Is Microsoft working on a smartwatch?

Microsoft has been rather quiet while the Samsungs and Apples of the world have been working on the next big-thing in wearables. But, it seems that Microsoft may have something up its sleeve. Enter Microsoft Moonraker.

Prolific leakster @evLeaks has dug up a smartwatch concept from Microsoft design employee Pei-Chi Hsieh's tumblr account which shows images of the wearable in question. Moonraker was being developed at Nokia prior to the Microsoft conquest, and it might have been shelved in favor of the Microsoft band. But it seems Moonraker is not dead yet.

The Microsoft Moonraker looks like a pretty simple smartwatch, you have a sort of vertical tile interface to swipe up and down from the homescreen to access apps, and if they have any notifications they just show up in the tile, the entire display is dedicated to that app while its in focus.

You can read messages, access emails and calendar right on your wrist. You can even reply to a mail according to the screenshot from the watch interface, how exactly? We don't know yet.

Microsoft is now a hardware manufacturer. Even before the acquisition of Nokia,, the company had already established its plans for the PC industry with Surface and we have grown up using Microsoft keyboard and mice. But this is a niche category and Microsoft would have to hit a home-run especially when Apple is raking in millions with a half-baked, pretty smartwatch.

If this turns out to be a real product, would you buy it, especially considering this might be tied to a Windows Phone rather than Android or iOS? Do tell how you feel.