Rumor: Microsoft possibly launching a wearable device within "weeks" - Polidicks

[url]http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/10/19/microsoft-wearable-smartwatch/[/url] [quote=Forbes]Microsoft is gearing up to launch a wearable device within the next few weeks, Forbes has learned. The gadget is a smart watch that will passively track a wearer’s heart rate and work across different mobile platforms. It will also boast a battery life of more than two days of regular use, sources close to the project say. That could put it ahead of Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smart watch and Moto 360 which both need to be charged around once a day. The wearable will hit stores soon after launch in a bid to capture the lucrative holiday season, a timeline Apple was reportedly targeting before it delayed its own Watch to early 2015. Forbes first reported in May that Microsoft was working on a smart watch that drew on optical engineering expertise from its Kinect division, and which would sync with iPhones, Android devices and Windows Phones. It is unclear what Microsoft will name the device, or what it will cost at retail.[/quote] [t]http://i.imgur.com/37GljcF.png[/t] I don't see no wearable in this slide, what the hell Microsoft? :v:

This is will be amusing. Usually with Microsoft, they either do a really good job or they fail miserably. Either way they should probably focus on PR

Far too soon for Microsoft to do anything at the moment. They're supposed to wait 3 years while the competitor's platform matures and then try to play catch-up.

The problem with wearables is that you're bound by what phone you have. Thus realistically they're only marketing it to people who have a Windows phone. Not that many of them compared to Android and iOS. Even less who would buy a wearable watch. I don't really expect this to succeed. Also, why you would want a watch that you have to charge every night is absolutely beyond me.

[QUOTE=Stopper;46281388]The problem with wearables is that you're bound by what phone you have. Thus realistically they're only marketing it to people who have a Windows phone. Not that many of them compared to Android and iOS. Even less who would buy a wearable watch. I don't really expect this to succeed. Also, why you would want a watch that you have to charge every night is absolutely beyond me.[/QUOTE] It's not just Windows Phones. [quote]which would sync with iPhones, Android devices and Windows Phones[/quote]

It will be interesting if this thing runs windows 9

[QUOTE=Panda X;46281418]It's not just Windows Phones.[/QUOTE] Oh, bad reading on my part! That's good then, that would've been the biggest obstacle.

Why don't smart watches use e-ink displays like the pebble? Even two days battery life is still shit.

Does anyone even use smartwatches? It seems like a fad that no one actually uses.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g49C8OOIWbU[/media] How long?

[QUOTE=itisjuly;46281573]Does anyone even use smartwatches? It seems like a fad that no one actually uses.[/QUOTE] I use my Pebble for the time (duh), notifications and two factor authentication tokens. Using a phone as a watch sucks, and its nice to glance at notifications. And the watch faces are a nice customization option.

[QUOTE=Pw0nageXD;46281609][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g49C8OOIWbU[/media] How long?[/QUOTE] ...it already exists, it's called the "autoblow 2", someone posted it on facepunch a while ago :v: I mean it's not integrated into your phone but god only knows [i]why[/i] you'd want it to be

this is very interesting since Microsoft is already making apps for Android Wear [video=youtube;_Iu7bUKKrJE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iu7bUKKrJE[/video]

Whenever I hear of Microsoft doing basically anything I can't help but picture a guy who looks like this: [img]http://www.theawl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Screen-Shot-2014-04-15-at-5.57.53-PM.jpg[/img] desperately trying to stay relevant by doing what they think is cool. This is no different. When will microsoft pioneer a new market? They always wait for someone else to break the ground then swoop in with a safe competitor that doesn't break the mold in any way.

[QUOTE=Asmaedus;46282697]Whenever I hear of Microsoft doing basically anything I can't help but picture a guy who looks like this: [img]http://www.theawl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Screen-Shot-2014-04-15-at-5.57.53-PM.jpg[/img] desperately trying to stay relevant by doing what they think is cool. This is no different. When will microsoft pioneer a new market? They always wait for someone else to break the ground then swoop in with a safe competitor that doesn't break the mold in any way.[/QUOTE] Well, Apple doesn't innovate anything, they just find people who do and then buy them. That's what happened with Siri.

[QUOTE=Panda X;46281418]It's not just Windows Phones.[/QUOTE] i bet it will work worse on windows phone than on ios and android

[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;46282772]Well, Apple doesn't innovate anything, they just find people who do and then buy them. That's what happened with Siri.[/QUOTE] It's what they've always done. It's how steve jobs founded apple; Wozniack actually created something, and then Jobs sold it and pretended like he was a visionary of the new age of computing. Then Xerox invented the GUI, and he bought them and pretended like he invented it. As Anthony Michael Hall, portraying Bill Gates, correctly pointed out in Pirates of Silicon Valley (don't know if this is a real quote or just made for the movie): [quote]You and I are both like guys who had this rich neighbor - Xerox - who left the door open all the time. And you go sneakin' in to steal a TV set. Only when you get there, you realize that I got there first. I got the loot, Steve! And you're yellin'? "That's not fair. I wanted to try to steal it first." You're too late.[/quote]

Will it be locked to 30 fps?

