Microsoft recently got into the fitness game with the release of its health platform, called simply Microsoft Health. The service turns data gathered from fitness devices and apps into simple, useful insights that help you become healthier.
One of the fitness devices it supports is Microsoft’s first fitness tracker: the Microsoft Band. The Band is one of the most powerful fitness trackers ever, packing an amazing amount of sensors into a slim TPE band. It’s also the first truly cross-platform fitness devices: the Band works with iOS, Android and Windows Phone. The Band is coming soon to Mobile Fun, so let’s take a closer look.
The Microsoft Band looks simple at first glance. It’s a large rubberised band, with a large rectangular colour display on the front and a clasp on the back. The closer you look, the more you find. The screen is a touchscreen, capable of showing live fitness data and even texts, emails and calls from your phone. The sliding clasp is designed to grow and contract to fit your wrist, whether you want a loose fit for daily use or a tighter one while you’re working out.
On the inner side of the band, its capabilities are easily explained – the entire ring is studded with sensors. That includes a 24 hour heart rate sensor, accelerometers and gyrometers for counting steps and tracking sleep, GPS to map the routes that you’ve run or biked and a UV monitor to see if you need sunscreen. There are other sensors too, like a galvanic skin response sensor that measures stress and sweat, a skin temperature sensor and plain old ambient light and capacitive sensors. It’s a startlingly comprehensive package, 10 sensors in all, far more than other fitness accessories.
Through clever algorithms and these sensors, the Microsoft Band is able to automatically record your exercise throughout the day, telling the difference between walking and biking; pull-ups and push-ups. You can also download workouts to the Band, which will guide you through a set of exercises and rests. You can also use the Microsoft Health app on your phone to see videos of how to do each step with good form, which The Verge found quite useful when they didn’t know what kind of move a V-Up was.
The Microsoft Band will be available in the coming weeks at Mobile Fun. For live pricing and availability data – and the ability to be notified when stock arrives – please visit the product page linked below:
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