14 DAY TRIAL // Little is known about Microsoft’s smart watch project, but sources familiar with the matter hinted earlier this month that the device might be equipped with a 1.5-inch display and a touch-capable screen to provide quick access to all of its features.
Even though the whole project is still an enigma for all of us, Microsoft's Chief Research Officer, Rick Rashid, said in an interview with The Verge that developing a smart watch is still a possibility for the Redmond-based tech giant, especially because the company has already sketched such a plan back in the 2000s.
“One of the problems that we encountered when we were working on watches back in the early 2000s was that a lot of our hypothetical target market didn't actually wear a watch,” he was quoted as saying.
Of course, information on the smart watch is very scarce for the time being, but previous reports indicated that such a project might arrive later this year, probably a few months after the public debut of Windows 8.1, the next major Windows release due this summer.
Word is that Microsoft is planning to release a new smart watch to compete against the other companies on the market that may be developing similar projects.
Apple, for example, is believed to be working on iWatch, a smart watch also expected to see daylight this year and supposed to bring a new collection of features that would appeal to many customers beside iFans.
In addition, sources familiar with the matter have hinted that Samsung is also secretly developing a smart watch, even though no clear specifics have been provided so far.
If Microsoft is indeed working on such a project, the company is most likely trying to get closer to the devices and services approach Steve Ballmer was talking about in late 2012 and, thus, go beyond the software industry it already controls.