Tom's Hardware: Microsoft Smartband Coming In October With 11 Sensors 70
New submitter TuxHiggs (2691251) writes "Last month, Forbes wrote that Microsoft was preparing a cross-platform smartwatch with the ability to continuously track your heart rate and sync the data to your devices. A trusted source with knowledge of the development has verified some of that information and provided Tom's Hardware with additional details about the device. The source confirmed previous rumors that the device is cross-platform compatible, and added there would be open APIs as well. The source also confirmed that the display is on the inside of the wrist as opposed to the outside. Design-wise, Microsoft has gone with a slim band design that is said to resemble a thinner, flatter version of the Nike Fuelband. While details about the hardware are scant, the source did reveal that there are 11 sensors under the hood and a mix of chips, including some from TI and Atmel. Finally, the release for this device is apparently set for October."
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No but they'll be doing the next best thing: failing hard yet again after being beaten to the punch by Apple, Google and Samsung.
I know I'll never get sick of seeing them in pain.
It'd be good if they skipped the fads. (Score:5, Insightful)
Time and time again these Apple-inspired technologies have proven to just be temporary fads.
When it comes to Apple, their success is never about the devices themselves. Their success derives from the fact that they're basically a modern-day religion for a lot of people. Apple's customers buy Apple products as a status symbol, rather than something that's actually useful to them.
The personal audio player fad went bust. The large form factor tablet fad went bust. The small form factor tablet fad went bust. The netbook fad went bust. The media center fad went bust.
This "fitness monitoring device" fad will go bust, too.
Google, Samsung and Microsoft would all be better off avoiding these fads. They don't have the quasi-religious status that Apple has, and it'll save them the time and money wasted on producing one-generation-only products that end up failing in the marketplace because they're damn near useless for anyone who isn't buying them just for a fruit-shaped logo on the back.
Re: (Score:1)
He's "stupid" because you're in your mother's basement browsing Slashdot on the Windows XP PC she bought you a decade ago? And he's "stupid" because the iPod, iPad, iPad Mini, and MacBook Air you cried about and made her buy for you are all sitting on her living room shelf collecting dust? Sounds to me like he's the smart one, and called it as it is.
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There are only a zillion companies today that wish they were the ones selling, including EVERY SINGLE competitor such as Samsung, Google and Microsoft:
-iPods
-iPad Airs
-iPad Minis
-iPhone 5S
-iPhone 5C (yes, even this absolute failure, which only has either the 2nd and 3rd highest sales volume in the US since it was introduced)
And by this, I mean that they wish they could take over selling these devices right now, even those all these 'fads' have gone bust.
And Apple never sold netbooks, and I guess everybody h
Re: (Score:2)
Apple is going to skip the iWatch and jump right to the WristProjector. It will look like a bracelet with the time on it. Tap the device and a small projection screen will display against your forearm**. Allowing you to read and respond. touch the band again and it disappears. Using a laser keyboard projected from the same band the system will be able to respond to inputs tapped onto your skin(similar to celluon laser keyboard).
**(Shaved skin only hairs will interfere with the projection systems)
Re:It'd be good if they skipped the fads. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
1. my post was being sarcastic as to the idea that all the items were 'fads that had gone bust'.
2. logical development or not, Bill was trying to foist his tablets on people for more than 10 years, and rather unsuccessfully...I guess Steve just looked at what Bill did, and went "Well, I'll just not do what Bill did, and do what Bill didn't, and my tablet will be wildly successful". It seems to have worked.
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Re: (Score:2, Informative)
I hate to break it to you, but Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Samsung all have been beaten to the punch.
Pebble kicks all their arses hard. 5 days between a charge, unbeatable visibility in direct sunlight, waterproof, cheap, and works with all phone platforms that are relevant.
Microsoft will be last bananana once again.
Re: (Score:2)
Whats pebble?
Re:Microsoft? (Score:4, Informative)
Whats pebble?
It's a smartwatch, and a woefully underpowered one at that.
https://getpebble.com/ [getpebble.com]
For $250 I'll pass.
Re: (Score:2)
Where the hell are you getting $250? $139.95 at best buy.
And if you think you need to run folding at home on your watch, you dont understand the use for a smart watch.
Re: (Score:3)
Where did I get it? From their website, but you'd know that if you'd looked. I understand the use for a smart watch. There really isn't one yet.
