Microsoft's upcoming wearable will allegedly be priced the same as Samsung Gear

Like many of you, we can't wait to get a smartwatch made by Microsoft. Last weekend we learned a handful of new details{.nofollow} about Microsoft's upcoming plans in the wearable space, and how it might compare with the Android Wear space. Today a few more details have emerged. Curious about pricing?

To recap the leaks from last weekend:

Will work cross-platform (Windows Phone, Android, iOS)
Open APIs
Coming in October
11 sensors (to track fitness and activity level)
Will be a slim band (think Nike Fuelband) vs chunky smartwatch (Gear, G Watch, Toq)
Display is inside of the wrist as opposed to outside

In a new blog post, Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott has provided a few more details about Microsoft's plans for the upcoming wearable. He also confirms the above information.

What's new/confirmed from Paul today:

Will be like a fitness band
Will display smartphone based notifications from Windows Phone, Android and iOS
Be priced the same as the Samsung Gear fit. (That's also the same price as the newer Samsung Gear Live
Tracks your fitness: Steps, calories burned, heart rate, etc.

We can't wait to see what Microsoft has planned in this wearable space.

Are you still interested in this device even though it's more smartband and less smartwatch? Sound off below.

Source: WinSuperSite{.nofollow}

167 Comments

I hope it has a Metro UI (sorry, Modern) from not only Windows Phone, but also iOS and Android. They could use it as leverage for WP if the watch is sufficiently successful.
Dont be sorry. It IS Metro no matter how much Microsoft wants me to call it "Modern", it is Metro.
It's not that they want you to and more that they had no choice but to change it. Edited to remove embarrassing Word Flow typo...
Jews❔ .... You mean not??
Wow. That's a pretty bad Word Flow typo. Sorry about that ...
Really? Someone tears my post apart, I call them an a-hole and it gets deleted. You come out with this racists B.S. And its still up? Way to have your priorities straight WPCentral.
LOL, I know. That's hilarious though I think Nik Rolls meant to write "just".
It was actually meant to be 'not'. I must have really mucked up that swipe to get 'Jews'. I usually double check before posting but I was in a rush.
Haha. I've sent some extremely amusing texts in the same way.
Lol, it's fine man. I'm Jewish, and you're good. :)
Well, I'm a 'not' and I find this offensive! (Is a jew as well, in matter of fact. No worries, man!)
How was that racist? It was clearly a typo, it didn't even make grammatical sense. And by the way, even though it was a typo, the word 'Jews' on its own is not racist. I'd have to be throwing an insult at the same time for it to be so.
No one is allowed to say J-ws dude. I'm calling the ADL on you! It's racist of you mention someone's race at all.
I saw an article, written in the USA about a girl that killed her friend. It happened in Mexico. The headline said something along the lines of Mexican teen stabs best friend 65 times" and the comments took the writer to tank over including her nationality in the title. They called the writer racist. LOL.
What is the world coming to? I'm one of the least racist Caucasian people you'll find, but I also feel that political correctness is going way too far these days.
In Australia the media are not allowed to say "Aboriginal" but have to say "dark skinned" when reporting crimes / incidents (e.g. "The police are looking for two dark-skinned youths who robbed a petrol station today"). Everyone knows they're aboriginal as we don't have many black people of African descent.
Weird. I would have thought that it was more respectful to use the correct name rather than referring to skin color. In New Zealand Maori rights activists would be up in arms if the media used 'dark skinned' when they could have used 'Maori'.
MS can give a damn what YOU call it.... Lol❕
You mean couldn't give a damn? What you just said means they do give a damn, at least a little, which makes no sense. Almost as much sense as saying 'I could care less' as an expression of not caring.
This is one of my bug bears as well :)
I beleive it's normally written as one word, "bugbear" I'm sure that there's some irony somewhere in this series of posts.
True -- I think I was fed up with swiping at the time and took the easy route ;)
How about "STFU who cares".... Is it ok the way I worded that? :-)
I also hope it's waterproof. It's a deal breaker for me if it's not.
Yes,I agree.
Just wrap your wrist in glad wrap and some elastic bands :)
Stylish lol
Waterproof +2520
The modern or metro UI is so easy to read.. Oh man please resemble my Lumia Icon
I am not sure about it being on the inside of my wrist. Maybe I am getting old.
