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The Moonraker is Nokia's smartwatch that never saw the light of day; Microsoft to blame

tech2 News Staff June 14, 2015, 10:46:07 IST

Citing sources familiar with the matter told TheVerge that Nokia was developing a smartwatch codenamed ‘Moonraker’ that was later dumped by Microsoft.

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The Moonraker is Nokia's smartwatch that never saw the light of day; Microsoft to blame

Just like every other tech company, Nokia was also working on a smartwatch. Sources familiar with the matter told  The Verge that Nokia was developing a smartwatch codenamed ‘Moonraker’ that was later dumped by Microsoft. With the smartwatch, Nokia tried to leverage the aesthetics seen in modern Windows  Phone design. The company was reportedly working on prototype devices that were shown to potential users at the Mobile World Congress 2014. Nokia was very close to launching the wearable with the Lumia 930, but Microsoft canned the plans after it acquired Nokia’s devices business. The images of the wearable, revealed by Evan Bass , surfaced on Tumblr but were subsequently pulled off. The Verge belives the images were for marketing the product and not mere concept. The Moonraker featured the model number LS-50 and came in bold colours. The interface shows Metro design found in Windows Phone. The leaked images show colourful straps and customisable watch faces. “More specifically, the interface looks more than a little similar to that used in the Microsoft Band: the watch’s apps are presented as a series of strips (scrolling vertically, as opposed to the horizontal scrolling on the Band) reminiscent of the Band’s primary strip/tile system, and apps like e-mail have a similar kind of styling and design to the SMS app on Band,” suggests Arstechnica . Microsoft forayed into the wearable market with the $199 Microsoft Band late last year, which works with devices running iOS, Android and, of course, Windows Phone. Along with the wristband, Microsoft had also announced its new service called Microsoft Health.

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