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Microsoft Band

microsoft.com

281–290 of 534 posts

Re: Microsoft Band

#281
"Only available in the US" - unless you arrange for a friend in the States to get one for you ship it to you.

However, it looks like the accompanying Windows Phone Microsoft Health app is not available if you're outside of the US. (not sure if this also applies to the Android and iPhone apps as well)

Workaround anyone?

Re: Microsoft Band

#282
post #281

"Only available in the US" - unless you arrange for a friend in the States to get one for you ship it to you. However, it looks like the accompanying Windows Phone Microsoft Health app is not available if you're outside of the US. (not sure if this also applies to the Android and iPhone apps as well) Workaround anyone?

APK for android.

Re: Microsoft Band

#283
post #223
post #35

All the sensors + apparently a very lightweight OS + small form factor = I like it. The killing feature is the integrated GPS. As mentionned on the website, you can go without your phone. That alone could make it a buy if it supports wireless charging (I don't want to bother with wires in 2014) Also, it is multiplatform, which is a big plus. I do not want an android watch or an iwatch, but something that will work re…

It's ugly, but if I were in the market for a smartwatch/fitness tracker this might be the only one I'd bother with. As I find myself saying more and more, I love this new Microsoft. It's insane how much harm a single man can do.

I actually see this as a great fitness tracker (that is why I might buy it) but I don't see it as a smart watch (and I'm not complaining about that).

In order to be a smart watch it would need to do more "smart" things such as showing notifications, interacting with third-party apps, etc. If you have a Windows Phone you can talk to cortana so it's the closest thing to a smart phone you can get on that OS, but still it's clearly not as powerful as what Android Wear and probably Apple Watch can do.

Re: Microsoft Band

#284
post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, what is UV sensor good for? And I'd really like altimeter for this kind of device.

According to the site, "Get a quick read of the UV Index so you can decide to apply sunscreen before you hit the road."

Couldn't you just look up at the sky to answer this question?

Re: Microsoft Band

#285

Quoting an article from The Economist.com: "... Strikingly, one-third of users discard their devices after six months, according to research by Endeavour Partners, a consultancy. Some industry insiders speculate that the true number may be much higher than that. ...The novelty of being able to track your steps, calories or other metrics is appealing at first, but swiftly wears off. ..." Full article - http://goo.gl/h…

To compare Microsoft Band to a FitBit doesn't do the Band justice. FitBit is a toy - counting footsteps isn't "fitness" and a few LEDs isn't feedback. With GPS and an actual display, the Band actually has the ability to compete against Garmin and Suunto and actual fitness watches. My Garmin is bulky, can't lock a signal in a neighborhood with tall buildings and has software reminiscent of an Atari. And it was more ex…

Hey, you seem to know to be an enthusiast about fitness tracking, can you give me a quick advice?

I want a fitness tracker, but I don't want the display. I want it to be lightweight and comfortable to wear, ideally wrapping around my wrist. Sweat-proof. Pedometer, accelerometer, and have decent sleep tracking. A killer feature for me for me would be measuring jumps, as in rope jumps.

Does something resembling this exist somewhere?

Re: Microsoft Band

#286
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ugly, but if I were in the market for a smartwatch/fitness tracker this might be the only one I'd bother with. As I find myself saying more and more, I love this new Microsoft. It's insane how much harm a single man can do.

I actually see this as a great fitness tracker (that is why I might buy it) but I don't see it as a smart watch (and I'm not complaining about that). In order to be a smart watch it would need to do more "smart" things such as showing notifications, interacting with third-party apps, etc. If you have a Windows Phone you can talk to cortana so it's the closest thing to a smart phone you can get on that OS, but still i…

I think it does show notifications.

Re: Microsoft Band

#287
post #138

Look pretty slick. It's interesting that it's marketed as a fitness device but is actually a smart watch. I own a Garmin Forerunner 305 which can last 6-8 hours of active use. I know that the recent Garmin devices last close to a day. The Microsoft Band doesn't tell us how well it does on battery with the GPS -- without the GPS it claims 48 hours.

If you're using gps to track running and such, you aren't running 24 hours a day, so you can save battery by turning it on and off. I think that's a great feature. But it would have been nice to say 'GPS' time, like phones describe 'talk-time'.

There are times I wish I could leave GPS tracking on all the time, with a simple way to add markers either now or later, and with the ability to share the data with any app I want. There are times I just want to hop on my bike and ride without doing some dance with a finicky GPS app that I have to remember to stop at the end (and hope it doesn't crash during my ride).

Re: Microsoft Band

#288
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ugly, but if I were in the market for a smartwatch/fitness tracker this might be the only one I'd bother with. As I find myself saying more and more, I love this new Microsoft. It's insane how much harm a single man can do.

I actually see this as a great fitness tracker (that is why I might buy it) but I don't see it as a smart watch (and I'm not complaining about that). In order to be a smart watch it would need to do more "smart" things such as showing notifications, interacting with third-party apps, etc. If you have a Windows Phone you can talk to cortana so it's the closest thing to a smart phone you can get on that OS, but still i…

>> "but I don't see it as a smart watch"

Neither does MS. I read an interview with one of the product leads on The Verge and he said it is not a smart watch. He envisions you continue wearing your watch on one are and this primarily as a fitness tracker and productivity device on the other.

Re: Microsoft Band

#289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds cool! Can you disclose/admit what language it was written in? I'm very tempted to try this out instead of getting a fitbit (not at all impressed with the Apple or Android watches so far).

> single threaded lightweight runtime based around call backs Sounds like Javascript to me, or maybe something like Erlang. I wonder if we'll be able to install apps on the device or just build external apps for cell phones. What about hooking it up to your desktop/laptop for notifications and stuff? I'm thinking there could be some cool features there.

I'd rule out Erlang, if they wanted a functional language they'd probably go with F#, seeing how this is MS.

I don't think this is enough info, even for an educated guess. What they're describing (single threaded/callbacks) could even be C/libevent, no?

Edit: Also,

> Every microsecond of CPU time is accounted for and justified!

...for me, this rules out any kind of VM contained language

Re: Microsoft Band

#290
post #35

All the sensors + apparently a very lightweight OS + small form factor = I like it. The killing feature is the integrated GPS. As mentionned on the website, you can go without your phone. That alone could make it a buy if it supports wireless charging (I don't want to bother with wires in 2014) Also, it is multiplatform, which is a big plus. I do not want an android watch or an iwatch, but something that will work re…

No barometer/altitude sensor though?

Barometer can be useful to accelerate a GPS fix or to have some sort of weather forecast. But for altitude, once GPS is fixed, you have reliable enough altitude, hence it wouldn't be that useful.
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