Also...guess I have to Bing Samsung's pricing as it is not mentioned. Excited though.
*Edit* Just looked up the Samsung Gear. The Gear 2 actually looks pretty nice, but it's $300...
Exactly 300 for the omission of gsm built in like some of the oldies like the swap rebel
Yeah. Display facing your wrist seems counter-intuitive. Not to mention, it'll be all mucked up from sweat and such. I guess we'll just have to wait and see it in person.
I've seen a few people in my life that wore their watches that way. They reckon it's easier to check the time without having to rotate the whole wrist, but I never saw much difference. I always thought it looked stupid too :P
Its not facing your wrist, its on the *inside* of your wrist. So if you were holding your phone in you hand reading, you would be able to see the face of your watch (likely pointed toward your upper chest)
IDK about most people, but in that scenario the inside of my wrist is waaaay out of focus, even with optical correction prosthetics applied.
Sorry - I don't think the idea is that it is in focus on a scenario like that (and the phone holding was just to help picture the location), obviously you would have to shift your gaze to the face of the watch. I don't think one way is necessarily better than the other. But after testing the motions a few times (raising/inward twisting arm to look at outside of wrist vs raising/outward twisting atm slightly), I prefer looking at the inside of my wrist based on the reduced stress it seems to put on my upper arm and shoulder joint.
Of course I understand which way it faces. I just prefer my watch to face the normal direction.
I don't know. Maybe the design is set like that so the unit is sitting on the inner side of your wrist to detect heart rate more accurately. There are more reasons why this approach is used instead of aesthetics.
I mean all you would have to do is turn it to turn the watch to the outside of your wrist.. Lol problem solved. It's just designed to be facing your body.
I think having the face on the inside makes talking into your watch a little more natural. It's like holding a phone to your ear.
cmon release it already, im more than excited everytime i see "microsoft" + "smartwatch" on the tittle
I'd prefer they make more of a smartwatch with a design like Moto 360...but I'll get this in lieu of that.
Moto 360 is to big/high, to ugly.
I didn't find it ugly at all. It might be too big, but I would have to try it on first. I just know based off the patent picture, the Microsoft smartband doesn't look good visually, but I'll reserve full judgment till I see it in person.
But the band is not a person. How will that work?
Yeah, the Moto 360 is definitely not ugly. Purely my opinion of course
The only problem with a round screen like the Moto 360 is that this watch will likely run on some form of Metro, which is comprised of squares and rectangles. The geometrical clash would look terrible, which is unfortunate, because I really like the round shape
Hmmm, hadn't thought of that...i figured since they were trying to support all platforms, they might try and go for something more generic/universal looking.
True, but I'm assuming this will tie into their whole Thershold initiative, which probably means Metro
The 360 is good if u wear casually or at a party but Microsoft's smart and is a fitness band. Those who are fitnesss freak, sportsmen can get Microsoft's smartband
Agree. I'd like a more tradtional watch design. Not too big. But, I tend to lean more toward analog faces than digital.
If it looks anything like Samsung's and LG's recent offerings, I'll pass.
Read the article, it's meant to be a stark contrast to those.
Based in what the watch will be, I will pass. Wake me up when Microsoft made something similar to the Moto360.
Nokia (what's left of it after selling it's mobile division) might make a smartwatch that looks like traditional wristwatches. Maybe. We'll just have to see.
Thats cool then
Lets see what Microsoft will suprise us next Holiday 2014..
Really depends on how it looks. Also, availability.
Betcha its US only...:)
And does coming in October mean announcement event in October and on store shelves after Christmas has come and gone? Or actually on store shelves and available for purchase by Oct 31?
Awesome. At first I didn't understand what it meant to have the face (display) inside. I get it now and it seems natural. Anxious to see this.
Smartband, fartband...whatever it is they need to hurry up and get in the game!
Why, what's the rush? If MS did it first it wouldn't matter. Ignorant asses would still claim apple invented it even if apple was 3 years behind.
Microsoft DID do it first. Late 90's, I think
CrApple is the best their is and ever was. CrApple has invented everything better than everything before it. I know this to be true, I read it on the Interweb.
