Microsoft has given up on both smartphone and smartwatch business after the Lumia 950s and second generation Microsoft Band devices. Microsoft was at some point very committed to the smartwatch industry, but the company eventually decided to leave the wearable market. Microsoft and Nokia tested a prototype smartwatch called “Moonraker” but the company never released it.
Nokia Moonraker was an advanced smartwatch and existence of such a device is a living proof that at some point Microsoft was very committed to this particular business. Several leaks have shown the design and features of Nokia Moonraker, but a video posted yesterday gives us a closer look at the last firmware update released for the device.
The previous reports claim that Microsoft wanted to unveil Nokia Moonraker along with the Lumia 930 Windows Phone. The video is providing us with the majority of details of what could’ve been Microsoft’s first smartwatch under Nokia brand.
Just like the Lumia handsets, the smartwatch too featured the signature live tile-based interface. There’s a single physical button allowing users to toggle between two screens like apps and the start screen or home screen. The device supported the popular gestures which would have allowed users to have a quick look at notifications and more.
The folks over at ProtoBetaTest has managed to upgrade the Nokia Moonraker to the last released firmware update which comes with some other interesting changes.
Phone, Homescreen and other improvements
The watch has an app called My Phone which was supposed to pair a phone and the firmware update has added a feature to find more about the phones such as battery percent. In addition, the Moonraker has a new UI with more info about the caller and the watch vibrates when receiving a call.
The Notifications hub is now more accurate and the tile of the hub displays more information. The home screen layout has been updated with minor improvements, the UI has been adjusted, and the home screen has got a new wallpaper. The Music app has also received a significant update.
The Nokia Moonraker was equipped with a square LCD display with a resolution of 240×190 pixels, and it supported the features such as NFC, gyroscope and some other sensors. A Windows Phone app could have allowed users to customize the watch remotely.
With the Moonraker, Microsoft was more focused on the smartwatch capabilities, unlike the Band series. Microsoft has left the smartwatch market entirely and the company has also abandoned the Moonraker project.
