14 DAY TRIAL // Reports that came out earlier this year indicated that Microsoft stopped work on the third-generation Band wristband after an experiment to bring Windows 10 on the device failed, and new information that emerged today reveals that the device is abandoned for good.
The Microsoft Band series is thus reaching end of life, with Microsoft still planning to improve the existing second generation, but without a new model in the queue.
On the other hand, it appears that Microsoft still wants to be part of the wearables business, but according to Windows Central, the new target is to build a device that’s powered by Windows 10 from the very beginning.
In the case of Microsoft Band, although the device proved to be fairly successful, it didn’t align with the company’s plans of bringing Windows 10 everywhere, and given the fact that plans to install the new OS on it failed, it didn’t make sense for the firm to keep investing in it.
Windows 10-powered smartwatch
The next thing on Microsoft’s wearables roadmap is building a Windows 10 device, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the company will ever launch such a product to the public. Most likely, the software giant will create internal prototypes and will try to experiment in different ways, but having a new device on the market depends on how all this development work advances behind closed doors.
A Windows 10-powered Microsoft smartwatch created as part of the Surface division is the project that makes sense at the moment, especially that all Microsoft devices seem to be going Surface these days, including phones. Panos Panay did an amazing job with the Surface tablet, and Satya Nadella seems to be aiming to put him in charge of every little device that Microsoft builds, so a Windows 10 smartwatch can certainly align with this strategy.
Additionally, a Microsoft Surface Watch, or whatever it’d be called, can also help Microsoft compete against the likes of Apple, whose Watch is already leading the wearables market, together with Fitbit.
Microsoft Band itself was, in essence, a fitness tracker, so it could hardly be considered an Apple Watch rival, but if the company is willing to invest in a Windows 10 device, becoming an Apple rival in the wearable industry is the most probable scenario.