Notifications on the inside of my wrist, what? Another Microsoft fail :|
Inside wrist.. Rofl.. Epic fail.
Probably fake.
To me it does seem natural to just turn ur wrist when actually trying to do things on a watch, try having to turn ur wrist trying to read and type, especially with modern UI, just tap and swipes
Watches are designed for use on the inside of the wrist, the soft flesh allows for a watch face to fit squarely as opposed to uneven like on the wrist bone. Only in the last few decades have people been wearing them on the outside, which is less functional, more straining on the wrist, elbows and shoulders when actually trying to read the face, and makes you look like you're wearing the watch because you can, not because it does something.
Why is inside the wrist even a feature? It should look good either way, and if not that's an obvious design flaw.
If its inside wrist handling would be comfortable
I'm not sure but, due to the use of heart beat sensor, putting the device on the inner side of the wrist is more reasonable.
...so how much is a Samsung Gear? At the risk of being called lazy, not a fan of having to do supplemental reading to find out the answer in the title of the article.
Dear Other Lazy People.... The Samsung Gear is $299.99 at Best Buy. Rs 12,100 in India.
@ $150 too much, IMO. Pass on it, for now.
Sounds like Fitbit on steroids. I am very much interested in that case.
I just hope it supports WP from the get-go and not Android/iOS first with support for WP "coming soon"
I feel like I want to write a comment in escrow, saying once again Microsoft misses the mark, whiffs on obvious market feature that would have been amazing, has a better and more complete product on IOS and Android.. cites, "more to come soon" in response to why missing features on Windows Phone... but I really want to be positive and really hope this is an amazing device. I think the iWatch will be the device with the most polish. The Moto 360 is a serious device from what I've heard however. If an IOS device can look pretty and do what a fitness band would do.. well. I just hope this fitness band looks looks sharp enough to wear for any occasion.
At this point, everybody who wants a fitness band has one. There's still room for growth in the smartwatch space. They should have focused on that instead.
I'm in the market for a fitness band AND waiting to see what MS releases before I commit. Regardless of your generalization, I'm sure I'm not alone...
I'm with you
Same here id rather an all in one especially handy while at work
I've been holding out, wish they would come out with something already. I really want a nice looking MS smart watch.
Don't want to hear a anyone say "why do we need smartwatches?"... If you don't want one don't buy one, but let us have our fun.... Jerk❕
"Why do we need smartwatches?" It's not your job to tell other people what to write here!!
You must not know rodneyej ;)
True. I really don't do.
This guy must be new around here....
But, isn't that what you're doing right now?... It must be your job.. Well, excuse me.. I don't want to take you away from your work.
But I want it should also work completely standalone otherwise what good it will bring when competitors are already offering a smartphone dependant watch
FYI the Fuel Band is far from a slim band...
i just hope it is surface-like design wise, all metal and glass with a bright contrasty amoled display big enough to fit the entire arm, metal bracelet, and all it has to do is work as a notification center, remote control of sorts, and do some fitness stats, also IP67 is a must just as the overall sturdiness, i've used lots of cool watches, and the most important thing they have to do other than looking good is survive my day to day use, its not that i work in a construction site but i just cant live with a watch that i feel is gonna get destroyed everytime i make a sudden move
I want a Moto 360 that works with WP! :D
Hope it ships with office
The Surface Watch, for getting REAL work done! /s
This made me LOL
But will it run Kim Kardashian: Hollywood? Hey, you know it'll be a top app on iWatch, and Windows Watch must have app parity!
I'll wait for a watch design, I think. For $300, I need to be CERTAIN that I want to use it. That palm side wrist placement of the screen seems odd, espescially now as my wrist wrests on the mettalic surface of my HP laptop.
I think the problem Microsoft will face with this type of smartwatch is that it lacks the "status symbol" and/or fashion aspect that it equally or more important than practicality.
I just don't see a majority of consumers spending $200-$300 for a smartwatch that doesn't have the "bling factor."
I don't like a lot of bling, but when it comes to a watch, it's the one place I want to show off a little bit.
It'll have some amount of Bing factor though, apparently.
