5 ms·

As one of the lead software engineers on both the original Microsoft Band and now the Microsoft Band 2, I still sort of feels surreal reading a review from a ne

by com2kid 11y ago

As one of the lead software engineers on both the original Microsoft Band and now the Microsoft Band 2, I still sort of feels surreal reading a review from a news outlet that I've trusted since I was a teenager. A lot of what I first learned about CPUs, pipelines, and memory systems, was from Jon "Hannibal" Stokes. I am happy that the Ars review is the one that reached the front page here. I appreciate the work that all reviewers do, but I am always giddy to read what Ars has to say.

Tomte 11y ago
Looks like a fantastic device! I'm just disappointed that Germany will again be left out, after initial speculation in the news that we will be included this time. Maybe the Band 3.
- com2kid 11y ago
  We do support setting the Band UI to German! :) (I am so sad that none of the reviewers mentioned our language support!)
  - kyriakos 11y ago
    the problem is that its not available to buy. sadly this is an issue with many Microsoft products, for example one of Windows 10 selling points is Cortana and yet its only available for 3-4 countries without any indication on when the rest of the world will be able to use it.
  - willyyr 11y ago
    I know this might has nothing to do with your role but do you have any clue as to why the band is not available for e.g. Germany even though you support multilanguage?
- pjmlp 11y ago
  At a risk of stealing this thread, country restrictions was what made me disregard XNA and XBLA Live. Microsoft didn't care about Portugal store support. Now I cannot get the Band as well. So do we wait for Band 3 or go shop elsewhere?
- stkoelle 11y ago
  I have ordered one from amazon.co.uk, they ship to germany, you can order with your german amazon account. It's released the on 19th november, amazon says it will arrive 20-21 november. Looking forward to it.
- n8m 11y ago
  Well- I guess its the same than with Cortana integration us. Here in NZ we don't have Cortana and/or the band (1 or 2). While I have "Google now" on my Android and iPhone users can use Siri. I guess Microsoft simply isn't interested in small markets. Australia (bigger market) get's the Cortana and the Band.
- evolvedlight 11y ago
  I bought one in the UK, and had to send it back for repair as the inside rubber fell apart (I used my Band every day, it was great). It got repaired in Germany, seems odd that they aren't on sale there.
bootload 11y ago
"As one of the lead software engineers on both the original Microsoft Band and now the Microsoft Band 2," One of the things that stood out in the article (and the reason I posted it) was the sheer number of sensors packed into the device. Really impressive. Is their a division in the software between the embedded device, application and back-end?
- com2kid 11y ago
  > Is their a division in the software between the embedded device, application and back-end? Sort of! We have multiple dev teams of course, but maintaining performance means we all have to work together very closely. A lot of tightly packed binary packet formats are used to minimize bandwidth.
stkoelle 11y ago
Any news for band2 and cortana on android? I think there is a closed beta for some android devices (no nexus 4 apparently), but i don't know if it works with the band.
gnaddel 11y ago
Hi there, I have been wondering if the data collected by the band 2 can be exported in a sensible way to use the data for research. From what I have gathered there is no export functionality in the health app? Is this currently possible or planned?
- breck 11y ago
  You can download your personal data in CSV format via the web app--click your name in the top right and a dropdown will open with the export link. There's also an API in preview: https://developer.microsoftband.com/cloudAPI https://developer.microsoftband.com/cloudAPI
- com2kid 11y ago
  In addition to what Breck said, we also support real time streaming of sensor data from the Band. Your data is always made available, go have fun with it! Everyone on the team loves seeing the different research projects created around Microsoft Band.
DiabloD3 11y ago
Has Microsoft considered handing Lumia 950 + Band 2 bundles out to members of the HN community to convert them over to Microsoft land from Android or iOS? Seriously, we're the most vocal people in the tech community you know. Consider it.
- blumkvist 11y ago
  Loyalty cannot be bought. Or at least this is not how you buy it.
  - DiabloD3 11y ago
    I'm being absolutely serious. Send me a 950 + Band 2, I will make it my primary phone and gadget, I will use the almighty shit out of it and publicly post about it frequently, the good and maybe a tiny bit of the bad if it's a true game stopper and needs to be fixed to further Windows Mobile adoption. You buy loyalty by telling someone like me "We think our new phone is better than your Nexus 5 (which is considered the best Android phone ever produced), and we will prove it by showing you how well polished Windows 10 Mobile is (compared to Android 6) and that we brought our A game to hardware production by giving you a Lumia 950. This is how much we stand behind our product and our hard work." You buy loyalty by having the balls to step up and try to adopt the vocal users. Now, otoh, if Apple approached me with a free iPhone 6S + a basic iWatch? I'd decline their offer. They have not impressed me with their new phone, watch, or iOS revision. I see no reason to switch, and since they have not shown any reason to switch I shall show them no loyalty in return. Microsoft, otoh, has actually impressed me with what they've done, and they may be worth showing loyalty to. I just want them to prove it.
    - huhtenberg 11y ago
      Whatever positive you will have to say about devices will be tainted by the fact that you got them for free.
      - DiabloD3 11y ago
megaman821 11y ago
I am trying one now. There is one obvious annoyance coming from a Fitbit; why can't the Band 2 detect when I am sleeping? The Fitbit detection is pretty accurate and the Band has many more sensors to work with. It is almost a guarantee that I will forget to mark my sleep a few times a week with the Band 2.
- chokolad 11y ago
  It detects when you are sleeping. It just does not do it instantaneously. You'll be able to see sleeps longer than 2 hours automatically recorded.

