Microsoft apparently has an eye on putting its technology into even more hands or, to be precise, onto users' wrists. Head honcho Bill Gates has taken the wraps off a collection of "smart" watches designed to deliver Web-based information through a new nationwide wireless communication network.
The watches -- produced by such manufacturers as the venerable Citizen, along with Fossil and Finland-based Suunto -- use Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT), launched last fall as the foundation for a broad array of smart devices and objects.
Tuned In to Radio
What is particularly intriguing about Wednesday's announcement is that the SPOT devices will use a nationwide WAN (wide area network) based on FM subcarrier technology, much like that used by the Muzak piped-in music service.
Dubbed DirectBand, the technology includes a custom radio-receiver chip and new radio protocols to transmit information to smart objects via FM broadcast bands. By using radio frequency, Microsoft has access to nearly every FM station in the country. DirectBand's initial coverage area will include some 100 of the largest population centers in North America, the company said, representing cities in all 50 states and in Canada.
Customized Content
By eschewing technologies like Wi-Fi, or 802.11, local networking systems for its smart devices, Microsoft eliminates the need to invest in infrastructure, said Meta Group analyst Jack Gold.
SPOT device users will have a limited-capability Web page enabling them to select the types of content they want to receive, such as messages, news, weather, or financial and sports reports -- with the content sent to and displayed on the device.
Subscribers can customize the channels and the information within each channel, and can set up preferences by interacting with the SPOT device Web site from their PC.
Cost of Service Critical
"It's another part of Microsoft's strategy to dominate," Gold told NewsFactor. "They want to be a major player in pervasive devices, and this is the first step -- with more devices to follow the watches."
Acceptance of SPOT will hinge on the cost of the new service to consumers more than on the price of the watches, which Gold speculated will be in the US$200 to $300 range and will likely drop to a more attractive level. "How much will people have to pay for what Microsoft is delivering?" he said. "Another issue is whether consumers will keep using the devices and the service after the novelty wears off."
In addition to timepieces, Microsoft has plans to produce smart personal objects ranging from alarm clocks and key chains to refrigerator-magnet clocks that can deliver personalized information in real-time to consumers. The ultimate objective is to have these SPOT devices, PCs and other computing hardware communicate, creating a well-connected home.