Cancelled Microsoft Band 3 appears in leaked images

[Scorpus]

Fans of Microsoft's Band were disappointed to learn earlier this month that the company had cancelled its line of fitness wearables, with retailers such as Best Buy and Amazon ending sales after existing stock ran out.

Thanks to a report from Windows Central, fans are now seeing what could have been the future of the Microsoft Band. A forum user posted alleged images of the Microsoft Band 3, revealing a design largely unchanged from the Band 2 save for an improved and potentially more durable clasp.

The Band 3 still would have come with some handy inclusions. The poster claims that the wearable featured a waterproof design for the first time, allowing wearers to take the Band swimming. A corresponding tile on the display confirms the Band 3 had the ability to track swimming sessions in addition to basic running and cycling functionality.

An electrocardiogram for tracking blood pressure was also set to be included on the Band 3, along with RFID support. Considering the Band 2 already supported tracking heart rate, galvanic skin response, UV, and skin temperature – plus it had GPS – the Band 3 would have blown away most other wearables with its array of sensors.

Unfortunately it seems the Band 3 will never see the light of day. It's not just the hardware that was cancelled either: reports suggest the entire Band team has been disbanded, despite Microsoft's plans to continue developing software in the health space.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/66655-cancelled-microsoft-band-3-appears-leaked-images.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Right with tradition they are a day late and a dollar short ..... another Microsoft "innovation" bites the dust.....

 

[petert]

"Considering the Band 2 already supported tracking heart rate, galvanic skin response, UV, and skin temperature – plus it had GPS – the Band 3 would have blown away most other wearables with its array of sensors." - the kind of bullshark I don't like - you can take GPS away, it was draining the battery lasting only for 2-3 hours, virtually any other device out there was better in this respect. You don't cancel a good product - the band 2 was mediocre and I have a feeling that they didn't solved the issues in the band 3 product. Lord knows, there is place for the concept in the market, just that Microsoft cannot deliver. By the way - the durability of the clasp was never an issue, the people were complaining about other stuffs. When I did my research a couple of months ago, I dismissed the band 2 - though it was looking better than everything else there, the opinions were mixed.

 

[Cindytalk]

I really no really wanted to believe in Microsoft having purchased the surface pro 4, XL 950 and the band 2. It's a been year of misses they just can't deliver. The band offered so much promise, it stood out from the crowd and oh the features on offer we head turning. But then things started to wrong, software glitches, battery life, scratches appeared within days and rumours of the band breaking/ cracking, I wasn’t alone. After returning my second band I fortunately got my money back and finally quit the Microsoft dream. How could they get so wrong?

 

[petert]

I really no really wanted to believe in Microsoft having purchased the surface pro 4, XL 950 and the band 2. It's a been year of misses they just can't deliver. The band offered so much promise, it stood out from the crowd and oh the features on offer we head turning. But then things started to wrong, software glitches, battery life, scratches appeared within days and rumours of the band breaking/ cracking, I wasn’t alone. After returning my second band I fortunately got my money back and finally quit the Microsoft dream. How could they get so wrong?

Oh I understand you perfectly. Got a surface pro 4 here - exchanged it three times. First time, Microsoft pushed the February updates which killed the battery and created a lot of conflicts in device manager. Lots of users where affected then cause they had a very detailed plan for recovery - however it did not worked for me. They don't publish news about that - you find out by browsing their support site and see various unfortunate people posting about it. And some of them didn't got a replacement at all. Second time they sent a unit with a faulty screen. Each time, I sat for a couple of days with their online support operators - backups, download and try this, try that, pack it and sent it to Germany for replacement - got the new unit usually in a week. Their support was quite busy - the longest I waited was around two hours to get an operator to talk with me. I was considering buying a XL 950 when my surface broke the first time - and not only that the surface broke but it didn't lived up to the expectations 'till then. Mostly annoying stuff like I would shut it down but it would go to sleep instead. Or it wouldn't wake out of sleep if you didn't plug the wall adapter. Or even the pen died a couple of time - had to open it, reposition the battery, etc. And you need to keep in mind that we are talking about a product in its fourth iteration - you might think that the surface line has reached maturity but alas no! So I did not went for the xl 950 - the reviews were quite positive but I knew better from my own experience.

 

[Kenrick]

Google and microsoft are the best in scrapping projects. they are good also in buying companies then a year later dissolved them.