Nokia was apparently working on a top secret smartwatch to be released alongside the Lumia 930 smartphone. Unfortunately, this was also around the same time that the company was being acquired by Microsoft. It turns out that Redmond would rather focus on its own Microsoft Band, and killed the awesome-looking Moonraker smartwatch.
Images of the Moonraker first appeared on Tumblr last Friday, and was discovered by @evleaks. The pictures themselves were uploaded by Microsoft design employee Pei-Chi Hsieh, and it appears that the images were made for marketing purposes rather than just concept art. In other words, this is was the real thing and would have been released to the world if not for the circumstances that followed.
The Moonraker was set to be one of the nicest looking smartwatches, and had a number of sensors that would allow messages to be read by lifting your arm or turn off the display by dropping the arm. It used a simplified Windows Phone 8.1 interface for the smartwatch. Moonraker would also have had a remote camera shutter for pairing with the Lumia line of phones.
There was also supposed to be built-in Facebook and MixRadio apps for the Moonraker, along with customisable watch faces and different coloured strap.
Sadly, the Tumblr has been taken down and the original pictures with it. However, it has been saved by the internet for everyone to see. It doesn’t look like the Nokia Moonraker is ever going to see the light of day at this point, although that doesn’t mean that Microsoft won’t use it as inspiration for a future product. With the second edition of the Microsoft Band due soon, perhaps Moonraker’s legacy will be continued sooner than we could have hoped for.
[Source: The Verge]
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