Cortana, hop into my watch. I'll be Dick Tracy, and you'll be Tess Trueheart....
Agreed. The name "Microsoft" just doesn't attract the young urban professionals at all. iPhone buyers will exclusively buy the iBand for obvious reasons. The real play if for the 1.1 billion Android users.
I was hoping they would price it more competitively then that.
I don't think so. The direction they're going on with the Surface is a more premium one, so if they price it at less than the competition it'll probably be around 10% less
I'd rather I be a watch! I want a smart watch not a stupid fitness band. Not all of us want to go running.
...but I think a majority of smart watch target customers DO want fitness tracking on the device. That being said, I wish this had a more traditional watch design.
I know some do, but it should be a different device. Make a cool fitness ban for people who want it. And make a smartwatch, that is classy and looks cool for others. Why are they only coming out with one style anyways. How many smart watches are there for Android, either MS steps up their game or people are going to go with a different device (mainly because smartwatches could be a deal breaker)
I want some tech looking, surface like smartwatch with GPS support build in. The others all rely on the smartwatch for GPS.
I know the new, and "in" thing to do is to accept this weird "microsoft is the underdog who needs to beg" stance (which makes no sense when you actually LOOK at Microsoft), but I really don't see how it's beneficial to make this open to all OS's. I'm sure Bing Health+Fitness will play a role, but still.
Can't wait.
Hopefully it's not all about jogging, calories and stuff. I want a device for my daily life. And i want a cool design.
Inside the wrist? Hmm. Well if its not a watch then perhaps ok.
There goes the elegant/luxury design I was hopping for our clients :-( Hope they do more than single design for executives, Moto360 design with better strap options would be fantastic.
My gt is S D I c0rKyZ if any one plays Xbox one
I don't get it... Display on the inside?
They mean the opposite side of your wrist, the side with your palm on it
Any idea what the 11 sensors are? Heart rate, obviously. Probably a pedometer. What are the other 9? Probably not a GPS since we'll be pairing these with our phones. Air quality or something? If anyone can figure out how to track blood glucose levels without piercing the skin, I'll gladly throw money at them. I feel like that's not going to happen though.
Pedometer Blood pressure Heart rate Barometer Gyroscope Accelerometer Proximity InfraRed Bluetooth (if this and IR count as sensors) That's 9 already
1 sensor is not dedicated to 1 function.. More are for accuracy..
it got no chance to success if its coming after iwatch....MS cant sell the idea on kinect...forget about any new tech....they dont even have a windows 8.1 tablet with LTE yet after 3 products release.... pity they think tablet is meant to replace laptop not for travel or finding nearby restaurent and navigation
There is 99% chances.. When released on WP , it will have limited capabilities , where as IOS n Android will have superior experience... This is due to limitations on WP SDK and lack of API. Piss poor effort from Microsoft on that front
Display inside and fitnessband - i don't see me buy this thing. A watch would be great but the concept leaked so far is too limited. Is there anything new Microsoft is offering us? I am slightly disappointed.
I didn't care before and even less will I care if it's a smartband. And even less if it's overpriced as the Samsung Gear is.
Will buy it anyway
Looking at comments look like its DOA
I don't understand why they would have the screen on the inside of the wrist. I guess I'm still looking forward to getting the Agent watch then...
I'd go for an Agent, but dayam, that House of Horology design is 1980s Casio calculator watch ugly.
I personally like it, but to each his own.
Hell yes I want.
Sounds awesome! I need one, but I think I will wait til price drops ...
Will work cross-platform (Windows Phone, Android, iOS)
Let me guess ... Android and iOS support at launch day and Windows Phone some weeks later ...
Idk a update could be brewing along with the launch of more phone devices we might priority this time around with windows 9 brewing
I hope the battery, with GPS on, last a marathon plus full day of use. Then add smartwatch functionality, I'll ditch my Garmin 620 in a second.
first on my list is the moto 360, simply because it's gorgeous and i think google wear is a very good implementation of how a wearable device should work. but i am still ver intrigued to see what msft puts out, especially to see if/how they integrate cortana into it. heck, i literally cannot have enough gadgets!
