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 regardless of the cellphone I chose.
I wonder if there's a devkit to read the data. If some HN is from Microsoft, I'd love some links to the devkit page (simple stuff, like retreiving GPS log, heartrate log, etc)
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.
Is there any way to make iOS integration work better? I know that Apple Jails things and limits the BT. I am just hoping that a tweak will allow iPhones to use Siri with the cortana integration, and allow canned responses for SMS.
Also, my notifications have been spotty, but I may reset and start over, because my friend with a band is not having that issue.
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.
Ugly? For me it's one of the best designs for a smartwatch (I think Samsung or Sony also have this "band" design), not the big clunky watches that were released this year.
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.
Based on this interview/article on the verge [0], it sounds like there are plans to open up to devs eventually (not surprised, considering microsoft's current trends), sounds like they are just taking this one step at a time.
Several Android and Windows phones support wireless charging or can be modified to do so. (E.g., the Nexus 6 supports it and with the Note line you can just swap out the back panel for a special one). Devices like the Moto 360 also support wireless charging.
I wonder if you can ping the MS Band's GPS similar to Apple's Find My Friends feature? If so this would be an awesome feature. My parents, who are older, don't like carrying phones. This would be really convenient safety wise.
well invested in the apple ecosystem but this seems very good. I am very intrigued and may well end up with a few of these in my family. If the reality matches the marketing, I'm in. For a fitness accessory the on device GPS is the killer app.
My only beef with these "fitness bands" is their lack of being able to tell you how accurately you sleep at night. Without a heart rate monitor, there's really no way to be accurate other than to say you were restless versus laying still.
AFAIK the only product that does this is Polar's fitness band. And only because you can link their heart rate monitor to it to give you additional fitness information. I could be wrong to think they're the only one combining the two.
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.
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.
Other tidbits:
-Screen looks too small to do much of an interaction so I'm guessing type of apps would be mostly notification types.
-I seriously hate all these stock photos and videos. Marketing seems to be out of ideas and creativity yet again. Show the f*ing product, not random faces.
-48 hr battery life
-Cortana works only for Windows Phone
-It's supposedly made for the right hand which is very weird.
-Sleep quality monitoring seems pretty cool
-The whole thing is projected as health device and makes me feel that it's designed for fitness nuts. This is going to severely limit the audience and very bad marketing strategy. Apple's watch is much more human/teens oriented that anyone wearing watches wouldn't mind to wear regardless of its health related features and probably mostly just for fun (send my heartbeat!).
I think they're going after correct audience. They're going after people who probably already record these things. For eg I use a heart rate monitor, cycling computer that records GPS coordinates and speed/cadence/altitude changes when I cycle. If this thing had ANT+ connectivity and worked with extra sensors I would buy it to replace my cycling gear.
I can't see anyone spending $200 for this if they're not at least somewhat serious about their exercise. Counting steps and taking my heart rate twice a day is just a gimmick to me.
I'm not serious about exercise but I'll buy one. I work with data and I'm curious about what my measurements look like. i tried other apps but they required too much effort, so the cost/benefit wasn't right for me.
They claim a battery life of 48 hours under "normal usage" (read: no GPS), with a charging time of 1.5 hours. Though if it's supposed to be used as a sleep tracker, I kinda wonder when we're supposed to charge it.
It would be great if it had wireless charger antenna in the strap and the charging surface would double as mouse pad. Then the right hand would make sense.
If you compare it more closely to a Garmin than to a Fitbit, this is reasonable/comparable battery life. A Garmin GPS watch will track 8-15 hours of activity, if you're lucky ... but without GPS and in pure watch mode will last a couple of weeks.
I'd buy this to replace a Fitbit any day of the week.
The design is rectangular, like Gear Fit, so giving credit for trying something different doesn't seem right.
Also, most pictures on the site have people wearing it on their left hand, so it seems perfectly capable of being on either wrist.
Finally, you're calling it a watch, while this is clearly not what Microsoft intended it to be. So it seems their marketing strategy is pretty on point for what they're trying to sell. The words 'watch', 'time', or 'clock' aren't mentioned anywhere on the page. You should be judging the product for what it is, not what you want it to be.
Rather than being gutsy, I think it looks like it belongs in the Fitbit ecosystem (which maintains 69% of wearables marketshare, according to NPD Group).
It doesn't appear to be hand-specific. Most fitness trackers suggest you should wear on your non-dominant hands, because they give a more accurate step count.
I actually appreciate the fact that its not marketing as an entire smart phone on my wrist. I don't want to browse my photo albums on it or wait 2 seconds for my watch screen to wake up before checking the time. I'm glad its just fitness sensors and simple clock/calender/email/notifications.
