Microsoft is releasing updated development tools for its wearable Band fitness tracker, finally allowing developers to access all the data that the company has been gathering.
It’s been about two months since the final version of the Band SDK was publicly released, but Microsoft has been constantly working to improve its product since then. Two new big changes are coming today in preview form: Microsoft Band Web Tiles and Microsoft Health Cloud APIs.
Band Web Tiles can be used by developers to deliver “glanceable” information to users through the web. Web Tile connect to the internet through the Microsoft Health platform, where they can update themselves from virtually any data source online. Developers can chose to create their tile via a text editor or create one using Microsoft’s Web Tiles Authoring Tool.
Microsoft Health Cloud APIs will allow developers to use the data that the Band has been collecting. This is part of Microsoft’s promise to turn its Health Cloud into a useful tool. Devs using these read-only APIs will have access to things like a user’s profile, tracked activities, activity summary and a few other functions.
Finally, Microsoft is also adding a few extra bells and whistles that were requested by those using the Band SDK. The company has worked to improve support for building icons as buttons, the ability to control the tile screen timeout and a few other areas that needed looking into.
All in all, this it’s a good sign to see Microsoft continue to improve its offerings and hopefully we won’t have to long to wait before we see the Band 2.
Source: Lumia Conversations
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