Written By: Kriti Saraswat | Published : October 30, 2014 1:15 PM IST
After HealthVault, Microsoft has launched a fitness wearable (the Band) to keep track of one's health and fitness levels. The wearable boasts of lasting for two days after a single charge and can even detect a person's level of sun exposure. Not just this, it can be synced with your mobile and also connect to Facebook and Twitter.
The Band has 10 sensors which can track one's heart rate, stress levels, their calorie count, and other essentials one needs to keep track of to stay fit. 'This is just the beginning of a multi-year vision for Microsoft in the health & fitness and wearables category,' the company told BBC.
But Microsoft has competition in this category as other companies both big and small have also launched similar products. Apple launched its Apple Watch, there is also FitBit, Jawbone and other small start-ups.
Are fitness wearable devices accurate?
Given the large and quickly growing market for these devices, researchers at the University of Texas analysed 13 of these activity monitors such as those made by Fitbit, Jawbone or Nike to compare how the devices and their apps work to motivate the wearer.
They found that while many of these devices apps were in line with recommendations from the health community, several apps were missing aspects, which are important for reaching fitness goals.
However, several tactics associated with successfully increasing physical activity were uncommon in or absent from the monitor systems, including action planning, instruction on how to do the behaviour, commitment and problem solving, Lyons wrote.
In the end, the apps with the most features may not be as useful as those with fewer but more effective tools, the researchers concluded. This study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
With inputs from IANS
Photo source: india.com
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