Definitely needs to be water proof, and have the battery last all day. I like the inside of the wrist but $300 ... I know that may not be out of the ordinary but man that's alot of money!
I hope it comes with digits features.... http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v3TrX5j6rh8
It's probably on the inside of the wrist for privacy concerns. In case you don't want people in your business with who's calling/texting you ;)
The obvious fix to that would be user-option to hide contents of text incoming text messages until user does whatever action to reveal.
Well i'll gonna be pre-ordering this when it hit
MS: pre-order in Oct for Dec delivery. Apple: Release on Monday buy on Tuesday
Dont care about iCrap release watch date...cant even use that shit for my WP
yeah, just like the iphone 6 plus... order oct. 1 and will receive nov 14'th... You might want to double check your apple availability.
If they are going to place the display on the inside wrist, I hope the bezel around the display is rubber and the display is sunken enough so that I don't hear and feel it clanging and grinding on every table and desk when I rest my arms on them. I stopped wearing watches for this very reason so that I didnt have to hear and feel the metal band scratch as I typed at work. This sounds pretty damn cool but if I need to remove it during work, this is a no go for me.
Am I interested? ABSOLUTELY!
I'm up for it. I just switched to WP right after google io. I had money set aside for Android wear. I guess it will now be saved for this
The thing is, many people can spend a lot on a phone, but not on a phone AND a watch, knowing both are at the end of their lives after 2 years, and already old fashioned after a year. While a real watch with a clockwork lasts for decades and keeps its style and is better build.
Yes, I'm interested in this MSFT product...
Hopefully Microsoft goes big and introduces more features and a wearables platform, rather than just some smartwatch that does the whole fitness/health tracking bit, and also happens to show notifications. If it could be a bit more like Google's Wearables platform, where developers can extend the phone into wearables and give it additional functions/features to complement the phone... Better yet, if they can come up with something even more impressive than the competition. Enough with the catching up, time to blow the competition out of the water!
I'm waiting for Windows Belt! "Hey, baby. I just got a text... You want to read it for me?" [Wife rolls eyes and says she has a headache.]
It should be modern interface with integration with windows phone and Bing apps
with all the sensors in this watch, who's going to make the first lie dectector app?
Wish it was more Smartwatch. :'(
Dont you want Cortana on it? :P
How can you make it be "inside your wrist", couldn't you just rotate the strap and put in facing up?
Yeah, i was saying the same thing. I can put my watch display on the underside of my wrist too. just rotate it over
I'm thinking the screen on the inside may be to do with sensors for heart rate, so rotating it would void that?
I'm equally as interested whether band or watch. Whichever comes out first, Fitbit for WP8.1 or this, that'll be the one that gets my money.
"priced like gear.". Does that mean they'll eventually have to give them away?
Now... Will it have Cortana voice support?....
So, I just got to thinking since it's gonna be supported on Android and iOS...will it be supported on those platforms before ours. If so, that would be a very very big blow to this community. It would really really make me rethink my next phone purchase.
Good battery, SST.
No camera needed.
I want it already. lol
Still a ways off yet then
It doesn't matter. It could be the most perfect product, best advertising and it won't sell because of the name "Microsoft". Meanwhile the iBand/iWatch will sell mega-millions despite only running on one platform.
90% of comments already trashing the rumored device(MS might never release it). In fact since the iWatch is coming out in September/October I anticpate MS will wait first to see how that does.
IDK.. I can't see dropping 2 hondos on this. I'm connected enough with my digital world already with my 920. I don't even wear a watch unless it's a dress up situation. I'd be willing to give it a go for less than 1 Hondo, I guess.
I'll wait for a Cortana watch.
Possibly designed to go on the inside of your wrist/arm so some sort of sensor is near your pulse. No idea if any heart sensor technology actually works like this, but if it does the back of the face could have whatever required sensor is needed.
With only a week left in October, I guess we can safely assume that "coming in October" is not happening. Now I start wondering how many of the other rumors actually hold true...

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