Microsoft Launches Band Fitness Tracker
© Microsoft
Trending News: Here's Microsoft's New Fitness Tracker, Band
Wearables and fitness tracking gadgets aren't going away, and one of the world's biggest tech companies has finally joined the fray.
Microsoft joins Google, Apple and Samsung in the fitness tracking market with the launch of the Microsoft Band. It brings step, sleep and calorie tracking to the table, and plugs into a cloud-based Health platform. Costing $199, the Band is available now and is compatible with Android, iOS and Windows Phone handsets.
With Apple, Google and Samsung all pushing their own fitness gadgets and platforms, it was only a matter of time before Microsoft got in on the act as well. Now the Redmond company has shown its hand with the launch of a new Microsoft Band fitness tracker — it connects to apps running on Android, iOS or Windows Phone and lets users track their sleep, steps, heart rate, sun exposure, calories and stress levels.
Everything plugs into a new Microsoft Health platform that the company has also taken the wrappers off. It promises "actionable insights based on data gathered from the fitness devices and apps that you use every day" and it's compatible with third-party apps (from the likes of RunKeeper and Jawbone) as well as Microsoft's own gadget. It looks very similar to Apple's HealthKit and Google Fit.
As for the Band, in addition to fitness monitoring it offers guided workouts based on customized goals, running routes tracked by GPS and some basic previews for calendar events and incoming emails. If it's hooked up to a Windows Phone then users can access the Cortana digital assistant straight from their wrists.
There's a small 1.4-inch touchscreen with a 320x106 resolution and Microsoft is promising a two-day battery life from 1.5 hours of charging. The price is pretty appealing too: at $199 the Band is a reasonable deal, slightly more expensive than the recently launched $130 Fitbit Charge but with a broader range of features. It's certainly a long way south of the Apple Watch's expected retail price of $349.
After the moves made by its competitors, Microsoft had to get into the fitness tracking and smartwatch scene sooner or later, and it's done so with a device that looks solid if unspectacular. Perhaps the most interesting feature is its cross-platform support — unlike Android Wear or the Apple Watch, it doesn't matter what brand of smartphone you opt for if you want to use the Microsoft Band, and that could count in its favor.
Ask The Big Question: Why should I choose an Apple Watch over a Microsoft Band if I can only use it with Apple's own hardware?
Disrupt Your Feed: Fitness trackers and smartwatches are still finding their feet: they're not worth buying for at least another couple of years.
Drop This Fact: PricewaterhouseCooper predicts that 130 million wearables will be sold in 2018, a drop in the ocean compared with smartphone sales.
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