mise à jour de plan d'evolution par Polar,info fournie par Dc Rainmaker sur son blog :
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/09/behind-scenes-polar.htmlV800: 2014 Firmware Update Plan
When it comes to announcing plans, Polar was put in the position of really having to identify a clear schedule for future firmware updates to the V800. That’s because while the hardware has been solid and very technically capable, the firmware hasn’t been terribly competitive in the marketplace. Thus, the features haven’t been as competitive. Polar had laid out a plan for firmware updates taking it to the end of the year, and is working towards hitting those goals. Here’s the current plan:
V800 Firmware 1.1 Release – End of September/1st Week of October
- Adds power meter support for Bluetooth Smart power meters (see this for full details)
- Adds stride sensor improvements, including improvements in auto calibration and tweaks for manual calibration
- Adds ability to set pace/distance source as the internal GPS, or an attached footpod (a huge and welcomed change)
- Adds Interval Timer on watch for time and distance based intervals, including ability to set warm-up/cool-down – all from wrist, no computer required
- Touch TAP usability improvements, including ability to set as ‘off’ from the wrist (no computer required), as well as ability to set/change sensitivities
- Significant improvements in 3rd party sensor support
- Minor bug and usability tweaks
I wanted to call out the 3rd party sensor one specifically and talk to that a bit. This was one area that I took Polar to task to in the review, due to the non-compatibility with pretty much all the major Bluetooth Smart fitness sensors in the market. As a result of that we’ve had several discussions about the topic. In doing so they’ve come up with a list of sensors that they’ve determined are non-compliant with the official Bluetooth Smart specifications. Some of these I’ve been able to independently validate as well as being non-compliant. They’re grouping these into three specific groups:
No spec issues: 4iiii’s Viiiiva. They’ll be supporting this as-is in the 1.1 release, though they won’t yet have implemented power or footpod support via Viiiiva. But, they are working on that.
Minor spec issues: Wahoo RPM V1/V2, Wahoo TICKR RUN, Adidas Footpod, TomTom Speed/Cadence sensor, 60beat Speed/Cadence sensors.
In some cases, these are due to the vendors adding additional features beyond the spec that the V800 didn’t understand. In others, it’s due to improperly adding such features. For example, on the Wahoo RPM, it technically shows as a speed/cadence combo sensor and delivers a null speed value. For all of these, Polar will be implementing fixes to make them work.
Major spec issues: Topeak HR strap, Topeak Speed/Cadence sensor, Pyle Footpod.
I’ve actually been able to confirm a few of these myself using other devices/apps. In these cases, the devices are so far afoul of the standards that Polar won’t be trying to fix these.
Now, the unfortunate thing here for consumers is these non-certified devices are slowly going to wreck havoc on the Bluetooth Smart sport/fitness ecosystem as more devices try and use these. For example, I’m already seeing some similar issues with the Suunto Ambit3 and various 3rd party sensors.
V800 Firmware 1.2 Release – End of October
- Add Indoor Swim Metric Support (stroke recognition for free, breast, butterfly, back, other), distance based on pool length, pace while swimming, stroke count, SWOLF.
- Add Daily activity user interface in wrist: Will show steps, active time, distance from steps, and active calories. Will also allow steps to scale beyond 100% (bar graph). Note, the time/home screen will show your percentage of goal, but not steps.
- Add Speed/Pace Zones for workout targets. Heart rate was already there, and power would be added in previous 1.1 release.
- Add Inactivity alerts on V800. On-watch notification at 50-minutes, then inactivity marker recorded at 60-minutes.
- Add activity goals to V800 (similar to Polar Loop). Flow will also enable this for V800-only users (today requires Polar Loop)
- Minor bug and usability fixes
The big focus here is really on swim metrics and activity monitoring. They decided to split up the swim pieces and get the indoor features out sooner, and then follow-up with the openwater swim support in the next update, knowing that with the exception of the folks Down Under, most would appreciate indoor that time of year over openwater.
V800 Firmware 1.3 Release – TBD Q4 (by end of year)
- Add Openwater Swim Metric support
- Add Android V800 Flow App support (specifically December 2014)
- Additional TBD & TBA fixes/tweaks/features
