With the Band 2 reaching its end of life and no Band 3 on the horizon, the future of the company's health initiative is a bit foggy.

Here's some good news for Band 2 users who wish to participate in high-intensity interval training: Microsoft's wearable is getting an updated this week to support real-time heart rate zone notifications.

Microsoft held month-long sales on its Band 2 fitness wearable for each of the past three months, lowering the effective price of the device by $75 to $175. And today, Microsoft is once again putting Band 2 on sale. But this time, the special pricing lasts longer than it has before.

With Spring belatedly making its appearance in my corner of the world, I've been walking more again. And as I did so this morning, I started thinking about how I'd update Microsoft Band 2, the wearable I use and recommend. What should a Microsoft Band 3 be like?

My wife Stephanie—admittedly non-technical, but very interested in health and nutrition—started using a Microsoft Band 2 in late December. At my request, she's provided her own feedback on this wearable device, based on about three months of usage. Here it is.

A new update for Microsoft Band 2 adds an optional auto-pause feature that pauses tracking when you take a break during a run or bike ride.

Band 2 users can keep track of their daily fitness goals in Cortana by connecting their Microsoft Health account to Microsoft's personal digital assistant. Here's how to do so.

Microsoft announced today that it has started rolling out updates to its Band wearables, with improvements to the sharing, Cortana, golf, and guided workouts experiences.

Wearables are all over the map, encompassing everything from high-end smart watches to low-end fitness bands. So there is great choice, but also great confusion. Not helping matters, many aren't sure whether wearables will have any staying power.

In my experience the real-world battery life of Microsoft Band 2 is 24 hours or less if you use the GPS. So my advice is to charge it every day if possible.

Once you get your new Microsoft Band 2 home and sync it up with your smart phone for the first time, the next step is to customize it. Here's how you do so.

With Band 2, Microsoft is again firing on all cylinders, delivering the right mix of features---fitness and health, plus productivity---and improvements.

I've been a Microsoft Band user since last year, and I've followed its software and services improvements with quite a bit of interest ever since.