This will be great for the 0 people who care about smart watches.

[QUOTE=meppers;46282275]this is very interesting since Microsoft is already making apps for Android Wear [video=youtube;_Iu7bUKKrJE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iu7bUKKrJE[/video][/QUOTE] Fuck im left handed.

[QUOTE=Ezhik;46282825]i bet it will work worse on windows phone than on ios and android[/QUOTE] The worse part about this is that it's likely to happen.

[QUOTE=Tmaxx;46282874]This will be great for the 0 people who care about smart watches.[/QUOTE] Wearables make you look like a colossal douchebag and everybody knows it. I don't think that perception is going anyway any time soon, however badly Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, and Google want it to. IMO, what we're seeing is the reaction to smartphone market saturation and the impending bursting of the tech bubble. Everybody already has a smartphone, and they're tied to 2-year contracts. We're over the bell curve for smartphone sales and are never going to see the same sales numbers as we saw when people were ditching their regular phones. Additionally, the rate of improvement in phone technology has slowed noticeably. That means a huge cash cow for Apple and Samsung in particular is going away. They desperately, DESPERATELY want to launch some new category of device that will get all those customers to spend another several hundred dollars each. Failure to do so means eating major shit when the bubble pops and their shares tank (or adjust to where they should have been all along). That is why they're all pushing wearables so hard. They think they can recreate the smartphone bonanza, but it's not going to happen. Because nobody wants to look like this douchebag: [IMG]http://www.nicolaginzler.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Google-Glass-Robert-Scoble.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=meppers;46282275]this is very interesting since Microsoft is already making apps for Android Wear [video=youtube;_Iu7bUKKrJE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iu7bUKKrJE[/video][/QUOTE] virtual keyboards on watches yep we've long passed functionality and use

[QUOTE=proboardslol;46282843]It's what they've always done. It's how steve jobs founded apple; Wozniack actually created something, and then Jobs sold it and pretended like he was a visionary of the new age of computing. Then Xerox invented the GUI, and he bought them and pretended like he invented it. As Anthony Michael Hall, portraying Bill Gates, correctly pointed out in Pirates of Silicon Valley (don't know if this is a real quote or just made for the movie):[/QUOTE] Do not underestimate the importance of polish and good design. Steve Jobs wasn't an engineer, but he (and his team, obviously) did have the ability to bring technology to the market.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;46283256]Wearables make you look like a colossal douchebag and everybody knows it. I don't think that perception is going anyway any time soon, however badly Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, and Google want it to. IMO, what we're seeing is the reaction to smartphone market saturation and the impending bursting of the tech bubble. Everybody already has a smartphone, and they're tied to 2-year contracts. We're over the bell curve for smartphone sales and are never going to see the same sales numbers as we saw when people were ditching their regular phones. Additionally, the rate of improvement in phone technology has slowed noticeably. That means a huge cash cow for Apple and Samsung in particular is going away. They desperately, DESPERATELY want to launch some new category of device that will get all those customers to spend another several hundred dollars each. Failure to do so means eating major shit when the bubble pops and their shares tank (or adjust to where they should have been all along). That is why they're all pushing wearables so hard. They think they can recreate the smartphone bonanza, but it's not going to happen. Because nobody wants to look like this douchebag: [IMG]http://www.nicolaginzler.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Google-Glass-Robert-Scoble.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] Hey, could be worse: [t]http://goo.gl/tM6FNE[/t]

[QUOTE=Asmaedus;46282697]desperately trying to stay relevant by doing what they think is cool. This is no different. When will microsoft pioneer a new market? They always wait for someone else to break the ground then swoop in with a safe competitor that doesn't break the mold in any way.[/QUOTE] This, especially the last bit, is something I always associate with Apple.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/h4B6Er1.jpg[/IMG] Unless you're Sergey Brin.

what does a wearable even give you that a phone doesn't? aside from looking like a total tool

[QUOTE=Bathtub;46284395]what does a wearable even give you that a phone doesn't? aside from looking like a total tool[/QUOTE] Well, a fitness band with some extra functionality would be nice.

God its too early for this shit. Spent five minutes trying to figure out wyvthe fuck minecraftwas releasing a smart watch.