The Microsoft Smart Watch that isn't...
This could just be a case that I'm not in the target market. But the rumoured Microsoft Smart Watch falls into the list of pitfall ideas for me. I think it is a poor/wasteful move.
Firstly, calling it a smart watch is wrong because it is really just a fitness band. Perhaps nit picky as I assume it will be able to tell time as well. But things like shape and size, in addition to the obvious array of fitness related sensors will make this a device that doesn't appeal to most as a watch. Also, as with other supposed smart watches, it will be capable of very limited actual smarts.
Rumoured battery life is 2 days which puts it ahead of a lot of smart watches. Not sure where fitness bands normally land in terms of battery life. But as I said with Apple... it needs to last at least a week. A watch isn't a phone. For most a watch isn't as important as a phone, so it needs to be more convenient to remain valuable. Smart watch battery life also takes a much greater beating compared to its predecessor. Watches last months-years on a single battery. That is a huge leap backwards. Once batteries get to a point where a smart watch can last a week they have a chance.
On a week long charge even if I forget to charge it once in a while and it dies it will be charged more often than not. I can charge it before a week long vacation and not worry about. The same isn't true of a watch with a 1-2 day battery life. If I forgot to charge it overnight when it needed it, I'm out of luck for a whole day once I go to work, which is 50-100% of the watches battery life to begin with. So, it is VERY easy to land in a situation where it is dead more often than charged.
While I think a week is the magic number, at 4-5 days I could start seeing a sizable enough number of early adopters to accelerate development and eventually lead to getting battery life where it needs to be to make it a viable mainstream concept.
And I've drifted a bit off my original topic. Point being... fitness bands seem even more niche than smart watches. And smart watches aren't at a point where they are viable. I think Microsoft would be crazy to invest much time in this. Frankly, wearables may very well be the tech of the future... we just aren't at the point yet where they start taking off. They are too expensive, do too little and don't last long enough.
Firstly, calling it a smart watch is wrong because it is really just a fitness band. Perhaps nit picky as I assume it will be able to tell time as well. But things like shape and size, in addition to the obvious array of fitness related sensors will make this a device that doesn't appeal to most as a watch. Also, as with other supposed smart watches, it will be capable of very limited actual smarts.
Rumoured battery life is 2 days which puts it ahead of a lot of smart watches. Not sure where fitness bands normally land in terms of battery life. But as I said with Apple... it needs to last at least a week. A watch isn't a phone. For most a watch isn't as important as a phone, so it needs to be more convenient to remain valuable. Smart watch battery life also takes a much greater beating compared to its predecessor. Watches last months-years on a single battery. That is a huge leap backwards. Once batteries get to a point where a smart watch can last a week they have a chance.
On a week long charge even if I forget to charge it once in a while and it dies it will be charged more often than not. I can charge it before a week long vacation and not worry about. The same isn't true of a watch with a 1-2 day battery life. If I forgot to charge it overnight when it needed it, I'm out of luck for a whole day once I go to work, which is 50-100% of the watches battery life to begin with. So, it is VERY easy to land in a situation where it is dead more often than charged.
While I think a week is the magic number, at 4-5 days I could start seeing a sizable enough number of early adopters to accelerate development and eventually lead to getting battery life where it needs to be to make it a viable mainstream concept.
And I've drifted a bit off my original topic. Point being... fitness bands seem even more niche than smart watches. And smart watches aren't at a point where they are viable. I think Microsoft would be crazy to invest much time in this. Frankly, wearables may very well be the tech of the future... we just aren't at the point yet where they start taking off. They are too expensive, do too little and don't last long enough.
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