Microsoft unveils MSN Direct wireless watch info service

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 5 Jun 2003 at 12:55

Microsoft has unveiled a wireless service in the US called MSN direct that will deliver information such as stock quotes, sports scores, movies and calendar alerts and instant messages.

Announced by Bill Gates at this year's CES show, the watches will sport Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT), and the MSN Direct service provides an FM radio network throughout more than 100 US cities as the means of delivering the information.

Research firm Forrester reckons the technology will do well: 'Priced at $100 to $300 for the watch, and an additional $9.95 per month or $59 per year for the service, watches with MSN Direct will find a devoted following with affluent early adopters,' said Forrester analyst Charlene Li, in her report titled SPOT Watches: Money Well Spent for Better Time.

It certainly offers Microsoft another means of getting its brand on to objects people take with them in public places, and the technology under the face of these time pieces is nothing to be sniffed at, comprising an ARM7 chip and ROM and SRAM memory.

It will come as no surprise to learn that SPOT uses Microsoft's .Net Compact Framework, so have your Passport ready - users can configure what information they receive on a personal Web page.

What will be surprising is if the thing catches on. Given the fact that Orange is concentrating on getting its customers to use other aspects of mobiles, and that 3 hoardings seem more concerned with promoting voice tariffs above data services, it will be interesting to discover how Microsoft intends to persuade SPOT customers to use watches for anything other than telling the time - especially if it involves a deal of messing about configuring the thing online in the first place.

Do you think Microsoft will succeed in making watches more than time-telling jewellery? Let us know by commenting on this story.

See also:

Gates announces timely watches