[NEWS] New firmware April 23

[lifeisgood85]

Yes, the updates are live.
From the sleep seciton - "Microsoft Band will auto-detect sleep events over two hours long, even when your Sleep tile is off."

 

[Teeceman]

I never noticed the data export option, I wonder if that was part of the new update...

 

[defante]

I never noticed the data export option, I wonder if that was part of the new update...

That's new as well. Looks like it's only a CSV or Excel export though. So no GPS data if anyone is looking to import that into another service.

 

[mkg3]

The layout is nice, and looks like % difference for a monthly look is change versus the previous week.

Where is the VOx reading posted?

 

[ygtgngr]

There is no band software update right? They only updated the dashboard.

 

[DrFix82]

Just received an updated of android application, allowing non-band users to use it. Also icon change.

EDIT: Some menu re-arrangement, I didn't notice any major change nor I can start an activity from my phone... maybe because I'm using a band?

New in Version 1.3.10427.2
- Multi-Device support: Track your steps and calories without the Microsoft Band, using the motion sensor on the phone you own*
- Connected Apps: Share your bike data with Strava and MapMyRide
- Sleep: Auto-detect your sleep without activating the Sleep tile.
- Bug fixes
*Motion tracking works with Android 4.4 phones and greater.

 

[bockersjv]

This are all still Microsoft Health changes. The band has stayed the same.

 

[gadgetrants]

Just received an updated of android application, allowing non-band users to use it. Also icon change.

EDIT: Some menu re-arrangement, I didn't notice any major change nor I can start an activity from my phone... maybe because I'm using a band?

Took a few steps around the house with the phone in pocket, and Band on the counter. No steps showed up in the Health App, which leads me to wonder...maybe the "counting steps/calories WITHOUT the Band" is ONLY for people with Health accounts and NO Band registered. In other words: if you have a Band, does the Health App otherwise ignore your phone? Certainly not a deal-killer for me...but I thought it would be cool to have the phone as a back up activity tracker if/when the Band loses power!

​-Matt

 

[DrFix82]

Took a few steps around the house with the phone in pocket, and Band on the counter. No steps showed up in the Health App, which leads me to wonder...maybe the "counting steps/calories WITHOUT the Band" is ONLY for people with Health accounts and NO Band registered. In other words: if you have a Band, does the Health App otherwise ignore your phone? Certainly not a deal-killer for me...but I thought it would be cool to have the phone as a back up activity tracker if/when the Band loses power!

​-Matt

This seems correct... othewise the risk would be steps to be counted two-times when walking with both band and device in pocket... anyway device could know that band is not in bluetooth field... but I don't know if app is so smart..

 

[gadgetrants]

This seems correct... othewise the risk would be steps to be counted two-times when walking with both band and device in pocket... anyway device could know that band is not in bluetooth field... but I don't know if app is so smart..

That's a great idea! Maybe a 2nd gen feature? Doesn't really require a change in hardware though. I wonder...

Perhaps an even simpler algorithm would be:

If Band = inMotion then

record activity from Band​

ignore Phone​

elseif Phone = inMotion

record activity from Phone
ignore Band
​

end

​I could imagine some occasions though where both devices are providing sporadic signal, though in principle the algorithm could switch between devices by using a threshold on signal "strength". It's not a difficult problem in theory.

Anyway, my guess at this point is there's a "chauvinistic" policy in place: If the user has a Band, default to it for all activity estimates, and always ignore any other sources of data.

-Matt

 

[DrFix82]

There is a simpler algorithm:
- record data from both devices
- compare time segments: if data recived from band, use band. Else use smartphone.

 

[gadgetrants]

That's what I was trying to say -- but you did it better! I'm sure the phone app could pull it off.

 

[Rhoyz]

There is an update on the Microsoft health app for WP.

 

[DrFix82]

I went for a run some hours ago and I still don't see data in Strava....

I extracted the GPX file with unband and unploaded into runtastic.
Microsoft Health Dashboard says I ran for 4.02Km, runtastic says I ran for 3.99Km... should the Gps data be the same?

 

[Nate Silver]

There always seem to be issues with syncing between apps. Hard to say where the faults lie, but I know there seem to be ongoing issues with MFP, and when the Band first got started, things were spotty with RunKeeper. Regarding GPS distance; this is probably a difference in how Runtastic and Microsoft interpret the raw data. There are smoothing and other algorithms in play; you might try comparing the tracks from the two apps. They probably won't 100 percent agree. It's common to see differences in calorie counts as well.

 

[DrFix82]

Well, after 25+ hours from my run the data is still not present in strava... what the hell...

 

[gadgetrants]

Well, after 25+ hours from my run the data is still not present in strava... what the hell...

This happened a lot while I was using myfitnesspal...sync problems were a regular occurrence. Not sure there's the option in strava, but in mapmyrun under settings (Improve -> Device Connect) there's an option to "Sync Data" --- I sometimes find it helps. Maybe somewhere in the bowls of strava is a similar feature?

​-Matt

 

[bockersjv]

Yep, it's erratic for sure. It does seem to get there eventually.