Microsoft Shifts Smart Watch Prototype Testing to Surface Hardware Team

[sidewinder3000]

apple's been there, done that

The tiles are very watch friendly. Maybe the ideal interface.

Swipe and get a new tile, new info, new apps etc

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i agree that apps going full screen and displaying relevant info in one view, with live updated info, and the ability to swipe between them, is a great idea for watches. metro (i refuse to call one of microsoft's better design schemes by it's comprimised corporate moniker) does seem like a natural for this new medium. luckily for apple/iOS ecosystem fans, apple has already developed all those innovations, before microsoft ever came to the table with "Phone 7", and will likely come up with their own unique way to implement them.

- swiping left/right to change screens (several iterations, including and not limited to): swiping between days on the calendar (iOS); swiping between web pages/tabs in safari "page" mode (iOS); and swiping between full screen application icons (iPod nano, 6th gen)
- live updated info on icons: calendar app icon displaying today's date (iOS); badge app icons discreetly showing number of emails, texts, voxmails, etc.

i actually prefer apple's way of showing live info on an app icon. how much info can you jam on a tile before it becomes cluttered? and what do you really need to know. for me, knowing that i have 3 texts is enough. displaying the face of the people who've texted seems like too much information at that level. i like the tried and true axiom "tell them what they need to know, when they need to know it." plus, i like the "violator" concept apple uses. it only pops up when relevant, and it stands out so that you notice it. the metro tiles seem like they are always talking to you, which seems like it would become background noise after a while.

so i agree with the folks that have said they are looking forward to the breadth of innovation we are likely to see with all these big boys (and upstarts) competing for this new space. metro should be interesting, and apple certainly has all the requisite tricks up its sleeve to deliver a potential blockbuster as well.

let the games begin.

 

[trichardlin]

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Following last week's management shuffle at Microsoft, the company's Surface team has taken over testing its prototype smart watch, including variations with the same connector that Microsoft uses on its Surface tablets....

In a separate news, Microsoft announces 80% discount fire sale of the upcoming smart watch.

 

[maxosx]

All this focus on damn watches. I couldn't care less about watches. I wish the tech industry would focus on something else.

Ah yes, I could not agree more.

As an original "Apple Computer" customer, the day Jobs changed the companies name to "Apple Inc." I knew it was the beginning of a new chapter in Apple's product focus.

Now years later here's the net effect in how the "Public Perception" has played out. Check out this mainstream newspaper and online news site in San Francisco. Notice how they refer to Apple as a "Gadget Giant".

"U.S. District Judge Denise Cote ruled today that there was “compelling evidence” that gadget giant Apple violated antitrust law and played a “central role” in conspiring with five major publishers"



http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/20...ired-to-hike-ebook-prices-faces-huge-damages/

 

[dshan]

Microsoft Windows WT Powered SurfaceWatch Success!

Yeah, giving it to the Surface team is the way to make it successful... D'oh!

 

[cocacolakid]

Honestly, if apple announced they were working on a magical iBrick these other companies would start developing one as well.

Apple should leak nonsense products just to waste competitor's resources.

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Just what Microsoft needs.

Another piece of ****** nobody is going to buy.

That they will drop all support for and pull from the market after 1 month, then reshuffle their management teams.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I rank people who put those Apple stickers on their bumpers slightly ahead of people who use an Apple logo wallpaper on their Apple branded computer. Those people are about the biggest dorks on the face of the earth.

"I'm showing the world that I'm using an Apple by putting a wallpaper with an Apple logo on it so everyone will know I'm using an Apple while I use my Apple no matter if they're looking at me from the front or the back of my Apple".

YEAH OKAY!

One day, I'm gonna build a Hackintosh. And when I do, I'm gonna do this...

Image

I like it. Using a real apple is true innovation.

 

[gagaliya]

all of them seem to miss the fundamental of a watch. It needs to work for at least a few weeks without recharging, the last thing i want is another thing i have to recharge every 2 days.

any company (apple included) that release a watch require a recharge within <2 weeks is a fail.

the watch also need to be able to clearly tell time in big letters and visible under the sun.

Only THEN, you can add in all the apps and gimmicks.

 

[Jack97]

You're not seriously trying to imply that Apple was the first company to ever consider a watch-like device that did more than tell time, are you?

No. Everybody knows that apple weren't the first to make tablet computers. The key is that they revolutionised them. Now that there are rumours they're planning to do the same thing again, the other companies want to beat them to it - that's what I'm saying.

 

[trichardlin]

all of them seem to miss the fundamental of a watch. It needs to work for at least a few weeks without recharging, the last thing i want is another thing i have to recharge every 2 days...

Look, iWatch is not a watch. OK? If you want a watch, get a Timex or Casio. Or you can spend a lot more and get a mechanical watch and wind it EVERYDAY.

 

[Oletros]

No. Everybody knows that apple weren't the first to make tablet computers. The key is that they revolutionised them. Now that there are rumours they're planning to do the same thing again, the other companies want to beat them to it - that's what I'm saying.

So, companies have been making smartwatches for a long time and it is because there are rumours now that Apple will make an smartwatch?

 

[Boomchukalaka]

Hmmmm...would you buy the Windows RT version or wait for the full Windows 8 version and pay a premium?