Microsoft SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) first launched in a series of watches in 2004, and were the precursors to today’s modern smartwatches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6.
Earlier this week, Samsung announced a ton of products at their latest Unpacked event. Two of them were the Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 smartwatches. They are packed with tons of hardware and software features and are just the latest in a long line of smartwatches from the company.
Smartwatches, at least the ones we are familiar with now, are still a fairly recent type of product and only came into prominence in the last decade or so. However, well before those devices were released, and even before the rise of smartphones, Microsoft tried to launch the technology behind a series of smartwatches (and later, other smart devices) that actually were a bit ahead of its time.
The technology was called Microsoft SPOT, which stood for Smart Personal Objects Technology. Microsoft first announced SPOT in January 2003 at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. The company developed the tech as a way to transmit information to specially-made wristwatches. Here’s how Microsoft described the tech:
Microsoft’s DirectBand is a set of innovative technologies enabling transmission of Web-based information to smart objects. DirectBand includes a custom radio receiver, a wide area network based on FM subcarrier technology and new radio protocols created to meet the unique communication requirements of smart objects.
