Wearable devices
There is a big hype gaining traction called wearable’s. Many companies started producing smart watches just for the sake of having one. A watch on your wrist that is connected to a smart phone in your pocket which is mostly what makes it so “smart”. Or so they say. Everyone knows it is an incoming trend and those who want to earn money on this train they need to hop in as early as possible because in today’s world timing is everything. And when I say timing I did not really mean as early as possible, and Apple is one of those companies who knows how being too early may not always be good as the technology is still evolving. So, making a device that under-performs will not do good for sales.
There are quite a lot of companies already on this train. For example we have Pebble who made one of the first smart watches and has really nailed from most points of view. It looks like a standard watch which comes in cheaper colored plastic version and more expensive metal version. If you peak inside you will find out that it’s a little computer which has it’s own app store with apps that go from basic clock, stopwatch and notification center all the way to miniaturized Foursquare and Facebook where you can do some input from the watch by means of using the built in buttons - check in and respond via predefined messages. Pebble’s battery is one of the best in class with it’s 7-day life on one charge but that can mostly be thanked to a black & white screen and arguably a slow processor. Also Samsung created some kind of watch that connects with the phone, but then Google saw the chance to tell companies how to make a smart watch by creating their own software for them called Android wear. It almost became a success when Motorola started selling the Android wear device called Moto 360. It is a watch which is, with it’s round shape, really attractive and generally looks a lot like a regular watch and does not attract to much attention when you don’t want it to. But this time the big fail was the battery life that lasts less than one day. Let’s consider this for a moment: Who would want to wear a watch on his hand that needs to be recharged more than once per day? ….. Exactly!
If we consider that, at the moment, there isn’t much better Android wear product than Moto 360 we can surely say that these things easily fall below expectations and it will for sure slow the adoption of the new tech. Apple took a bit different approach by primarily designing a jewelry. Maybe they won’t admit it but selling a watch made of 18-karat gold falls straight into jewelry category where it doesn’t really matter that battery might not last a day (battery info is unknown at this point!).
All these devices give some sort of fitness tracking features namely a step counter and in more expensive versions a heart rate monitor which can be activated whenever you need it. For example when mountain hiking and running. But the issue with all these devices is that people are really into notifications and messaging stuff much more than in fitness and health, while there are others who are primarily into fitness. Those other people buy different kind of wearable devices generally known as fitness bands. Another problem with Android wear and Apple watch is that it locks the user into their own smartphone operating system which is kind of obvious but not very end user friendly. What happens if I store my health data (steps, resting heart rate, sleep) with Apple health by using Apple watch and after a time I decide to go with Android or Windows phone? As expected I will also need to swap a watch for a different kind which works with my new phone and in doing so I will loose all my health & fitness data unless there is a migration option. That’s why it is generally much better idea to just go with regular fitness bands like Fitbit wrist band and enjoy their health tracking system while not worrying too much which phone am I using to make calls with. Whether it’s the Android, iPhone or Windows phone — Fitbit has you covered. Some people complain that those fitness devices are not interesting enough and give only a little of your phones notifications or even none like Misfit shine wearable. But the whole idea of fitness isn’t really about sending email messages while jogging. So in their nature those fitness bands do much more of what people expect from them than smart watches do. Specially if they are backed with a good cloud system that is capable of analyzing your fitness activities and sleep data with useful advice's for your health.
This is where Microsoft comes in with their, just-announced-and-already-selling Band device. Microsoft Band is primarily a fitness bracelet which has a whole lot of sensors on it like step counter, always-on heart rate monitor, GPS, stress level meter, UV light meter and so on. This device is capable to track all of your physical activities up to two days on a single charge and store them in the brand new Microsoft Health cloud. Their fitness band works from day one on Android, iPhone and Windows Phone and their cloud system is open for other manufacturers to exchange the data and use it to compliment their own services. All with the aim of better results for the end user who then isn’t limited to just one phone or one fitness device, but always retains his health data in the cloud. On the other hand Microsoft says that the Band is really a health and productivity device capable of receiving notifications from all or only from important people with quick response functionality, Cortana integration via built in microphone and much more like paying for a Starbucks coffee with the QR code generated on devices screen. Not a perfect payment implementation but it seems practical for those jogging days without a smartphone, if there is such a day.
I believe that Microsoft’s timing and choice of open services is ideal and that good things could come out of it if people realize that dedicated smart watches from our SF dreams just aren’t ready yet and that they need to stand up from their work desks and do some exercise with which Microsoft Band can be of big assistance. At this moment I am really interested in buying a good cloud backed fitness wearable and I will for sure keep my eye on Microsoft Band on it’s way to Europe, soon hopefully.
