While some might consider the Microsoft Band the first smartwatch the company ever made, most of us refuse to call it a smartwatch. The Microsoft Band, as many have viewed it, is a fitness tracker. So, maybe it’s time for the company to get into the big league with a “real” smartwatch? It seems like Microsoft thinks (or thought so), as we just got a new leak of a Nokia/Microsoft smartwatch with the codename Moonraker.
The pictures shown were leaked by PEICHI, a Microsoft’s designer. The photos (or renders) depicted a fully running smartwatch with Microsoft’s own OS. Furthermore, @evleaks provides us with a model number LS-50. The design itself is very familiar to the Samsung’s Galaxy Gear design, with a square display and rubber band.
However, it is unlikely that this device will ever see the light of day. With new (and may I say, conflicting) information from The Verge, this was apparently just a concept, and the whole project was canceled as Microsoft took over Nokia’s Devices and Services division:
Sources familiar with Nokia’s plans tell The Verge that the Finnish company was developing a “Moonraker” smartwatch that leveraged many of the aesthetics of the modern Windows Phone design. Working prototype devices were shown to potential customers at Mobile World Congress last year, and the smartwatch came closw to launching. Nokia was planning to reveal its smartwatch alongside the Lumia 930, and Microsoft canceled it around the time the company acquired Nokia’s phone business.”
So, what we’ve got instead is the Microsoft Band. While it is not certain, Microsoft is believed to be invested in the Microsoft Band and the whole fitness tracker ideas, so a full-fledged smartwatch might not be in the company plans. But with this leaks, it becomes unclear as what Microsoft want to do with the wearable arena. Would you have preferred this Moonraker over the Microsoft Band?
Via: Windows Central, Pocketnow
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