This is more or less exactly what I hoped the Apple Watch would be: a sensor platform with simple notifications. Too bad it doesn't look as nice as a Fitbit, though; that screen is way too long.
>-The whole thing is projected as health device and makes me feel that it's designed for fitness nuts. This is going to severely limit the audience and very bad marketing strategy.
Yeah, designing product to specific target audience didn't work out so well for GoPro I'm sure.
I am a bit shocked there are no color variations shown, this just begs for them. I really do appreciate they didn't hamper themselves by boxing themselves in with a typical watch face.
Now if they could figure out how to monitor blood sugar easily we would be all set. I am curious if with the built in GPS I could use it to monitor my bicycling? I know it can get my heart rate but I am also curious how well that performs while I sweat because I can get soaked on some rides.
I like your reasoning. Worth mentioning the Apple Watch starts at $349.
> feel that it's designed for fitness nuts
This product is quite a leap for Microsoft already. The watch market is young and probably led by fitness nuts.
It's probably a good strategy for Microsoft to nail this market first, learn about the marketing and triggers, secure a position and a revenue, then extend to a larger watch market when it is more structured.
> The watch market is young and probably led by fitness nuts.
Nope, not the feeling I'm getting. Most people around me do not have a smart-watch. I own a pebble which has extremely limited functionality compared to Apple Watch, etc.
The fact that I don't have to watch my phone to get input (read notifications, who's calling, runkeeper data, etc.) + the fact that I can keep my iPhone volume off and still not miss a single call, is a huge plus to me! Having Siri on your wrist could be extremely important for free lancers or generally speaking people who don't have a secretary to call at all times.
> 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
>> "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."
It will be interesting to see which approach consumers prefer. Techies were going nuts of the Moto 360 because it looked like a real watch and to me it seems the most likely for a normal person to wear.
Finally a Microsoft product that isn't stupidly handcuffed to their ecosystem. Microsoft has amazing engineers still, and they must be frustrated that they aren't allowed to produce the best device they can, regardless of os. I hope for their sake this thing does well.
So I guess I can finally talk about building the iOS version of this app back during the prototype phase. The team that built this was totally skunkworks and honestly seemed to care little about the OS it runs on. What they do care is that this device+app works as a good showcase for the Azure platform. they want part of the story to be that the data generated by this device is completely accessible to anyone who wants it, and their app is just the reference implementation.
> If you're using Windows Phone 8.1, ask Cortana to take notes or set reminders with your voice. She'll give you driving directions and keep you on top of traffic, sports, stocks, weather, and more. She is ready to help whenever you need it.
It sounds like Cortana only works with a Windows Phone though. However, it seems like this is mainly a fitness tracker with light smartwatch features on the side, so I'm not sure if I'd consider this a dealbreaker or anything.
I agree to the extend, that it sounds like Microsoft is in any way special here. Actually, for some time it's opening up pretty much. Apple is even worse, Google will certainly not support MS products in any way if they don't benefit massively.
It's important to understand that all companies are big machine-like systems that have only one purpose: Make as much money as possible. Microsoft have been (and Apple is still ... or is the Apple watch usable with Android?) trying to lock vendors in. Totally OK. Those tech companies are no better than Kellog's who is selling sweets to our kids as cereal. As we all love tech so much, we tend to forget :-)
I certainly would not want a bracelet that tracks so much information from a corporation that is known to cooperate with the NSA. The bracelets they force repeat sex offenders to wear track less information about them. The only way I would consider using such a device was if both the hardware and software were available for public review.
Of course not. I own a phone, whose battery lasts a month, I can call people and receive text messages. And its common knowledge that its not a good idea to bring any mobile device to demonstrations for example. In Germany they've been known to indiscriminately monitor all mobile communications at demonstrations and put the numbers on file.
I'll be happy to share my data with Microsoft or NSA for that matter, I'm pretty sure nobody there cares how I spend my days, and I don't think they're interested in your days either...
Well western governments are experts in keeping their population docile and politically disinterested. So I'm not surprised a growing percentage of their population is fine with being monitored and spied on. The majority of the population might not really need protection from the state, but the few that do, dissidents, political activists definitely do.
By establishing a culture, where people are happy to share their data with the government anyone who isn't will automatically be a suspect. For example people who use TOR are put on a list. I don't know what live you lived, but some of my friends were under police surveillance (some police officer lived as a student for several years before his cover was blown by an acquaintance) because the government thought they had to keep taps on far left student organisations. Considering how much effort they went through to do that, I'm sure they monitor much more benign activity electronically.
