The race in the smartwatch market seems to be heating up. Reports have it that Microsoft also plans to debut a smartwatch of its own soon. Surprisingly, this smartwatch will be compatible not only with Windows Phone handsets but also with iPhone and Android smartphones.
Reportedly, Microsoft’s smartwatch will come with a focus on fitness indicators such as real-time calculation of heart rate. This will be made possible with the help of sensors packed inside the smartwatch. Microsoft will benefit from the engineering prowess of its Xbox Kinect division in order to create such sensors which can calculate heart rate at all times.
One of the most interesting features of this smartwatch, if the rumors are to be believed, is that it will be cross-platform compatible. This means that the watch will be compatible not only with the Windows Phone market overlooked by Microsoft but also with rival platforms such as iPhone and Android. The move is part of Microsoft’s strategy to bring its products to other platforms, a vision new CEO Satya Nadella has already articulated.
However, success in the smartwatch market is going to require brilliant industrial design as well as an apt functionality. The Microsoft smartwatch will apparently come with a full-color touchscreen positioned on the inside of the wristband. The company aims to launch the device by this summer and if it does so, it may have some chance of success because there aren’t very many vendors offered color-display smartwatches at this moment.
But there are also reports that Apple’s iWatch is due later this year and if that turns out to be true, it will put both Samsung and Microsoft in a tight corner.
Courtesy: Forbes
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