Microsoft is entering the mobile health with the immediate availability of a relatively low-cost wristband that collects a multitude of measurements from the wearer's physical function, forwards them to the Microsoft Health service servers for analysis and returns suggestions for improving their diet, health and well-being.
The Microsoft Band is not exclusively aimed at Windows phone owners, but can also communicate with Android smartphones, iPhones or iPads.
The Microsoft Band is currently only available in the US for $199. Apple announced its own smartwatch in early September, which will have similar features to the Microsoft Band, but it will be released early next year, in 2015, and will cost $349. However, Apple has already made its own plans for mobile health and already has its Healthkit ready.
«The purpose of the Microsoft Band is not to be a fashion statement, nor to replace your watch», notes Quintin Morris, Senior Industrial Designer at Microsoft, «but it can be used to monitor any activity you choose».
The companion app, Microsoft Health, collects data from Microsoft's wearable, as well as other health gadgets and apps, such as heart rate (continuous, 24‑hour), steps, calories, etc., and its «Intelligence Engine» will analyze which fitness exercises burned the most calories, calculate recovery time based on exercise intensity, and the hours of restful sleep. In the future, the company plans to combine exercise data with information from the calendar and e‑mail from Office to discern how fitness performance is linked to work schedule, the relationship of a good breakfast to running speed, or whether the number of meetings correlates with sleep quality.
In the standard Microsoft heart‑rate sensor that operates continuously, the precise measurement of calories and sleep quality has been assigned. However, it is noted that however good a sensor may be (the MS Band has ten), if it does not fit perfectly on the skin then it will record nothing, for’that reason its design posed a particular challenge that led to an 18.5‑millimeter pericarp in three different sizes, for the selection of which Microsoft even refers to a pdf file that will help in the accurate measurement of the wrist of the potential user.
The Microsoft Band also brings to the wrist the so‑called «smart» notifications, such as incoming calls, messages and updates from social networking sites. Also, the Microsoft Band will support communication technology with Microsoft voice commands on Windows 8.1, known as Cortana.
Interestingly, Microsoft will provide 10 sensors to manufacturers who want to build their own smartband and send their measurements to Microsoft Health, a practice that reveals the American giant's strategy in the emerging mobile health sector. Microsoft Health already accepts data from Jawbone's UP wristband, as well as the MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper apps, and will be able to transfer data from the wristband to
Microsoft HealthVault, the company's shielded health platform that has been connecting patients with their doctors for a decade.
Source: in.gr
