Microsoft's Smartwatches Always Beat Apple's

Although Microsoft can't match the publicity the Apple Watch got, it will get the jump on Apple when it comes to shipping a product, namely the Microsoft Band.

When I first heard of Microsoft Band, I imagined some goofy marching band that represented the company in pageants. Instead, it is another attempt by Redmond to market a branded timepiece.

People should note that a Microsoft watch, like with the smartphone, pre-dates Apple. In this case by 20 years.

In 1994, a watch dubbed the Datalink was co-developed by Timex and Microsoft and was pretty much a PDA on your wrist. It was very cool for its era, although there were plenty of other similar watches.

The unique feature of the Datalink was its odd sync methodology. To sync the watch with your address book and calendar you'd run a program on your PC that would flash the CRT screen in some sort of binary code; the watch had a sensor that "read" the flashing screen. It was screwy, but it worked. In 2003 the watch was turned into a USB watch.

As far as I can tell, the Datalink, which sports a clunky monochrome LCD display is still sold. One is on Amazon for $75 as I write this.

A decade ago, Microsoft was again ahead of its time with the Microsoft SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology). This watch presaged the Internet of Things by monitoring household items that were SPOT-based. It also linked to MSN Direct, a broadcast system that fed news, traffic, and weather reports in real-time to the watches. It's worth your time to read about this. The Microsoft SPOT watch came out in late 2003 and was discontinued in 2008

So here we are again with the new Microsoft Band. The fanfare for this watch/fitness tracker is kind of pathetic, especially when compared with the Apple Watch. The Band, like the Apple Watch, expects to be paired with a phone. The difference being that this one pairs with Android and iOS phones as well as Microsoft phones, it's not limited to just one.

Microsoft Band seems to have all the requisite subsystems, such as GPS, pedometer, Bluetooth, health sensors, etc. When it was introduced in October of last year a limited release was sold out; Microsoft says it will ship in volume for $199 starting next month.

This timing from the initial announcement to this sudden re-emergence was obviously designed to see what would happen with the Apple Watch. I'm sure if the Apple Watch had evolved into some mind-boggling $99 killer product, Microsoft would have shelved the Band. Instead, it saw what Apple did and decided to go all out and undercut the Apple Watch immediately.

There is one thing about the Microsoft band that makes it kind of appealing: It's a thin horizontal screen that fits under the wrist in a way that makes it very easy to glance at. Meaning, you can read the time without ever appearing as if you are rudely checking your watch—a bad habit if you are talking to someone. This is genius. Plus, I'd think you'd want the sensors on your wrist on the bottom side of the arm, not at the top.

It will be interesting to see how many people buy this watch compared to the flashier Apple Watch. In many ways it may be the better choice.