We haven’t heard much about the Microsoft Band since its debut in October 2014, but that’s changing today.
The Microsoft Band is getting a major new update that includes a dedicated cycling tile that’ll track your GPS, calorie burn, duration, distance, and splits when you’re riding your cycle. Also included is a tuning for the heart rate monitor that’s meant specifically for cycling as well as five downloadable, cycle-centric workouts.
Microsoft’s Band is also gaining new messaging capabilities. When it comes to sending, you’ll be able to use a predictive keyboard with WordFlow to respond to incoming messages. You can find an image of the Band's virtual QWERTY below.There’s also a new “quick read” feature that’ll show messaging in a speed reading style with large font.
Rounding out this new update is improved support for syncing data with other services like MapMyFitness and Microsoft HealthVault. Microsoft has said that it’s also planning to release a software development kit (SDK) to let developers create their own Band apps.
Microsoft has also beefed up its web-based Band support. The Band dashboard on the web now has more detailed charts, insights related to exercise and sleep data, and more. Microsoft says that it plans to add these detailed charts to its Health app for phones in the future.
Overall this looks like a pretty solid update for the Microsoft Band. Cycling is popular exercise for a lot of folks, and so the fact that the Band is now tuned for indoor and outdoor cycling is a big deal. So is the news of an SDK, which will allow developers to flesh out the Band and its app offerings.
Have you ever used a Microsoft Band?