After Samsung, Apple and LG were reported to be developing their own smartwatch products, now it’s time for Microsoft to join smartwatch craze. The company is said to be working on an innovative watch as part of its new strategy focused on hardware products.
This information came from anonymous Wall Street Journal sources. The insiders are executive at suppliers in Asia according to which Microsoft asked them for smartwatch components. Moreover, the research and development team of the giant even met with one of the executives at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash.
Among the components for which the company asked were screens with a size of 1.5 inches. However, the fact that Microsoft is building a prototype of a smartwatch does not mean that it will actually launch it.
Despite that, the giant has some experience on the market for wearable electronic devices. About ten years ago, the company introduced a data delivery service called Smart Personal Objects Technology or SPOT. Not long after that, the service was integrated into watches of Suunto, Fossil and Tissot. Although Microsoft attempted to impress consumers with a watch of its own, it had no big ambitions to take over this market.
Now, however, things are different. The software giant is focusing more and more on the hardware technology sector. In the fall of 2012, the company released a tablet PC called Surface. Currently, Microsoft is getting ready to launch another 7’” tablet. The device is said to rival with popular gadgets like Apple’s iPad Mini. In addition, the company is now developing its very own smartphone. Nevertheless, it may not be go into mass production.
Even though consumers do not seem really thrilled over the expected rise of the smartwatch, investors predicts that these devices will quickly take over the market. That is due to the increasing popularity of wearable computers that are used to find geographic locations, understand voice commands or detect a person’s body temperature. Also, analysts are also very positive of the smartwatch market growth. Gartner, a research company, recently reported that in only three years the market for wearable devices will amount to $10 billion.
Presently, there are many such devices, including FuelBand by Nike. However, the number of wearable gadgets that have functions for taking pictures, checking the weather and receiving text messages is also increasing. For example, one of Microsoft’s main competitors Google will soon release wearable computerized glasses called Glass.
Wall Street Journal reports that from Microsoft Corp. did not wish to give any comments on the leaked information.
