New Armband Firmware

If you have uploaded your armband in the last few days you probably got a message about a new firmware version, then were walked through a seamless process to upgrade your armband to the newest version. Firmware refers to the program or set of programs that are running on and controlling your GoWear Fit.

I am happy to see that BodyMedia is actively updating their firmware, we have also seen at least one upgrade of the Activity Manager software. But this upgrade prompted me to contact customer support to see if I could find out anything about it. Asking a question(creating a case) was as simple as could be on the website. And my question was a simple one: "Do you have a list of Armband Firmware versions and the release information(changes) for each version?" Their response was quick - within an hour; but it was also an easy answer: "We do not have a public distribution list of firmware upgrades." Not the answer I wanted, but fully the answer I expected. I understand the reluctance to publicize the change log for firmwear upgrades, but as a user, knowing that information can be very useful.

There are many changes that would have no functional impact on me as a user or on my data. For example if they upgraded the firmware to better conserve battery life, or to pack the data smaller so it could last longer without an upload. They may have just fixed some very rarely encountered bugs, or done something to make the upload process more reliable(I have heard some recent complaints of failed uploads). But there are many things that I would like to know if they change. If they would tell me what was changed I could determine if it was something that would have any meaning to me. If they changed any algothrims that the GoWear uses it would be great to know there is a reason tomorrow's data might look a little different than yesterday's, be it calorie burn, steps counted, or sleep sensing.

For now, I will be happy knowing that they are actively improving the product and putting our subscription fee to good use. I will continue to update my bug and feature request list and see if they ever take notice. I know that someone from BodyMedia has visited my blog before.