It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point that when something cool happens in tech, it’s almost guaranteed to happen first in America. True to form, the funky-looking Microsoft Band isn’t coming to Australia just yet.
In addition to the obvious optical heart-rate monitor you can see in the picture above, it will include a UV sensor to keep track of your sun exposure, a galvanic skin response sensor to measure stress, and built-in GPS. The 18.5-millimetre band’s made of a “thermal plastic elastomer,” which means it’s probably nice, soft, and stretchy. It’s got a fairly tiny 1.4-inch touchscreen at just 320 x 106 resolution, and is powered by two 100mAh lithium-ion batteries.
The band is just one part of a new Microsoft Health initative to track and analyse the world’s health data, and is also just one way to collect it: Microsoft plans to let people use the Health app with other personal trackers. Much like Basis and Jawbone, which sell bands of their own, Microsoft hopes to turn that data into insights that people can actually use. Would you like to know whether eating breakfast helps you run faster? That’s literally one of Microsoft’s examples.
No word on how long you’ll have to wait to get it in Australia, but if you’re desperate, you can try importing it from the Microsoft US Store. Best of luck to you.
Here’s a fun video of what you’ll miss out on:
Sean Hollister contributed to this article.