by com2kid 11y ago

Tomte 11y ago

Looks like a fantastic device! I'm just disappointed that Germany will again be left out, after initial speculation in the news that we will be included this time. Maybe the Band 3.

com2kid 11y ago
We do support setting the Band UI to German! :) (I am so sad that none of the reviewers mentioned our language support!)
- kyriakos 11y ago
  the problem is that its not available to buy. sadly this is an issue with many Microsoft products, for example one of Windows 10 selling points is Cortana and yet its only available for 3-4 countries without any indication on when the rest of the world will be able to use it.
- willyyr 11y ago
  I know this might has nothing to do with your role but do you have any clue as to why the band is not available for e.g. Germany even though you support multilanguage?
pjmlp 11y ago
At a risk of stealing this thread, country restrictions was what made me disregard XNA and XBLA Live. Microsoft didn't care about Portugal store support. Now I cannot get the Band as well. So do we wait for Band 3 or go shop elsewhere?
stkoelle 11y ago
I have ordered one from amazon.co.uk, they ship to germany, you can order with your german amazon account. It's released the on 19th november, amazon says it will arrive 20-21 november. Looking forward to it.
n8m 11y ago
Well- I guess its the same than with Cortana integration us. Here in NZ we don't have Cortana and/or the band (1 or 2). While I have "Google now" on my Android and iPhone users can use Siri. I guess Microsoft simply isn't interested in small markets. Australia (bigger market) get's the Cortana and the Band.
evolvedlight 11y ago
I bought one in the UK, and had to send it back for repair as the inside rubber fell apart (I used my Band every day, it was great). It got repaired in Germany, seems odd that they aren't on sale there.

bootload 11y ago

"As one of the lead software engineers on both the original Microsoft Band and now the Microsoft Band 2," One of the things that stood out in the article (and the reason I posted it) was the sheer number of sensors packed into the device. Really impressive. Is their a division in the software between the embedded device, application and back-end?

com2kid 11y ago
> Is their a division in the software between the embedded device, application and back-end? Sort of! We have multiple dev teams of course, but maintaining performance means we all have to work together very closely. A lot of tightly packed binary packet formats are used to minimize bandwidth.

stkoelle 11y ago

Any news for band2 and cortana on android? I think there is a closed beta for some android devices (no nexus 4 apparently), but i don't know if it works with the band.

gnaddel 11y ago

Hi there, I have been wondering if the data collected by the band 2 can be exported in a sensible way to use the data for research. From what I have gathered there is no export functionality in the health app? Is this currently possible or planned?

breck 11y ago
You can download your personal data in CSV format via the web app--click your name in the top right and a dropdown will open with the export link. There's also an API in preview: https://developer.microsoftband.com/cloudAPI https://developer.microsoftband.com/cloudAPI
com2kid 11y ago
In addition to what Breck said, we also support real time streaming of sensor data from the Band. Your data is always made available, go have fun with it! Everyone on the team loves seeing the different research projects created around Microsoft Band.

DiabloD3 11y ago

Has Microsoft considered handing Lumia 950 + Band 2 bundles out to members of the HN community to convert them over to Microsoft land from Android or iOS? Seriously, we're the most vocal people in the tech community you know. Consider it.

blumkvist 11y ago
Loyalty cannot be bought. Or at least this is not how you buy it.
- DiabloD3 11y ago
  I'm being absolutely serious. Send me a 950 + Band 2, I will make it my primary phone and gadget, I will use the almighty shit out of it and publicly post about it frequently, the good and maybe a tiny bit of the bad if it's a true game stopper and needs to be fixed to further Windows Mobile adoption. You buy loyalty by telling someone like me "We think our new phone is better than your Nexus 5 (which is considered the best Android phone ever produced), and we will prove it by showing you how well polished Windows 10 Mobile is (compared to Android 6) and that we brought our A game to hardware production by giving you a Lumia 950. This is how much we stand behind our product and our hard work." You buy loyalty by having the balls to step up and try to adopt the vocal users. Now, otoh, if Apple approached me with a free iPhone 6S + a basic iWatch? I'd decline their offer. They have not impressed me with their new phone, watch, or iOS revision. I see no reason to switch, and since they have not shown any reason to switch I shall show them no loyalty in return. Microsoft, otoh, has actually impressed me with what they've done, and they may be worth showing loyalty to. I just want them to prove it.
  - huhtenberg 11y ago
    Whatever positive you will have to say about devices will be tainted by the fact that you got them for free.
    - DiabloD3 11y ago

megaman821 11y ago

I am trying one now. There is one obvious annoyance coming from a Fitbit; why can't the Band 2 detect when I am sleeping? The Fitbit detection is pretty accurate and the Band has many more sensors to work with. It is almost a guarantee that I will forget to mark my sleep a few times a week with the Band 2.

chokolad 11y ago
It detects when you are sleeping. It just does not do it instantaneously. You'll be able to see sleeps longer than 2 hours automatically recorded.