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 purchase one, no line.
I walked by the Apple Store on the way out and there were people queued up outside to get in, probably about 10-12 deep.
It was a sign of the times, as someone who purchases products from (and develops for) both camps, I am really happy to see the competition. Happy to see MS embrace iOS devices with their new tech and happy to see Apple allow MS apps in the app store. Its not all pats on the backs between Apple and MS, but the competition benefits all us and is great to see. Plus, some cool gear is coming out of it.
Been wearing it since lunch, don't really notice it all that much however I usually wear a watch. I didn't opt for the opposite hand. It has time as a large numerical on the initial UI display, so felt it could take place of my watch. I do use it with the screen on the inside of my wrist, so when I want to look at device I hold up my arm, palm towards me. Feels a lot more natural than wearing it and viewing the UI "as a watch".
Went for a run, tracked the run well. I forgot to set the device to record for a run, but it did track my steps, mileage, etc pretty well (compared it to Moves App on iOS).
Getting texts and phone call alerts on it is pretty nice, actually. I have phone off to side charging and this is a good alert system (I'm using iOS as phone).
I wish they had a button press configuration that allowed for a "flashlight" like app to display all white-light on LCD. Would almost feel magical/wizardry when taking the dog out to pee.
Will try sleep (one the main reason I bought) tonight. I use "Sleep Cycle" app on iOS (I sometimes have problems sleeping) so will be interesting to compare Band vs that app's morning results.
- Comfortable.
- Looks nice, I like wearing it. Doesn't feel flashy.
- Does what it says it will. No buggy surprises.
- Scroll performance isn't very good.
- UI feels right otherwise. Nothing annoyed me.
- Complementary iPhone app is well done.
- Doesn't feel flimsy. Feels sturdy without feeling bulky.
- Setup is simple.
No complaints so far. If you desire the features it offers I'd say it's definitely worth buying.
I was pretty underwhelmed by Apple's watch and have actively disliked the Android watches that I've seen so far. I use a Fitbit One every day currently, so the new Fitbit Charge bands with some phone integration kind of piqued my interest, but seemed very feature poor.
After seeing the functionality this thing offers and that it will work with my iPhone instead of requiring a particular phone OS, take my money.
If it really does as much and works half as well as the promo video suggests, MS may have a big winner here.
The only thing that's a bit of a bummer is the battery life (the Peak Basis claims 4 days and the Fitbit Surge claims 5 days) and the MS Band is only "Dust- and splash-resistant" while those other devices are waterproof to 5ATM (usable for swimming), but the sheer number of sensors is really impressive and I'm much more confident about software/data access. At the very least it looks like MS Health pipes data into HealthVault, which is API accessible), but I'm most looking forward to getting access to the raw data stream (considering it's my biometric data they're collecting).
"... 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. ..."
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 expensive than this.
I'm very excited about this. (Though, disclaimer, I work for Microsoft.)
All the 'newer' Fitbit models have displays including the Fitbit Force; the Charge (which appears to have replaced the Force), and the Surge (Which also has a GPS).
The big benefit I see to the MS product is that it is available before the Surge, and is a little cheaper.
Battery life still is an issue and will remain so for the next while. Daily charging means it isn't really 24 hours and it also puts a hurdle on for use. My ipad is often dead in a backpack someplace because it's not as essential (to me) as my phone or laptop. Daily charging is like a daily price and a value hurdle this band needs to jump.
But I think this makes it more difficult for the device to succeed. The market for simple fitbit-style pedometers is fairly small, so the market for more expensive devices must be even smaller?
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.
Really no different than any other form of fitness tracking (i.e. the ol' pen-and-paper). I don't think this is a device problem, this is a people-being-lazy-unmotivated-sacks-of-crap problem.
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 kept the same trademarks. Or items with the same advertised model number could now be manufactured in multiple facilities, to the same nominal minimum standard, but widely varying actual performance. I'll leave it to you to do your own research, but LCD display panels and SD cards are a particularly obvious example of this.
If Microsoft wants me to trust its hardware like I once did, it doesn't need to actually open a new manufacturing facility in Washington under the burning eye of its QC employees, but it would at least have to be embarrassingly open about it manufacturing process. I simply don't trust anyone to build quality for the mass market any more.
I'm not saying companies don't build quality anymore, but you can't just trust a brand. You have to do your research on each new model, every time.