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Their websites says $149 MSRP, or did you intentionally look for the highest priced version to prop up your very weak argument?
Re: (Score:2)
What argument? I saw a price on the site and I commented on it. I'm not arguing anything. I could turn it around and ask why you are shilling for them? It is technology that isn't ready for prime time yet and is overpriced, even at $150. That is still way more than I am willing to pay for the limited functionality it offers. Get over it and move on. I'm not saying what *you* should spend your money on, so stop crying and being all butthurt about it and move on.
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You must be looking at a different version of the website. The one linked says "Order now: $249". No other price is listed anywhere else on the page.
Can my dick wear that (Score:5, Funny)
will be smartest dick around. hope BSOD doesn't come too early, reboot takes long.
Re: (Score:1)
Give it a vibrate mode, I'll buy 2.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Because Microsoft's management team operates like a group of toddlers.
"Apple's watch has 8 sensors! Oh yeah?! Well OURS has ELEVEN."
*throws together a bunch of chips from companies they ran out of business into a bulky, ugly box that straps to your wrist and has a 2 hour battery life*
Six months later:
YOU GUYS AREN'T PLAYING FAIR I'M TELLING THE SEC
Patent trolling lawsuits go.
Re:Anonymous Coward: source name prefix is bullshi (Score:4, Interesting)
Just the sort of thing the NSA would love. So monitors all elemental emotional state levels much like a lie detector when ever your wear it. Reports you location and incorporates a bug er microphone into the device. Hell the NSA would have wet dreams about making it compulsory. The soft sell would be, but it means you don't have to carry a drivers licence when police wrongly demand ID they just be able to lock onto your watch and get all the information they want 24/7/365. Hmmm, who will be watching whom, will your be watching your watch or will your watch be watching you.
Sarten-X: A reasonable explanation (Score:4, Informative)
Tom's Hardware has a decent reputation, unlike most of the rumor-mills that run their detritus through this place. That bit of credibility is an important detail of this story.
This could be very useful for the non-athletic too (Score:1, Interesting)
This may sound funny to some, but please hear me out, and realize that this is a real neeed that I'm describing. As an obese man, like many of my fellow Americans, I'm not particularly athletic. I don't jog, I don't work out, and I don't really have a need for a headband like this. What I do have a problem with, however, is locating my genitalia. Like I said earlier, please don't laugh. A lot of us do suffer from what's commonly called "buried penis" syndrome. I personally haven't seen my penis in over 25 y
Republicans aren't conservatives. (Score:1)
Son, you've got it all wrong. Republicans today aren't conservatives in any sense of the word. They can't, by definition, be considered "conservative" when it comes to forcing new monitoring technology on people. There is no status quo to conserve; they're pushing for something totally new. The label often used to describe this behavior is "progressive liberalism". The "progressive" part refers to their goal being a step beyond what currently exists. The "liberalism" part refers to their desire to free all
Re: Republicans aren't conservatives. (Score:1)
Conservatives want the people governed by the state, not the Feds. No one has, beyond campaign speeches, suggested the people should govern themselves.
It looks like... (Score:5, Funny)
Smartwatch: "It looks like your heart has stopped. Would you like me to:"
- stop recording to save power?
- use a backup?
Re: It looks like... (Score:5, Funny)
More like
"I detected your heart stopped. Would you like to active the defibrillator?"
{Yes} {No} {Cancel}
YES
"Are you sure you want to allow this action?"
{yes} {cancel}
YES
"Administrator password required for this action"
{........}
"The defibrillator function is used for the first time. Installation of device drivers required"
"Would you like to install the drivers now?"
{Yes} {No} {Later}
YES
"Need to download system files. Reboot required. Download now?"
{Yes} {No} {Later}
YES
"Download failed. Try again?"
{Yes} {Cancel}
YES
"Download complete. Install now?"
{Yes} {No}
YES
"Are you sure you want to allow this action?"
{Yes} {No} {Cancel}
YES
"Installation complete. Reboot now? All unsaved data will be lost"
{yes} {cancel}
YES
"Rebooting"
"WindowsWatch wasn't shutdown properly the last time. Starting in save mode. All drivers disabled".
{Reboot}
"You heart still doesn't beat. Do you want to active the defibrillator?"
