If the latest rumours are to be believed, Microsoft is taking its second plunge into the smartwatch arena with a device that will serve as both a fitness tracker and a smartwatch, with its first attempt launched in 2004 and dropped four years later.
Fresh rumours have suggested that the smartwatch would be launched within a few weeks and will be available for purchase shortly after that to make it available for buyers in time for the holiday season.
The smartwatch is said to come with a battery powerful enough to retain charge for two days after a full-charge while most of its rivals need to be charged every day. However, this is not the best yet as Jawbone UP24 has a runtime of 14 days with the latest firmware and Pebble with a monochrome display keeps charge for 7 days straight.
Microsoft’s smartwatch will push out notifications and also act as a fitness tracker by measuring distance traveled and monitoring heart rate.
Other sources suggest that the watch will also be able to charge wirelessly and measure calories burned. Microsoft has reportedly borrowed technology from its Kinect for the wearables sensor suite.
The latest watch said to be in the works is expected to be a cross platform watch which can run on other platforms such as Android and iOS unlike its rivals which only work on a single platform. News about Microsoft prepping a smartwatch has been circulating since last year and latest rumours in June this year said that the watch will be available in October this year.
Microsoft already has a history of making smartwatches with its first smartwatch launched in 2004 made in partnership with big names in the watch-making industry such as Swatch and Fossil using its SPOT technology.
The watch pushed weather notifications, news headlines, sports news, etc using Microsoft’s MSN Direct service transferred to the watches using an FM radio signal. The watch did not catch on as it was too early for such tech, according to sources.
