
We recently reported that Microsoft had discontinued the Band 2, throwing the future of the entire Band line into doubt. Now photos purporting to be of a Band 3 prototype have surfaced which, if legitimate, would prove Microsoft was working on a new device.
The pictures were posted on the Windows Central forums by user 'FUD Hater' who also supplied some information on the Band 3, such as that it would have been waterproof, tracked blood pressure with a built-in EKG, and would have included RFID (radio frequency identification) support.
In one of the pictures the wearable is shown displaying a swim tile - the leaker claims the Band 3 would have been able to track swim sessions - but the overall design is pretty similar to the Band 2.
At this point we get the feeling Microsoft has halted the Band series, given the Band team appear to have dispersed into other projects. The leaker of these new shots doesn't give anything away, but theorises that Microsoft has indeed called it a day, or that some of these ideas may one day resurface in another wearable.
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We hope so: for its faults, the Microsoft Band and Band 2 had a lot of good ideas in them, and we'd be interested to see Microsoft push the health monitoring aspect above and beyond its competitors.
In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson told us,"We do not comment on rumor or speculation."
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