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Microsoft Band

microsoft.com

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Re: Microsoft Band

#462

Post by creamhackered »

com2kid wrote: post #438
yourad_io wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you also use libevent, I win! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8532192 Congratulations for this btw. I'm not an MS fan, but I hope this works for you guys!

Thanks for the congrats! Our software was completely written from the ground up. We started with an empty main.c file. :) A number of us lead software engineers are on hacker news and we all love the latest programming languages. We got a bunch of really super cool stuff in here, but all in straight C and running in very little memory space. We're dying to start an engineering blog, we believe some of the lessons we…

I'd love to know more. If you're up for it please reach out to me 100% anonymously - tom at theverge dot com

Thanks :)

Re: Microsoft Band

#463

Post by [deleted] »

jaegerpicker wrote: post #422
jacquesm wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Person scaling with Azure here. It's pretty awesome and easy. And it's pretty expensive. Now, if your competitor is on an open stack and on real computers they will eventually run rings around you because they get more control and lower costs. The initial boost you're experiencing will turn into a straightjacket with a hefty pricetag over the longer term.

You do realize that Azure has about as much to do with windows as AWS, right? I use Azure to run a completely open source stack based on node, postgres, and python. I also have a long term windows server in AWS. Azure is every bit as open as any other "cloud" based stack

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft Band

#464

Post by stephengoodwin »

jmspring wrote: post #119
stephengoodwin wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not surprising with all its features, but for wearables, that's a killer. My Fitbit can do 5-6 days, and I would consider that on the shorter end of decent battery life.

The overall quality of the fitbit (both as a band and a clip) is complete crap. My wife, hardly a heavy user of such, has had the clip die within two months, the band (a replacement) started acting up within about 3 months. Bought at two separate times from two different places. Friends have similar stories. I haven't delved into wearables yet. I mostly have used my iPhone 5s (now 6) for the motion tracking, but it c…

I haven't had any issues, but my wife's Fitbit battery wouldn't stay charged for more than 2 days, within a month of getting it. Since her replacement came in, we've had no issues.

My biggest complaint with the Fitbit is the lack of any battery meter on the device itself. Unless you sync frequently, you wouldn't know when your battery is running low.

Re: Microsoft Band

#465

Post by kevingadd »

felixrieseberg wrote: post #64
guylhem wrote: 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…

Hey, I'm an Open Source Engineer with MSFT (and the msft dude for YC) - there isn't anything out yet, but we have always released SDKs for pretty much anything we build.

It's a shame there's no way to communicate feedback to the Band team that I can see on the website! I picked one up and like it so far, but it'll be a real disappointment if I can't ever use the mic for Google Now. Not expecting Cortana-level integration, it would just be silly for the mic to go to waste.

Re: Microsoft Band

#466

Post by NickNameNick »

iamshs wrote: post #419
jarin wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how they're getting around Apple's MagSafe patent, considering Apple doesn't license it out?

Surface also uses these magnetic connectors btw. So either there is a patent sharing agreement, so they have somehow circumvented it.

Microsoft have a patent on power-and-data connectors, which have shown up on devices before (I think ms kin phone had one)

Re: Microsoft Band

#467

Post by itsravi »

I spent about 8 hours using this today. Some notes.

  + It does feel heavy at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. 

  + I plugged it in to charge and it seemed to be stuck at 80%. This may be because of the port I was using so I can't lay blame on Band. 

  + The charging mechanism is solid and feels great. 
  + I keep wanting to swipe the screen to turn it on (you need to press the "home" button).

  + I went for a 1.5 mi run. It took *4 minutes* to lock in GPS. This is in a fairly populated area, but the I was kind of in the woods. My iPhone has zero issues locking into GPS. 

  + It mirrors all my notifications from my iPhone which I love. 

  + After running, I went straight to Starbucks and tried to pay with the band but failed because the screen does not respond to sweaty fingers. This is partly my fault.

  + Haven't detected any UV yet. 

  + HR locking is quick.

Re: Microsoft Band

#468

Post by delecti »

sytelus wrote: post #117

While everyone is trying to make a watch that looks as traditional as possible, Microsoft is thinking radically different for how the future watch should look likes. That's some guts. At $200 this looks like great device with built-in sensors including GPS and UV that also talks to whatever phone you own. I also like the fact that heart rate monitor is always on. Addition of barometer could have been nicer, however.…

The images on that page are split pretty much right down the middle for left vs right. I don't think it favors either hand.

Re: Microsoft Band

#469

Post by ssully »

cyanbane wrote: post #414

I went and picked one of these up at lunch from local Microsoft Store/Kiosk. No line, walked right up. Sales person was very informative, helped with wrist sizing. Came with some small swag (Starbucks gift card, water bottle, etc). There were two other people at the store - one looking at Surface another started looking at Band as I was leaving, I noticed they were looking at mine as I tried it on. Not hard to purcha…

I would be really interested to hear any feedback you have on the device

Re: Microsoft Band

#470

Post by delecti »

logfromblammo wrote: post #371
curiousDog wrote: post #30

Wow, this actually looks fantastic. Microsoft has always killed it in the hardware department. Looks like it connects to their cloud service as well. Will probably consider getting one.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. While MS has built a reputation for solid build quality on its peripherals, they are not immune to the race to the bottom. If you liked your old MS Intellimouse, for instance, it would be wise to check the date of manufacture before buying another. This affects more than just Microsoft. Other brands have changed ownership, or changed manufacturing facilities, but…

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results, but when a company has such a long history of dependable hardware, they have earned my trust.

Of course trust is easily lost, but they haven't disappointed me yet.

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