If you had actually used one as a real phone, I doubt you would be saying that the "hardware" isn't good. The core components are as good as the competition. The amount of sensors available to developers is ludicrous. Not only that, if the build (phone body) forms part of what you would call "hardware" - it truly lives up to the Nokia reputation.
I still use my Zune-hd, kinda amazed the battery has lasted as long as it has. It is still a beautiful piece of kit. Fits in the hand so well. No updates to the OS, but the music player was so good it isn't necessary.
My only wish was that it didn't have a proprietary charging port.
Readit News
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 regardless of the cellphone I chose.
I wonder if there's a devkit to read the data. If some HN is from Microsoft, I'd love some links to the devkit page (simple stuff, like retreiving GPS log, heartrate log, etc)
Also, my notifications have been spotty, but I may reset and start over, because my friend with a band is not having that issue.
As I find myself saying more and more, I love this new Microsoft. It's insane how much harm a single man can do.
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.
EDIT: No idea why I am getting downvoted - it's a serious question!
Dead Comment
[0]: http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/29/7118533/microsoft-health-...
http://www.microsoft.com/Microsoft-Health/en-us
AFAIK the only product that does this is Polar's fitness band. And only because you can link their heart rate monitor to it to give you additional fitness information. I could be wrong to think they're the only one combining the two.
http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/iwatch-i...
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTtB7RX...
The Moto 360 looks better because it's round but the UI is made for a square device.
Whereas this appears to be a reimagination in an authentically digital and modern format. The iWatch is already looking outdated IMO.
Apple's wrist worn product is not called iWatch, and that linked picture is not of an Apple product.
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.
Other tidbits:
-Screen looks too small to do much of an interaction so I'm guessing type of apps would be mostly notification types.
-I seriously hate all these stock photos and videos. Marketing seems to be out of ideas and creativity yet again. Show the f*ing product, not random faces.
-48 hr battery life
-Cortana works only for Windows Phone
-It's supposedly made for the right hand which is very weird.
-Sleep quality monitoring seems pretty cool
-The whole thing is projected as health device and makes me feel that it's designed for fitness nuts. This is going to severely limit the audience and very bad marketing strategy. Apple's watch is much more human/teens oriented that anyone wearing watches wouldn't mind to wear regardless of its health related features and probably mostly just for fun (send my heartbeat!).
I can't see anyone spending $200 for this if they're not at least somewhat serious about their exercise. Counting steps and taking my heart rate twice a day is just a gimmick to me.
I already keep a charger at my work desk to charge my phone, that's when I would charge it and it would not be a hassle in the least.
I'd buy this to replace a Fitbit any day of the week.
I wouldn't buy one, but at least you could have all your devices on you as you sleep!
Also, most pictures on the site have people wearing it on their left hand, so it seems perfectly capable of being on either wrist.
Finally, you're calling it a watch, while this is clearly not what Microsoft intended it to be. So it seems their marketing strategy is pretty on point for what they're trying to sell. The words 'watch', 'time', or 'clock' aren't mentioned anywhere on the page. You should be judging the product for what it is, not what you want it to be.
It doesn't appear to be hand-specific. Most fitness trackers suggest you should wear on your non-dominant hands, because they give a more accurate step count.
I actually appreciate the fact that its not marketing as an entire smart phone on my wrist. I don't want to browse my photo albums on it or wait 2 seconds for my watch screen to wake up before checking the time. I'm glad its just fitness sensors and simple clock/calender/email/notifications.
Yeah, designing product to specific target audience didn't work out so well for GoPro I'm sure.
Now if they could figure out how to monitor blood sugar easily we would be all set. I am curious if with the built in GPS I could use it to monitor my bicycling? I know it can get my heart rate but I am also curious how well that performs while I sweat because I can get soaked on some rides.
Still, the price is great too. Just color it up
> feel that it's designed for fitness nuts
This product is quite a leap for Microsoft already. The watch market is young and probably led by fitness nuts.
It's probably a good strategy for Microsoft to nail this market first, learn about the marketing and triggers, secure a position and a revenue, then extend to a larger watch market when it is more structured.
Nope, not the feeling I'm getting. Most people around me do not have a smart-watch. I own a pebble which has extremely limited functionality compared to Apple Watch, etc.
The fact that I don't have to watch my phone to get input (read notifications, who's calling, runkeeper data, etc.) + the fact that I can keep my iPhone volume off and still not miss a single call, is a huge plus to me! Having Siri on your wrist could be extremely important for free lancers or generally speaking people who don't have a secretary to call at all times.
Not as much guts after Samsung already did it:
https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/wearable-tech/SM-R3500ZKAX...
