one trick pony by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    AKA Microsoft.

  15. Not true. by bussdriver · · Score: 1

    Apple bought Xerox tech and hired some of their people. They didn't steal a thing except in a metaphorical sense because Xerox was too stupid to know what they had. Xerox got a bunch of Apple stock which naturally they sold sooner than they should have... again, not thinking long term.

    As far as touch screens; they did a tiny bit-- a lot of the major UI was done at universities already if you were following the demos and papers back before Apple made a thing. A huge amount of so-called innovation comes from academia but it doesn't have a marketing budget... plus some student work is how people get hired or create a startup which is bought out, etc.

    --
    Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
  16. How do I get the refund? by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 1

    It says on the linked page that "Certain Band users will be eligible to receive a refund according to the below terms." But it doesn't provide any mechanism to request the refund.

  17. Microsoft is the Yoko Ono of tech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Killing off the band.