Whenever a company updates a successful and well used product line with a new model it generally causes consumers to consider their position. Will their existing hardware and software combination become redundant? Will the company in question continue to offer support and period updates going forward, or will they need to bite the bullet and invest in the new product? All of those questions must have been going through the head of existing Nike FuelBand users when the newer FuelBand SE model was announced not that long ago. Nike has now confirmed that existing original FuelBand users will not be left behind and will indeed get a host of new features when the second-generation wristband launches on November 6.
Stefan Olander – who finds himself occupying the role of Nike’s Vice President of Digital Sport – has stated that "original Nike FuelBand gets all the new features where possible". The company’s decision to integrate Bluetooth LE technology into the FuelBand SE wearable obviously means that there will be some introduced features that are impossible to offer on the existing hardware. The promise of bringing any and all available new features to the original FuelBand will most definitely appease that current users who have no intention of immediately upgrading to the latest Nike wrist tech.
As part of the update process Nike has also confirmed a number of the new inclusions that existing hardware owners will be able to benefit from. The overhauled and improved algorithms that are used within the SE product will be making their way to the original FuelBand as well as a new method of interacting with the device. Users will be able to double tap on the device to get an immediate offering of the current time wherever they are. Support for sessions will also be migrated across to the accompanying mobile app rather than through the band itself. This small change should greatly improve how users analyze their training sessions and the benefits that it provides.
In order to take advantage of this gorgeous new and very welcome functionality existing users will be required to update the firmware on the fitness watch itself. This can be done through the normal methods of plugging the FuelBand into the computer and connecting to Nike’s update web service through the application.
(source: Pocket-lint)
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