Microsoft unveiled an activity-tracking wristband and related Internet-based service that can track and analyze health, fitness and sleep data, jumping into the crowded wearable-computer market.
The $199 Microsoft Band, on sale today, works with the company’s free Health application, which uses machine learning to interpret data and can run on its Windows system, Apple Inc.’s iOS mobile software and Google Inc.’s Android, said Yusuf Mehdi, vice president of devices and studios.
Starting in January, the app will work with other devices, including Apple and Android phones and smartwatches.
The device can operate for two days on a single charge and has 10 sensors that can track heart rate, calories, stress and even a person's sun exposure.
It marks Microsoft's latest push into digital health after its medical record initiative HealthVault in 2007.
"This is just the beginning of a multi-year vision for Microsoft in the health & fitness and wearables category," the company said in an emailed statement.
"We want to enter this space in a deliberate and measured fashion and as such are launching first in the United States."
The band and app will track statistics such as how much deep sleep a user gets, whether calories burned are from fat or carbohydrates, and suggested recovery time from a particular type of exercise.
It can tell a person if caffeine helps a workout or whether alcohol affects his or her sleep. It comes pre-loaded with workouts from Gold’s Gym, as well as programs from Shape and Men’s Fitness magazines, and works with apps from RunKeeper, MapMyFitness and Jawbone.
In the future, Microsoft will let users choose to link the app and band to Office programs, reminders and calendar data, which could track how much someone exercises while traveling or how well a person sleeps in a week with a lot of meetings, said Zulfi Alam, Microsoft’s general manager of personal devices.
Microsoft plans to initially make the band available in limited quantities online and at its own stores in the U.S. because the company is planning to gauge demand and adjust the product according to feedback, Mehdi said.
Llamas notes the device costs more than some other fitness bands. Fitbit’s Charge activity tracker, for example, costs $130. He said Microsoft Band will also be compared with Apple Watch, which goes on sale early next year starting at $349.
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