It will be interesting to see which approach consumers prefer. Techies were going nuts of the Moto 360 because it looked like a real watch and to me it seems the most likely for a normal person to wear.
How exactly? It doesn't look very radical to me.
I might be wrong about the weight, but it just looks kind of like a Fitbit which is really light (my wife has one).
This isn't 'finally'. This 'new Microsoft' has been doing this for a while.
It sounds like Cortana only works with a Windows Phone though. However, it seems like this is mainly a fitness tracker with light smartwatch features on the side, so I'm not sure if I'd consider this a dealbreaker or anything.
It's important to understand that all companies are big machine-like systems that have only one purpose: Make as much money as possible. Microsoft have been (and Apple is still ... or is the Apple watch usable with Android?) trying to lock vendors in. Totally OK. Those tech companies are no better than Kellog's who is selling sweets to our kids as cereal. As we all love tech so much, we tend to forget :-)
I am with you, I wouldn't wear one if they paid me. The data they are harvesting is a lot more valuable than the service they are providing.
I am sure health insurance companies are salivating at the opportunity to buy this data. Even if the data is anonymous.
By establishing a culture, where people are happy to share their data with the government anyone who isn't will automatically be a suspect. For example people who use TOR are put on a list. I don't know what live you lived, but some of my friends were under police surveillance (some police officer lived as a student for several years before his cover was blown by an acquaintance) because the government thought they had to keep taps on far left student organisations. Considering how much effort they went through to do that, I'm sure they monitor much more benign activity electronically.
I walked by the Apple Store on the way out and there were people queued up outside to get in, probably about 10-12 deep.
It was a sign of the times, as someone who purchases products from (and develops for) both camps, I am really happy to see the competition. Happy to see MS embrace iOS devices with their new tech and happy to see Apple allow MS apps in the app store. Its not all pats on the backs between Apple and MS, but the competition benefits all us and is great to see. Plus, some cool gear is coming out of it.
Went for a run, tracked the run well. I forgot to set the device to record for a run, but it did track my steps, mileage, etc pretty well (compared it to Moves App on iOS).
Getting texts and phone call alerts on it is pretty nice, actually. I have phone off to side charging and this is a good alert system (I'm using iOS as phone).
I wish they had a button press configuration that allowed for a "flashlight" like app to display all white-light on LCD. Would almost feel magical/wizardry when taking the dog out to pee.
Will try sleep (one the main reason I bought) tonight. I use "Sleep Cycle" app on iOS (I sometimes have problems sleeping) so will be interesting to compare Band vs that app's morning results.
- Comfortable. - Looks nice, I like wearing it. Doesn't feel flashy. - Does what it says it will. No buggy surprises. - Scroll performance isn't very good. - UI feels right otherwise. Nothing annoyed me. - Complementary iPhone app is well done. - Doesn't feel flimsy. Feels sturdy without feeling bulky. - Setup is simple.
No complaints so far. If you desire the features it offers I'd say it's definitely worth buying.
I'm impressed.
After seeing the functionality this thing offers and that it will work with my iPhone instead of requiring a particular phone OS, take my money.
If it really does as much and works half as well as the promo video suggests, MS may have a big winner here.
"... 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/hR5LxJ
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 expensive than this.
I'm very excited about this. (Though, disclaimer, I work for Microsoft.)
The big benefit I see to the MS product is that it is available before the Surge, and is a little cheaper.
Battery life still is an issue and will remain so for the next while. Daily charging means it isn't really 24 hours and it also puts a hurdle on for use. My ipad is often dead in a backpack someplace because it's not as essential (to me) as my phone or laptop. Daily charging is like a daily price and a value hurdle this band needs to jump.
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?
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 kept the same trademarks. Or items with the same advertised model number could now be manufactured in multiple facilities, to the same nominal minimum standard, but widely varying actual performance. I'll leave it to you to do your own research, but LCD display panels and SD cards are a particularly obvious example of this.
If Microsoft wants me to trust its hardware like I once did, it doesn't need to actually open a new manufacturing facility in Washington under the burning eye of its QC employees, but it would at least have to be embarrassingly open about it manufacturing process. I simply don't trust anyone to build quality for the mass market any more.
I'm not saying companies don't build quality anymore, but you can't just trust a brand. You have to do your research on each new model, every time.
Of course trust is easily lost, but they haven't disappointed me yet.
If you had actually used one as a real phone, I doubt you would be saying that the "hardware" isn't good. The core components are as good as the competition. The amount of sensors available to developers is ludicrous. Not only that, if the build (phone body) forms part of what you would call "hardware" - it truly lives up to the Nokia reputation.