If you have been wondering how an Xbox may look like, you do not need to wonder anymore. Newly revealed pictures show that a game-branded wearable was being created at Microsoft headquarters. The pictures show a Microsoft Smartwatch which is believed to be created in 2013, as reported by Eurogamer. The watch was set to feature Xbox branding and Microsoft selected a highly-bezeled squared design. Supposedly the watch was to head into production back in 2015 but it never materialized.

More information about the Xbox watch

Kinecting the wrist to the heart

There is not a lot to go on in relation to the OS or the apps that the gadget will have run. However, something that resembles a heart-rate detector was seemingly located on the back-end of the device. This could have given the watch a fitness focus that aligns with the direction that Microsoft was going in back in the day, especially with the Kinetic motion detector’s capability for fitness and exercise tracking being a prominent feature in the Xbox family a few years ago.

With the Xbox brand it is possible that the smartwatch would have provided a gamified technique for losing the pounds.

On the other hand, there seems to be a clasp for charge. It appears to get its signals from a magnetic power connector and tablet lines that are put there to spice up the removable keyboards.

Even though that watch never emerged, Microsoft dabbled slightly in the watch area with a disastrous Microsoft band wearable that was later suspended. At the moment, the company is instead dwelling on head-mounted mixed reality wearables.

Other reports

Another website produced images of something that looks like a base of a scrapped Xbox watch design. Its exterior appeared like a smartwatch interface but below the face there was a brand name and the Xbox logo.

According to the information out there, it’s suggested that the watch had a 1.5-inch touchscreen face and it was connected to the Xbox brand somehow. Apart from that, there has never been any official statement regarding what the aim of that device really was.

There are so many other theories about Microsoft creating an Xbox watch. The most popular one is that the images represents the prototype of the Xbox that Microsoft talked about in 2013. While it seemed like Microsoft was committed to releasing that smartwatch, in the end they released a band that dropped the Xbox branding completely.

In general, anyone can conclude that the prototype would have had most of the features that the Microsoft Band came with. The reason it was branded with the Xbox logo and name is still unknown. Some people believe that it was designed to operate with the old fitness app for Xbox.

It is argued that the prototype may have been meant to be a gaming device, but little evidence suggests this. This implies that Microsoft is the only one among the three distinguished console manufacturers that has not completely joined the handheld gaming market.

Conclusion

Something must have prevented the development of the Xbox Smartwatch. It could be that the watch was too niche or maybe the Microsoft band was seen as a more promising device?

Either way, Microsoft suspending the Xbox smartwatch does not imply that there will never be another one in future. There is more opportunity for a Surface-branded watch appearing, however. This way, Microsoft could be competing with Apple in the tablet, laptop and smartwatch section with surface substitutes.