14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is yet to launch a genuine smartwatch, as the Band was more of a smart wristband with activity tracking features, but it turns out that the company was at some point very close to bringing to the market what seems to be the closest thing to an Apple Watch killer.
Nokia Moonraker is a smartwatch that was developed by Nokia for the Lumia series of phones, but which was eventually discontinued by Microsoft after purchasing the Devices and Services unit from the Finnish firm.
And in a video published today by Nokibar, we finally have a closer look at the Moonraker, confirming what we already knew: this smartwatch was a pretty exciting rival to the Apple Watch, as it was supposed to come with similar design and features.
Notification and phone calls support
As you can see by yourselves by hitting the play button below, Nokia Moonraker is a smartwatch in all its glory, but it seems to lack more advanced activity tracking - and this could be one of the reasons Microsoft abandoned the project. It has interchangeable bands, customization faces, support for notifications, and integration with the most popular mobile apps, such as Facebook and MixRadio.
Additionally, it can display emails and messages, while also featuring phone call support - it’s not yet known if the Moonraker had a speaker and a microphone so you can talk to your contacts, as it’s possible on the Apple Watch, or it was only supposed to let you dial a phone number.
The Moonraker also had an app store and included physical buttons to let you access the home screen easily. Double tap was offered to quickly wake up the smartwatch, just like it works on Lumia phones.
It goes without saying that this could have been a pretty compelling product, but for some reason, Microsoft decided to kill it soon after the Nokia acquisition.
With the Band lineup nearly discontinued, we can only hope that Microsoft still plans to launch a smartwatch and all eyes are on Panos Panay, as a Surface Watch seems to be the most logical step that Redmond could do in the coming years.
