Microsoft has become the fourth company reportedly working on a smart watch. Rumours of Microsoft's watch leaked on The Wall Street Journal yesterday, with the company reportedly working with a number of suppliers in Asia to deliver components, including the shipment of 1.5-inch displays. The source did, however, not confirm to the paper whether the device would go on the market.
Microsoft has not yet responded to the reports of the development of a smart watch.
This is not Microsoft's first attempt at developing a smart watch. In 2002, the company announced the launch of its Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative, which included a travel clock, key chain and wristwatch. The initiative was described as "a vision of everyday objects that work seamlessly to improve people's daily lives".
The SPOT watches became available in 2003, and were created with Fossil and Suunto. The "smart" technology devices used MSN Direct network services based on FM radio broadcast signals and cost $59 a year. Microsoft stopped production of SPOT watches in 2008, but the MSN service continued until 2011.
Aboard the bandwagon
The first smart watch on the market, the Pebble, has a 1.26-inch e-link display and connects by Bluetooth to an iPhone or Android device. The device can be used to wirelessly control certain functions on a smartphone, view text and Facebook messages and e-mails. The Pebble can be bought online for $150.
Apple was, however, the first major company to start the smart watch development trend, when rumours of its intended "iWatch" leaked in December last year.
In March, Samsung publicly confirmed it has been working on a smart watch device and intends to introduce it to the market. Although details of the Samsung smart watch are not clear yet, it has been dubbed as the Galaxy Altius.
Only a few weeks after Samsung's confirmation, reports began to surface that Google is also working on a smart watch. While the search giant's X Lab is working on the self-driving car and Google Glass, the smart watch will be developed by the Google Android unit and will act as an extension to smartphones that already run the Android operating system.
LG is also said to be working on a design for a smart watch, expected to be powered by Android.
Watching the future
Rumours of a Microsoft smart watch are not surprising, as the market has been moving towards wearable devices in an attempt to breathe innovation back into the mobile device market.
Earlier this year, a research report suggested wearable computing devices are the way of the future and would become the norm within the next five years.
ABI Research forecasts that, by 2015, 485 million wearable computing devices will be shipped annually. Currently, ABI says about 61% of the wearable technologies market is attributed to sport/activity trackers. However, the research firm says a new category of smartphone-compatible watches are beginning to emerge.
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