Microsoft has unveiled Microsoft Health, a new health and fitness platform aimed at combining information from all wearable devices into valuable data for the user.
The personal fitness tracker unites the data from different health and fitness devices and services into one single and secure location, with users then able to receive insights from Microsoft’s Intelligence Engine. At launch, the Intelligence Engine will share insights such as which exercises burned the most calories during a workout, the recommended recovery time based on the intensity of a workout, and the amount of restful vs. restless sleep. Over time, users will be able to combine the fitness data with calendar and email information, as well as with location-based information, showing more insight into fitness performance relative to work schedule, whether eating breakfast helps the user run faster, or if the number of meetings during the day impacts sleep quality.
Microsoft Health will also soon enable users to connect to HealthVault and share the data with their medical provider, should they want to.
The Microsoft Health platform includes a cloud service for consumers and the industry to store and combine health and fitness data. Microsoft Health will be available for consumers from the new Microsoft Health app which has launched on Android, iOS and Windows Phone. For new entrants and startups, Microsoft Health provides a complete offering that includes an app, and APIs as well as cloud storage. Existing services can upload their data to Microsoft Health and use the Intelligence Engine to give their customers insights. New devices can license Microsoft’s 10 wrist-worn sensor modules to gather robust data including active heart rate, sleep and GPS. Microsoft added that the new health platform will work with UP by Jawbone, MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper.
Microsoft has also launched the Microsoft Band, a smart band designed for Microsoft Health, designed to be worn 24 hours a day by people who are active both in the gym and on the job. The Microsoft Band has 10 smart sensors for 24-hour heart rate monitoring, calorie burn measurement, or advanced sleep quality tracking as well as Guided Workouts curated by Gold’s Gym, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle & Fitness. The Band will also keep users connected with smart notifications including incoming calls, emails, texts and social updates as well as access to Cortana. The Microsoft Band will become available in the US in limited quantities from 30 October for USD 199.
