 Hey guys, this is David at The Verge, and this is the Microsoft Band. This is part of Microsoft's new huge Microsoft Health ecosystem. This is the first hardware, though. It's the first of many, but it's the first one. So the big thing about Microsoft Health is that it's all about these little bits of information, right? It's tracking things with 10 sensors and also giving you notifications. So the whole interface is just left and right swipes through everything. These are called tiles, and you can use some of them to see, let's say, your most recent text message from my friend who thinks I'm dead, or your emails if you have anything new. You get call notifications. You get all kinds of stuff on here that's sort of a miniature version of a smartwatch. But this is really a workout tool. So if you want to run, you start the run, and you hit the one button, and then it snaps you right into a run. You can turn on the GPS so it'll track you that way, or you can just start running. And when you want to end it, you just end your run. So the whole interface is really customizable. You can have it start a workout, and it'll actually know what you're doing. It'll figure out that you're doing a pushup. It'll measure your heart rate the whole time. There's an always-on heart rate monitor, so it's literally every second taking your heart rate. And it measures things like calories. It measures your steps. It measures how much you travel. There's just a ton of data being compressed into one little band here. So one of the coolest things about the band is that you can actually download workouts to it. You can get a whole workout from Gold's Gym or Microsoft or what have you, and then come onto here, download it, and it'll automatically start you on the workout. So right now I'm supposed to be doing a V-up. Not entirely sure what that is, but I'm supposed to be doing it for 20 seconds, and it'll buzz at me when it's done and when it's time to move to the next one. So I move to the next one, and it gives me the rest, and then my set. So this will guide you through all of your workouts. And then if you go to your phone, it'll show you how to do proper form. It'll show you how to do the exercise, all this stuff. So it's working together to make sure you are totally set with your workout. When it's off, it's showing the time. It's got this sort of ambient display mode. This is very much a fitness device. It has a few smart watch things. Again, you can set a timer. It's also designed to track your sleep, so it'll know how much restless sleep you get, it'll know how much sleep you get, period. And its goal is to combine all of this data into something that's really useful for you. So the band itself, you're not actually supposed to do that much with it. If you pair it with a Windows phone, you can talk to it. You can respond to a text pretty easily, or you can quickly set a reminder or send an email. But for the most part, this is about tracking the stuff that you do. It's about tracking your workouts. It's about tracking your runs. It's about tracking your sleep. The band itself is kind of big. It's a little chunky. It's definitely not just a watch with a band or something like that. There's tech everywhere here. There's the heart rate sensor. There's the charger. See, the heart rate sensor is always on. The charger is here. It's a little awkward and sort of a magnetic thing you put on. The clasp is actually really cool. So the clasp will slide. So you can put it on and then change it. So if you want it tighter while you're working out, but looser while you're wearing it normally, it's really easy to do. So that part is clever, but the thing itself is kind of big and rigid, and it's not the most comfortable thing I've ever worn on my wrist. You're definitely going to be aware that it's there. And with the horizontal screen, too, it's just a little bit awkward. It actually works better if you put it on the inside of your wrist, but then I just feel weird holding up the inside of my wrist like this. So this is the Microsoft Band. There's going to be a lot of hardware like this. Microsoft is licensing its software. It's licensing its hardware. And there's going to be a gigantic ecosystem of devices that run on the Microsoft Health platform. But this is the first one. It's $199, and it's the Microsoft Band.
 Hey guys, this is David at The Verge, and this is the Microsoft Band.
 This is part of Microsoft's new huge Microsoft Health ecosystem.
 This is the first hardware, though.
 It's the first of many, but it's the first one.
 So the big thing about Microsoft Health is that it's all about these little bits of information,
 right?
 It's tracking things with 10 sensors and also giving you notifications.
 So the whole interface is just left and right swipes through everything.
 These are called tiles, and you can use some of them to see, let's say, your most recent
 text message from my friend who thinks I'm dead, or your emails if you have anything
 new.
 You get call notifications.
 You get all kinds of stuff on here that's sort of a miniature version of a smartwatch.
 But this is really a workout tool.
 So if you want to run, you start the run, and you hit the one button, and then it snaps
 you right into a run.
 You can turn on the GPS so it'll track you that way, or you can just start running.
 And when you want to end it, you just end your run.
 So the whole interface is really customizable.
 You can have it start a workout, and it'll actually know what you're doing.
 It'll figure out that you're doing a pushup.
 It'll measure your heart rate the whole time.
 There's an always-on heart rate monitor, so it's literally every second taking your heart
 rate.
 And it measures things like calories.
 It measures your steps.
 It measures how much you travel.
 There's just a ton of data being compressed into one little band here.
 So one of the coolest things about the band is that you can actually download workouts
 to it.
 You can get a whole workout from Gold's Gym or Microsoft or what have you, and then come
 onto here, download it, and it'll automatically start you on the workout.
 So right now I'm supposed to be doing a V-up.
 Not entirely sure what that is, but I'm supposed to be doing it for 20 seconds, and it'll buzz
 at me when it's done and when it's time to move to the next one.
 So I move to the next one, and it gives me the rest, and then my set.
 So this will guide you through all of your workouts.
 And then if you go to your phone, it'll show you how to do proper form.
 It'll show you how to do the exercise, all this stuff.
 So it's working together to make sure you are totally set with your workout.
 When it's off, it's showing the time.
 It's got this sort of ambient display mode.
 This is very much a fitness device.
 It has a few smart watch things.
 Again, you can set a timer.
 It's also designed to track your sleep, so it'll know how much restless sleep you get,
 it'll know how much sleep you get, period.
 And its goal is to combine all of this data into something that's really useful for you.
 So the band itself, you're not actually supposed to do that much with it.
 If you pair it with a Windows phone, you can talk to it.
 You can respond to a text pretty easily, or you can quickly set a reminder or send an
 email.
 But for the most part, this is about tracking the stuff that you do.
 It's about tracking your workouts.
 It's about tracking your runs.
 It's about tracking your sleep.
 The band itself is kind of big.
 It's a little chunky.
 It's definitely not just a watch with a band or something like that.
 There's tech everywhere here.
 There's the heart rate sensor.
 There's the charger.
 See, the heart rate sensor is always on.
 The charger is here.
 It's a little awkward and sort of a magnetic thing you put on.
 The clasp is actually really cool.
 So the clasp will slide.
 So you can put it on and then change it.
 So if you want it tighter while you're working out, but looser while you're wearing it normally,
 it's really easy to do.
 So that part is clever, but the thing itself is kind of big and rigid, and it's not the
 most comfortable thing I've ever worn on my wrist.
 You're definitely going to be aware that it's there.
 And with the horizontal screen, too, it's just a little bit awkward.
 It actually works better if you put it on the inside of your wrist, but then I just
 feel weird holding up the inside of my wrist like this.
 So this is the Microsoft Band.
 There's going to be a lot of hardware like this.
 Microsoft is licensing its software.
 It's licensing its hardware.
 And there's going to be a gigantic ecosystem of devices that run on the Microsoft Health
 platform.
 But this is the first one.
 It's $199, and it's the Microsoft Band.