Microsoft ‘Surface Watch’ spotted being tested in NYC

12 years ago

“Yes, it’s true — Microsoft is about to get into the smartwatch game, and I got the opportunity to play with it,” Andru Edwards reports for Gear Live. “A number of months ago I took a trip to New York where I came across someone who was testing the upcoming Microsoft wearable device. I saw it on their wrist and asked about it. They tried to explain that it was a random fitness wristband ordered from China at first, but eventually (with some prodding) gave me the scoop.”

“It has an elongated form factor… It is much more akin to something like the Fitbit One or Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit in shape rather than taking on the shape of a traditional watch, like Pebble did, or like what Google showed off with Android Wear,” Edwards reports. “What we saw had a flat display, while the inner portion that would rest against your skin was curved.”

“The watch is packed with sensors. It has a heart rate monitor, accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, and most interestingly, a galvanic skin response sensor all built-in. The galvanic skin response sensor is built into the watch band, while everything else is built into the unit itself,” Edwards reports. “Microsoft’s plan is to ensure that the Surface smartwatch works across different platforms. So far, we’ve learned that it’ll be compatible with iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, Windows, OS X, and even Xbox One. Teams are hard at work on building software for each platform that will give users of each a full experience.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: If they brand it with “Surface,” Microsoft is even stupider than they look.

See also: Clueless companies race to debut stupidwatches before Apple defines the smartwatch.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]