Microsoft SPOT MSN Direct Watches
The closest the world got to a capable smartwatch before the Pebble arrived were timepieces from companies like Fossil, Citizen, and Suunto that all worked on Microsoft’s SPOT platform (short for Smart Personal Objects Technology) and the company’s MSN Direct service. Well before smartphones as we know them were a thing, the SPOT watches debuted in 2004 and could wirelessly download information like calendar appointments, breaking news, and sports scores over FM broadcasts in major cities around the world. The watches were strictly an information consumption device and couldn’t be used to send messages or emails, and while the technology was very clever for the early aughts, by 2008 the watches had ceased production.
