According to a new report from Forbes, Microsoft’s rumored smartwatch is going to be compatible with not only the Redmond, Washington corporation’s own Windows Phone operating system, but Android and iOS as well (via The Verge). Other details from the report include a release date for the watch potentially slanted for this Summer, as well as battery life that lasts upwards of two days.
Microsoft has been rumored to be working on a smartwatch for quite some time, but today’s report corroborates some information that was previously assumed, and adds a few details that we haven’t yet heard. The device will apparently be a sensor-rich device (as is expected from Apple’s iWatch as well), featuring a heart rate sensor that synchronizes data to the above mentioned variety of devices.
Supposedly, Microsoft is pulling some engineers from the Kinect side of the company to make sure this feature is running 24 hours a day. Microsoft was already rumored to be working on a health rate monitor called the “Joule” in 2012, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that it’s taking advantage of Xbox experts to help put this product together.
The report suggests that the device may land as early as this Summer, but Forbes — as might be expected — says that the timeline is “unclear.”
Image: The Independent
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Just one step towards new innovations and technology for this growing market
I read the title as Microsoft was developing a smartwatch that could run any operating system. It’s just going to be supported on multiple platforms, I’m pretty happy with that actually.
I love the idea of this. Wearable technology that is adaptable rather than attached to a particular OS (and likely thus ecosystem).
Sometimes technology requires specific secondary hardware and software products to run. And this can allow for maximum usability.
I agree that the fact it’ll work on any os is a good idea, but the battery life of 2 days, that is just so poor, and the manufacturer who can make an iwatch last the same as normal watches but linked to our phones for music video calls etc will surely be the winner