Microsoft has recently joined the league of arch rivals Apple and Samsung in designing a touch-enabled smart watch device.Microsoft is reportedly said to be working on the new class of computing products. The Wall Street Journal reports that executives at Asian component suppliers have said Microsoft enquired about a “watch-style” device earlier in the year.
All the speculation came after the success of start-up Pebble Technology and Nike’s FuelBand. Pebble made a big splash by raising $3.8 million on Kickstarter, an online platform for tech start-ups to generate cash to get new ideas off the ground. Startup Pebble Technology Corp. is selling a watch that syncs wirelessly with smartphones and vibrates to alert wearers to incoming phone calls, Twitter posts and emails. The pebble watch can be pre-ordered for a decent some of $150.
For its potential new watch prototype, Microsoft has requested 1.5-inch displays from component makers, said an executive at a component supplier. Though, this isn’t the first time that Microsoft has shown an interest in wearable gadgets. Microsoft a decade ago unveiled a “Smart Watch” powered by the company’s software. But since Microsoft has declined to comment on this whole issue therefore it is unclear that whether Microsoft will opt to move ahead with the digital watch.
Smart watches and other wearable computing devices could surely become the next generation gadget craze. “We see growing demand for wearable gadgets as the size of the smartphone has become too big to carry around,” said RBS analyst Wanli Wang. “A smart watch that is compatible with a smartphone and other electronics devices would be attractive to consumers.”