{Yes} {No} {Cancel}
YES
"Starting the defibrillator. Please read the EULA and click on agree"
{43 pages of EULA later}
{AGREE}
--- BSOD ---
Meanwhile the patient has died.
Re:It looks like... (Score:4, Funny)
I see that you're not up to date on the recent trends in Windows land. These days, it's all about social integration, so it would really be:
- post to Twitter?
- post to Facebook?
- post to LinkedIn?
Given their past history (Score:1)
I'm skeptical about the claim of "cross-platform compatible". As I remember it, when Microsoft had announced .Net and C#, they said those technologies were "cross-platform"... they worked on *all* Microsoft Windows versions. Ditto silverlight.
I can't help but wonder if this is not just vaporware, because they don't have anything to compete with Google's products which are real and are coming out this fall.
Re: (Score:2)
To be fair, both were and still are cross platform compatible. .NET (BCL) and C# can be run on any platform and contain nothing that is tied to windows. They didn't actually write anything that ran on other platforms, but that was because there was a (mostly) lack of interest on those platforms to do so. However, Mono does run on many platforms and runs .NET code just fine, as did moonlight which was available for the mac ran silverlight stuff. Everything that anyone would need to actually implement .NET
A solution without a need (Score:3, Interesting)
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I agree but I have a feeling Apple will generate mass want. Why? I have no idea. I can't think of anything I would want less than a watch. But that just confirms to me that this thing might fly.
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Ya but it's close.
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They'll all fail because there simply is no mass need to drive sales.
I wear a Nike Fuelband. It's not really a "smart watch", but it's a nice reminder I need to get up and walk. I can hit a button and get a semi accurate reminder of how active I've been for the day. It pings my phone when it needs my attention, and in since it's not my phone I can wear it to the gym and let it's accelerometers rate my activity. I know, I could ask myself if I've exercised enough for the day, but when I'm deep in a programming puzzle, I need the nudge.
Why do I bring up the Fuelband?
It would b
Re: Not Long (Score:1)
Amazing what you can do (Score:2, Funny)
Who pays for the surgery? (Score:2)
The source also confirmed that the display is on the inside of the wrist as opposed to the outside.
Who pays for the surgery to implant it?
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Needs 20 more sensors. (Score:2)
Life imitating art? (Score:2)
Smartband sounds like the HALO project on the TV show Continuum [wikipedia.org] and things aren't turning out so well for anyone involved there...
open APIs (Score:2)
The source confirmed previous rumors that the device is cross-platform compatible, and added there would be open APIs as well
At least, on the beginning. It would be surprising that Microsoft do not act as being Microsoft. Perhaps they start open becausethere is no existing standard to embrace and (proprietary) extend?
Re: Inside of the wrist? (Score:1)
A scenario (Score:1, Troll)
Interviewer [Hacking into yet another security-flawed MS Smartband product.]: "Thank you for coming. Could you tell me why you left your last employ?"
Job Candidate: "I was ... asked to perform duties that were beyond the scope of my employment contract."
Interviewer [Noting elevated heart rate of interviewee]: "What did these duties consists of?"
Job Candidate: "I am not at liberty to discuss them."
Interviewer [Seeing Smartband perspiration levels soar.]: "Was the
and they will have an medical disability lawsuit o (Score:2)
and they will have an medical disability lawsuit on there hands.
Lie detectors... (Score:2)
These things would be great adhoc lie detectors... or stress monitors or void comp machines or whatever.
If you're measuring everything then you can probably use it for more then health statistics. And if they're wireless... that means you might be able to hack them... or listen in on them or something... which means if people run around wearing these things you might be able to get a feed into your google glass or whatever to stare at their vitals while you ask if they've been screwing the maid.
Re: (Score:2)
Lie detectors only "work" if you tell the subject he is subject to a lie detector test and he believes you, and even then you will not get much better than 50/50 unless you are trained tester who can reach 80/20 under optimal circumstances. So, are you sure you want to ruin your relationship over a test that will be wrong 20% of the time, even when done under optimal circumstances by the best professionals?
We have decided to discontinue this service (Score:2)
Like every other smartwatch in recorded history, after a year or two the OEM will decide it isn't making enough money, and they will suddenly stop the data feed or whatever, and if you're lucky, the thing will still function as a wristwatch.
Re: We have decided to discontinue this service (Score:1)