In the interests of fairness, this time Polar have leaked some info. I’ve not spotted any previous leaks from Polar, unlike the sieve that has been Garmin.
Anyway, it’s nothing THAT major (in terms of new products) with ‘only’ some updates to the V800 and M400.
Finally you will be able to do away with that footpod and have cadence and stride length calculated from the wrist.
It looks like the race is on to see who is first to work out the stride length from each leg – Stride Length Balance ? Garmin, Suunto, Polar…anyone?
It doesn’t look like this will be impacted on rowing stroke rate. ie you won’t have it. We’ll see.
Polar’s approach, in general, I think must be applauded as regular, notable, functional improvements soon add up to the significantly better watch that is the V800 now compared to when it was released – a similar argument too for the M400.
I haven’t checked to see if this firmware is now available but it was yesterday and one of the guys I train with downloaded it 🙂 Presumably though the announcement has been delayed for a reason.
—- Here’s the press release (to follow!) —————————
Polar V800 & M400 software updates with running cadence and other goodies
If you’re into running, it’s a good idea to monitor your cadence every now and then. Cadence is calculated by counting the number steps you take per minute, and dividing it by two. For example, if your take 180 steps per minute counting both feet, your cadence is 90.
After today’s releases the Polar V800 and M400 now shows your running cadence from your wrist during your runs. There’s no need to calibrate, it is calculated automatically using the accelerometer.
After you’ve updated your device’s software (V800 version 1.7.15 and M400 version 1.8.4) using FlowSync, go to the Flow web service and add cadence to your training view from the sport profiles. The wrist based running cadence is calculated for all sports that support the running cadence feature, such as running, walking, jogging etc. Remember to sync the new settings to your Polar device. It’s also good to check that you wear your Polar on the same hand you have set the handedness in Flow. This is crucial for accurate readings on your running cadence. If you’re unsure, you can check the handedness from V800’s General Settings or for the M400 from the Flow app or web service product settings.
And there’s more to come; during the upcoming months, we’ll continue working on the speed and distance metrics for the indoor running sports as well.
What else is included in the software updates?
Training targets are a great way to keep track of your training and make sure you make the best of each training session. In this release we’ve added a nice feature, for both Polar V800 and M400, where you can see today’s set target in pre-training mode before you start your session. This helps you find the training target easily and you can focus only on the upcoming and get ready for your session.
Another feature we’ve been working on for the V800 is the automatic pause with speed control. This means you can now set the wanted speed yourself when you want the automatic pause to be activated. You can set this limit from the V800’s sport profiles behind the settings menu.
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The firmware has been removed from updates.polar.com because of a severe problem with the V800 (at least) stability. I tried to update yesterday evening, and now my watch is just unusable. Even in rest mode, after a few seconds, it eventually displays a message: “Something went wrong. Press OK to reset V800”.
Polar say they will release a new version of the firmware soon…
Do someone else have experienced the same issue ?
seems ok here (in terms of leaving the device working). Seems to only take internal cadence with no option for footpod cadence
Yes , thats absolutely unbelievable , my v800 doesnt work after the update, i was contacted by polar , and they cant resolve the problem!
I updated my M400 and got nervous because it didn’t restart after 1h… So I unplugged it and after several attempts it succeeded in syncing. Well, only problem I had was 1 h of data missing whole day (when I synced it with mobile app last hour wasn’t visible). Next day problem was gone…
Same for me. I contacted Polar again, they told me to do some manipulations for hard resetting the V800 directly from the watch, but it is still crashing.
I just sent the an email, and I will call them again on Monday to know what to, sending it or keep waiting for an hypothetic update to solve the problem…
here are generic reset instructions for v800: http://www.polar.com/en/support/V800/how_do_i_reset_my_polar_v800
Thanks for the tips, but nothing helped. Polar told me to send my V800 back to customer service for chip/product replacement. I will dispatch it tomorrow…
eeeesh. On the positive side you get a brand new watch and a new 12 month guarantee
Right. I’ll keep you informed….
Just received my (brand new) V800. The support has been quite fast: they received my V800 on Thursday 21st and I received the new one this morning. It is all new, even the strap.
So finally, all’s well that ends well. I would like to congratulate Polar France for their reactivity. But I would also that I will never be confident anymore when doing updates…
Thanks for all your replies !
just wait a day or two for updates. this fail is exceptional/unusual.
Sorry to hear about your v800. I did notice that Polar pulled the blog post for 1.8.4. However, PolarFlow detected it and prompted me to upgrade. So far, knock-on-wood, my M400 has been fine. I’ll have to take it out tomorrow morning to check if anything is out-of-ordinary.
NOTE:
Polar V800 software update (version 1.7.15) withdrawn from distribution
Just to give you an update about the situation related to the earlier released Polar V800 software (version 1.7.15) which was withdrawn from distribution. As soon as we had released the software it soon came to our attention that some users had encountered problems during the firmware update. We decided immediately to withdraw the software and start the investigation why it is doing so for some users. We’ve made progress in finding the root cause for the problem and working hard to get the fixed software available along with the long awaited wrist cadence.
If you tried to update your V800 to version 1.7.15 before the withdrawal and encountered problems, please contact your local Polar distributor for further assistance.
For those of you who successfully updated your Polar V800, without encountering technical difficulty—rest assured that your Polar V800 was not, and will not, be affected.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
–Team Polar