Microsoft Band 2 (Photo : Twitter)
Microsoft has started to roll out new updates for its Band 2 fitness tracker, which feature brand new music controls and activity reminders, and Exercise Tile upgrades. The wrist wearable's improvements provide better sensor technologies to the already improved comfort of the smart band's second model. This makes it ideal for a jog around the block, bike ride through the park, or Zumba class at the gym.
The wearable's music controls can be accessed by double pressing the Band 2's large power button. Then the song's title and artist will take turns showing on the Microsoft wearable's display.
Various buttons include play/pause, and skip forward/back. Band 2 owners must swipe right to pump up the volume one level, and swipe left to turn it down a notch.
The wrist wearable's music controls function on any music app installed on a smartphone via Bluetooth. That includes Apple Music, Google Play Music, and Spotify, according to ZDNet.
Like the Apple Watch that reminds users to stand up every hour, the Band upgrade allows users to set time intervals/days for inactivity alerts. They show up as a lit-up tiny blue snail, according to PC Mag. The activity reminders could also be set to not sound while sitting in a movie theater or library, or sleeping.
Meanwhile, the Exercise Tile can now show a regularly performed exercise. The fitness tracker will monitor exercise duration, heart rate, and calorie burn, and then group them in the Microsoft Health dashboard.
Finally, the What's New Tile can be set to automatically show when Band 2 updates are available. The wearable fitness tracker's owners must just tap the tile.
