Microsoft is reportedly developing a new Surface brand wrist watch, which will be released in 2014, sources reveal.
The trend of wearable gadgets is on the rise. Pebble smart watches are evidently oversubscribed online and the company is having a hard time matching orders. Apple is reportedly working on its iWatch and filing trademark applications in different countries and hiring new engineering talent for the device's development. Microsoft, not one to be left behind, is already using the prototypes of the wrist device among company employees, reports AmongTech citing "trusted sources".
The sources further reveal that the smart watch will have removable wrist bands available in different colors including red, yellow, black, grey, white and blue. The company has also used Oxynitride Aluminium (AION) for the outer casing of the watch. The AION is 80 percent optically transparent and 4 times harder than fused silica glass, 15 percent harder than magnesium aluminate spinel and 85 percent as hard as sapphire.
The sources confirm that the smart watch will use an adapted version of Microsoft's popular operating system Windows 8 and include Cloud storage facility. It can work independently from the smartphone and feature its own 4G LTE and 6 GB internal storage. The storage will be mainly used for operating system related applications. Users will still be able to wirelessly connect the device with smartphones allowing functions like push notifications and changing music.
Apple is expected to release its iWatch by late 2014 and Microsoft is set to release its device around the same time. Other brands such as Google, LG and Samsung are also rumored to be building a smartwatch, but Sony seems to be a step ahead. It recently released a second iteration of its Android-based smartwatch.
