It seems that the majority of major players in the technology world have some sort of wearable on offer. Apple has the Apple Watch, Samsung has the Gear S and Gear Fit line of devices and even players such as Acer, Huawei, Motorola, HTC and LG have dabbled in the wearable waters. While Microsoft is not the first name that you’d think of when it comes to hardware, this has been changing over the last few years. With the Microsoft Surface line of Windows tablets, the software giant has given Android tablets as well as the iPad a lot to worry about given the flexibility of having a full Desktop operating system in the form factor of a tablet. This isn’t the only hardware that Microsoft have been selling however, and back in 2014 they burst into the wearable scene, and followed it up in 2015 with a vastly-superior model with a curved OLED display and a raft of new features.
The Microsoft Band 2, which is the current model, connects to a service called Microsoft Health which also plays nice with a number of other services and offers up guided workouts from the likes of Gold’s Gym and co. Since its launch, the Microsoft Bands have been able to connect to Android, iOS as well as Windows Phone devices, with the requisite app being called “Microsoft Health”. Now, in a new update, the app is changing name to just simply “Microsoft Band”. Such a small name change might not mean anything at all, and it does make a little more sense as it’s the app that users use to interact with, well, their Microsoft Band. The timing however, could suggest something different. Earlier this week, a statement from a Microsoft Representative left the future of the Microsoft band line of wearables in doubt, with word being that there were to be no future devices launched. A name change could be hints otherwise, but it’s unclear right now. For current Microsoft Band owners, the Band itself is also getting an update, once users install the new version of the now-named Microsoft Band app, their wearable will also get updated. It’s unlikely that this update contains nothing more than brand changes and bug fixed for the band itself, but no changelog has been issued.
What’s clear is that along with Google, Microsoft is becoming more and more of a hardware company in the traditional sense. With a handful of Microsoft Stores across the United States, as well as online store operating the world over, Microsoft is happy to sell their Surface hardware to consumers themselves, and while the Microsoft Band 2 appears to be running low on stock, the software giant is holding an event in October, again, like Google is rumored to. It’s thought that this event could be all about the launch of a Surface all-in-one PC, but a new Microsoft Band now doesn’t seem quite as unlikely.
Microsoft Band 2