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Microsoft to enter the STRUGGLE of the HUMAN WRIST

It's not just a thumb war, it's total digit war

The battle for the future of the human wrist entered a new phase on Monday after it was claimed that tech goliath Microsoft is planning to release its own wearable computer in the coming weeks.

If true, this would mean that Redmond's smartwatch would hit stores some way in advance of Apple's own wrist 'puter, which is expected to be released at some point in the early part of 2015.

According to Forbes, the new Microsoft watch will have a battery life of two days — rubbish compared with a proper watch, but way better than the daily charging required of the Apple product, Samsung Galaxy Gear, and Moto 360.

It will also track the bearer's heart rate and interact with devices made by other manufacturers, fitting in well among the existing and planned wrist jobs from other makers.

We phoned Microsoft to see if the rumours are true, but were told that it does not comment on speculation.

Most analysts are of the opinion that Apple will probably be the victor in the wrist war, which will reach fever pitch in the coming months - although Microsoft (until now) has not figured into many of the predictions.

All of which reminds us a famous childhood game, which began with the chant "one, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war" and then ended with two young boys frantically attempting to pin down the opposition's opposable digit.

However, Apple has a clear advantage in this new battle, because it is fresh to the fray.

Remember the Microsoft Spot? We at El Reg certainly do - and we'll wager Redmond would like to wipe it from the collective memory forever.

A peer back into the annals of history shows that once upon a time in 2003, Microsoft hatched plans to release a timepiece which could receive information about weather, traffic and goodness knows what else for the princely sum of $10. How did this technological marvel work? Using FM radio, which even in the early noughties was about as high-tech as the spinning jenny.

This plug ugly beast of a tick-tocker was one of a range of gizmos which used a protocol called Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT). Four companies produced SPOT-enabled watches: Suunto, Fossil, Tissot and Swatch. But the plan was a disaster and the SPOT was discontinued in 2008, becoming little more than a pockmark on the face of Microsoft.

So what happens when a smartwatch flops? Its creators suffer from carpal fumble syndrome, naturally. ®

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