microsoft needs a hit

It might be all conquering in the PC world, yet when it comes to migrating its software to other platforms microsoft has a habit of coming unstuck, says The Guardian. It also says that none of the three new technologies microsoft majored on at CES are likely to be sure-fire winners.

One of the technologies the jury is out on is SPOT (Smart Personal Object Technology) and the watches on which the system is making its debut.

The watches, which are likely to debut in Europe in the summer went on sale in the US this week. Manufactured by a series of companies including Suunto, Fossil and Abacus the watches tune in to FM radio frequencies to receive snippets of information such as the weather, share prices and, coming soon, sports news. The bad news is that while the watches retail for $129, users pay an additonal $9.95 per month, or $59 per year to access the SPOT service. Can’t see many Europeans signing up especially when most of the info the watches provide is already avaialble via WAP/SMS. The Dick Tracey and Fossil Square watches are rather cool though.

You can see the watches here