Smart Watches for MSN Direct Ship to Retail

Smart Watches for MSN® Direct are now shipping for broad retail availability, as announced by Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates during his keynote address at the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Smart Watches and MSN Direct service, part of Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative, allow people to conveniently and discreetly receive the information that matters most to them, with just the flick of a wrist. Smart Watches, manufactured by Fossil Inc. and Suunto, utilize MSN Direct to receive personalized content including news, weather, personal messages, calendar appointment reminders and stock quotes. The watches also feature multiple watch faces and automatic time-zone adjustment based on location. People can personalize their watch through an interactive Web site (https://www.msndirect.com/) where they choose the specific information and services they want to receive. The MSN Direct service is now available in more than 100 of the largest population centers in the United States and Canada.

"Smart Watches for MSN Direct are a fun new way to receive the information you care about, delivered conveniently to your wrist," said Bill Mitchell, founder and vice president of the SPOT initiative at Microsoft. "Our relationship with world-class watch manufacturers such as Fossil and Suunto, as well as a broad spectrum of retailers and content providers, has made this tremendous achievement possible."

"Smart Watches for MSN Direct are an amazing concept," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director for Jupiter Research in his analyst Web log. "They exemplify the power that technology has to transform already useful objects into objects that are smarter and more valuable to people. There was clearly a lot of thought put into the design and functionality of these watches."

View: The press release