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Microsoft Unveils $199 'Microsoft Band' Fitness Wearable
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Biggest reason I'd get this over the apple watch - gps tracking without having to bring along my phone strapped to my arm. How can apple say they are releasing a sport version, but say oh yeah, you need an extra $600 device to make the watch work when you are running.
Well done Microsoft allowing it to be paired to iOS.
Well done Microsoft allowing it to be paired to iOS.
Why not? It can notify you of incoming phone calls/text and other alerts so I would assume changing music tracks would be a trivial matter (bluetooth) and obviously a highly requested feature for many fitness activities.
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You don't have to as shown in the videos but as i mentioned earlier thats probably to pick up your pulse on the inside of your wrist while training, assuming the sensor is attached to the underside of the watch part.
I'm picking one up today. I'll post some pictures when I get it all setup. I'm excited for something like this. I would LOVE an Apple Watch, but the first iteration will be interesting. Plus...it's going to be OVERPRICED.
Only the fitness bands from Polar and Garmin are waterproof, the rest are like this "splash-proof / rain-proof etc." (Fitbit, Nike, Jawbone, Microsoft etc.)
The Garmin Vivosmart is what I'm wearing now (before I have had bands from Nike, Fitbit, Jawbone, and Garmin's Vivofit) and it is the nicest balance for me. First off it is tiny, tiny, tiny compared to all these other bands yet has an invisible and big OLED touch display when you wake it up with a tap. It does all the smart band stuff with my iPhone including call notifications, app notifications, texts etc. while doing step counting, calorie burn etc. It syncs with MyFitnessPal, Garmin's own site, and more. It can get data from a HR strap, bike sensors and more. Battery life is a week. Waterproof to 50 ft.
These bands with optical HR and more are great but sorry, I won't put an ugly brick on my wrist when newer bands are getting into the Livestrong band size terrority.
Yea I think mine would go off a few times a day. At my old job, I'm sure the battery would drain from the stress alerts within 12hrs.
I just checked it out on the MS website. I think it looks pretty good. They are shooting for a mid-point between an entry level fit band for $100 (e.g. fitbit flex or charge) and a full fledged smart watch (e.g.watch) for $350 plus.
Actually, i kind of like this middle ground at $199;
Activity tracker
Heart rate sensor
GPS
email notification
text messages
caller ID
calendar
sleep tracker
watch
2 days of Battery life
If I need anymore functionality, I'll just take my phone out of my pocket like I do now.
My current "work-watch" is a Suunto Ambit2 and it's amazing. But it seems the functionality of this could replace that for my everyday use and not be as bulky.
Well I had high hopes for Apple watch but it failed to provide the one basic foundational feature that I need...a gps running watch that lets me leave my iPhone at home when I run.
The rest was gravy but the promise of all the extra tracking sensors had me salivating at the potential running analysis all from one mobile device. That's the geek in me but being able to keep it all in the apple sphere was appealing.
Microsoft is at least providing the basic functionality but at that point I'm better off with a dedicated running watch.
Oh well...
I haven't seen many sports watches in person but as I jog every so often (same route mostly) it would be nice to see a gradient path of my route that shows biometrics over time/distance. for example 3/4 on my run my heart rate goes way up, i'm too hot and my face is purple
this is shown on a map with the path starting blue, probably spiking to red in my warmup as my HR goes to max then petering off as you get in that zone. Now that over time on multiple runs (as overlays?) would let you see progress in endurance and obviously faster times. It's just interesting data really. Do any of the current apps offer this level of micro detail?
I haven't seen many sports watches in person but as I jog every so often (same route mostly) it would be nice to see a gradient path of my route that shows biometrics over time/distance. for example 3/4 on my run my heart rate goes way up, i'm too hot and my face is purple
Do you take your phone with you, you can get this with a heart monitor, your iPhone and mapmyrun...
People on here are so freakin' lazy and/or stupid.
The post to the Microsoft page has been posted at least three times. It takes about 2 minutes to glance through it and answer half the questions on here.
1) Yes...it tells time. But it is NOT a watch. They specifically call it a band. It does nearly everything the currently popular fitness bands do PLUS 50 other things that people have been complaining about for years. Read the list...I can't believe everything it does.
2) Purple is the color shown on the page. It clearly says it is completely customizable.
3) The page shows people wearing it in both orientations; facing up and down. I wear a very nice Omega watch on my left wrist and could completely imagine wearing this facing down on my right wrist like a fitness band. For those of you that feel the orientation is weird, that is just a preference. You don't think it is weird to lift your arm up to your face to see what time it is on a traditional watch? Looking at the watch on my wrist right now as I type, it would be just as easy to see the time or notifications on the MS Band...my hands are straight in front of me...usually that way about 90% of the day.
4) Works with Apple, Android AND MS phones....win.
5) Again...it is NOT a watch and shouldn't be compared to Apple's product which is clearly a watch that does SOME fit band type functions. It is a fashion device that will sell like crazy.
For $199 and seeing what it can actually show, I can't wait to try it out.
The post to the Microsoft page has been posted at least three times. It takes about 2 minutes to glance through it and answer half the questions on here.
1) Yes...it tells time. But it is NOT a watch. They specifically call it a band. It does nearly everything the currently popular fitness bands do PLUS 50 other things that people have been complaining about for years. Read the list...I can't believe everything it does.
2) Purple is the color shown on the page. It clearly says it is completely customizable.
3) The page shows people wearing it in both orientations; facing up and down. I wear a very nice Omega watch on my left wrist and could completely imagine wearing this facing down on my right wrist like a fitness band. For those of you that feel the orientation is weird, that is just a preference. You don't think it is weird to lift your arm up to your face to see what time it is on a traditional watch? Looking at the watch on my wrist right now as I type, it would be just as easy to see the time or notifications on the MS Band...my hands are straight in front of me...usually that way about 90% of the day.
4) Works with Apple, Android AND MS phones....win.
5) Again...it is NOT a watch and shouldn't be compared to Apple's product which is clearly a watch that does SOME fit band type functions. It is a fashion device that will sell like crazy.
For $199 and seeing what it can actually show, I can't wait to try it out.
Which is why Apple is coming out with a line of 34 styles for the Watch. It looks like Microsoft is competing more against the FitBand than the Apple Watch with this one.
What do you expect? This board, especially the news discussion, is so anti-Apple it's not even funny. Weren't you here when iPhone 6 release? I'm surprised not everyone have bought this by now.
I do sometimes for the GPS pathing but don't have a HR monitor, I just slow down when I can hear my own heart beat in my face haha. I was really asking about dedicated sport watches from the other poster really. With this MS band and all those additional sensors you could really analyse your fitness over time/distance that previously hasn't been possible I assume.