Having previously taken a crack at the smartwatch market with its now-discontinued SPOT technology, Microsoft is looking to get back into the wearables space according to a report from Forbes, citing anonymous sources.

The watch will apparently be launched in the next few weeks and will work across a variety of platforms, which makes perfect sense since Windows Phone is a distant third compared to Android and iPhone handsets.

Its timing is an effort to capture the potentially-lucrative holiday market.

In terms of functionality it’s reported that it will be able to passively track wearers’ heart rate, will draw on optical engineering expertise from the company’s Kinect division, and will boast a battery life of more than two days of regular use — putting it ahead of devices like the Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, Moto 360 and, most likely, the Apple Watch.

Will it be a hit? Well, devices like the Zune have become punchlines when compared to devices like the iPod, while no one has yet managed to crack the technology needed to turn a smartwatch into a mass market product.

Still, the wearables field is big and new enough that it’s interesting to see what new entrants do in order to try and make their products stand out compared to rivals. Just so long as it’s a step up from the recent hack that made Windows 95 run on the Samsung Gear Live.

Via: Engadget