Meet the Nokia Moonraker smarwatch that never launched

Pictures, specs and app details emerge about the abandoned watch
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It's the cancelled smartwatch that just won't go away. The Nokia Moonraker (yes, a James Bond themed codename) was apparently in the works back around 2013 and 2014. This was around the same time that Microsoft acquired the Finnish company's mobile business.

But it never launched and Microsoft focused its attentions on the fitness-focused Band, which was canned after two iterations. The smartwatch that never was, though, has once again surfaced, this time with details of its specs, along with a closer look at the design of Microsoft's answer to the Apple Watch.

Essential reading: Cancelled wearables that never saw the light of day

Protobetatest has managed to get hold of a prototype of the rectangular smartwatch showing off a 240 x 190 resolution LCD touchscreen display and removable straps. It also shows off the solitary physical button that sits below the display to turn the screen on and off.

As far as specs, the prototype Moonraker is powered by an ARM-based processor running a custom OS clearly inspired by Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system. It also packs an ambient light sensor, accelerometer and a 305mAh battery, along with standard Bluetooth and NFC connectivity.

From a software point of view, things are clearly inspired by Microsoft's tile-centric Metro UI with smartwatch features like notifications for emails, messages and calls supported. It also displays basic activity tracking, while the companion app included 12 default wallpapers and supported the ability to download apps from a Marketplace store.

A lot of the features unsurprisingly were not fully functioning, but it's our strongest insight yet into what Microsoft had planned. Would it have fared better than the Microsoft Band? Should Microsoft have launched a smartwatch instead of a fitness tracker? These are questions we will probably never know the answers to.

Meet the Nokia Moonraker smarwatch that never launched



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Michael Sawh

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Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.

He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.

Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech. 

Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.


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