Microsoft rumored to launch smartwatch this holiday season, beating Apple Watch to market
Microsoft is said to be planning to bring a smartwatch to the market "within the next few weeks," beginning sales ahead of the lucrative holiday shopping season and also beating the highly anticipated Apple Watch to store shelves.
The rumored impending launch was first revealed by Forbes, which indicated that like the Apple Watch, Microsoft's device will track a wearer's heart rate. The report also said the smartwatch is believed to have cross-platform compatibility, and that it will provide more than two days' worth of use on a single charge.
Though the report didn't specifically mention compatibility with iOS devices, it's likely that a Microsoft smartwatch would offer some level of connectivity with Apple's ecosystem, which has a much larger market presence than Windows Phone. Forbes previously reporte in May that Microsoft's smart wrist device would offer compatibility with both iOS and Android.
Microsoft has adopted a more universal approach under Chief Executive Satya Nadella. Earlier this year, the company's lucrative Microsoft Office platform arrived on Apple's iPad, after reportedly being held up for years under previous CEO Steve Ballmer.
If the Microsoft smartwatch does in fact offer two days' worth of uptime before a recharge is necessary, it might perform the Apple Watch, which the company has said will need to be recharged nightly. But with the Apple Watch not becoming available until early 2015, engineers at Apple are said to be working on improving battery life before the device's launch.
But with sales set to begin next year, the Apple Watch will also miss the holiday shopping season entirely. Microsoft may be looking to capitalize on that delay, though pricing, product name and other details remain a mystery.
Rumors of a Microsoft smartwatch first surfaced in April of 2013 when it was said that the software giant was mulling an entrance into the wearable computing market with a touch-enabled wrist-worn device. At the time it was said that teams formerly involved in Xbox and Kinect hardware development were assigned to the project.
Yet another report from last year alleged that the Microsoft Surface team was also involved in the project, and had been working with Oxynitride Aluminum, or "transparent aluminum," that is three times harder than glass.
Microsoft previously attempted to market a smartwatch as part of the now defunct Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT) platform that died in 2008. With SPOT, brand name watchmaker partners like Suunto, Fossil and Swatch incorporated Microsoft software into specially designed products. The program was based on a $59 per year subscription service that sent weather, traffic and other relevant data to SPOT devices over FM radio broadcasts.
The rumored impending launch was first revealed by Forbes, which indicated that like the Apple Watch, Microsoft's device will track a wearer's heart rate. The report also said the smartwatch is believed to have cross-platform compatibility, and that it will provide more than two days' worth of use on a single charge.
Though the report didn't specifically mention compatibility with iOS devices, it's likely that a Microsoft smartwatch would offer some level of connectivity with Apple's ecosystem, which has a much larger market presence than Windows Phone. Forbes previously reporte in May that Microsoft's smart wrist device would offer compatibility with both iOS and Android.
Microsoft has adopted a more universal approach under Chief Executive Satya Nadella. Earlier this year, the company's lucrative Microsoft Office platform arrived on Apple's iPad, after reportedly being held up for years under previous CEO Steve Ballmer.
If the Microsoft smartwatch does in fact offer two days' worth of uptime before a recharge is necessary, it might perform the Apple Watch, which the company has said will need to be recharged nightly. But with the Apple Watch not becoming available until early 2015, engineers at Apple are said to be working on improving battery life before the device's launch.
But with sales set to begin next year, the Apple Watch will also miss the holiday shopping season entirely. Microsoft may be looking to capitalize on that delay, though pricing, product name and other details remain a mystery.
Rumors of a Microsoft smartwatch first surfaced in April of 2013 when it was said that the software giant was mulling an entrance into the wearable computing market with a touch-enabled wrist-worn device. At the time it was said that teams formerly involved in Xbox and Kinect hardware development were assigned to the project.
Yet another report from last year alleged that the Microsoft Surface team was also involved in the project, and had been working with Oxynitride Aluminum, or "transparent aluminum," that is three times harder than glass.
Microsoft previously attempted to market a smartwatch as part of the now defunct Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT) platform that died in 2008. With SPOT, brand name watchmaker partners like Suunto, Fossil and Swatch incorporated Microsoft software into specially designed products. The program was based on a $59 per year subscription service that sent weather, traffic and other relevant data to SPOT devices over FM radio broadcasts.
Comments
Yet another revenue generator for Microsoft.
Not.
They really need to get out of consumer hardware, they're not good at it because it's not in their DNA.
My sources tell me the Microsoft watch will be called "Turd on an Imitation Leather Band." The battery will reside in a fake pocket protector in the shirt pocket, and the watch will include a small cooling fan to prevent flesh burns. There is disagreement about whether the TILB will have a "Start" menu but it will run MS Office.
You are correct of course, but to be fair, with three decades in business based on basically two things they ripped off; Mac office suite and Mac OS, what else can they do but follow Apple?
I can't get the image out of my head ... a Micky Mouse watch only with Ballmer and his arms swinging round ... It's like a nightmare!
Microsoft has made two hardware products that succeeded: the MS Mouse and the XBox. Their watch might not be the third.
I bet it runs a mini version of Symantec or Norton Anti-Virus and you have to wait an hour before using MicroSoft Pay while it checks for any malware.
Mock Funeral sounds in order ....
"Here next to Zune, lies the body of MSWatch ..."
What brand of anti-virus software will this be running?
(digitalclips just pipped me by a few seconds! They say that great minds think alike. And apparently our minds, as well)
Don't you all think that these days you MUST do HW and SW to compete?
Apple has been doing both all along, only when it did the iPhone (then iPad, and now apple watch) did it all 'click.' SJ's vision of a $500 hand held computer with touch screen finally came together.
So I would think that competing with Apple requires the competitor to do both, and do both well. Even if you're competing with a product that doesn't exist for retail customers yet.
If MS doesn't do both, well, wouldn't they have the same experience that they are having in the phone world? The same fractured experience that Android enjoys? I suppose watches are not phones, maybe I am over simplifying everything.
I'm still not convinced I need a watch, particularly one that needs my phone nearby. I used to wear a watch for my last job and I was always happy to take it off!
Sorry ... couldn't resist!
It just says "no" on every level.
If I were Microsoft, I hope they kept the iPhone funeral props to save money when their watch is DOA.
Embarrassing.
It also requires the user to be carrying their Zune for internet access.
Maybe their watch can be a remote Xbox controller, and it perfectly synchronizes with your one-screen character looking at their watch.
How did that work out for Palm, Nokia, and BB? 1 out of 4 companies that went HW and SW has succeeded. A 25% success rate isn't good. The market would never sustain 5+ OSs.
AP Newswire - 12 November 2014
Yesterday Microsoft demonstrated their new XWatch with integrated joystick crown at an event in New York that was simulcast in San Francisco and other cities around the world. Unfortunately for the beleaguered tech company, event invitations for some locations did not adjust for time zone differences, leaving the San Francisco audience getting to their seats hours after the event took place while audiences in Tokyo and Melbourne, Australia were seated a full 13 and 15 hours ahead of the event start time, respectively. While the Aussies went home in frustration for a few hours of sleep before returning at the appropriate event time, the Japanese all remained patiently seated and enthusiastic about the new watch.
If it doesn't have a kickstand, I'm not getting it.
Everyone else likes to announce that they are 'thinking' about developing a product.
Some people walk it - some people talk it.