Updated
Updated · Windows Central · Jun 13
Microsoft Moonraker LS-50 Images Resurface 10 Years After Canceled Smartwatch Emerged
Updated
Updated · Windows Central · Jun 13

Microsoft Moonraker LS-50 Images Resurface 10 Years After Canceled Smartwatch Emerged

2 articles · Updated · Windows Central · Jun 13

Summary

  • Newly resurfaced images from a Microsoft designer’s Tumblr show the unreleased Moonraker LS-50 running a Windows-style smartwatch interface a decade after the original report.
  • The device used a Windows Phone-like Modern UI and was designed to let users read texts by raising their arm, with the display turning off when lowered.
  • Moonraker had been developed by Nokia and was slated to debut alongside the Lumia 930, with prototype units shown to potential customers at Mobile World Congress.
  • Microsoft canceled the watch after acquiring Nokia’s phone business, leaving Moonraker as an abandoned early wearable strategy before the Apple Watch reshaped the market.

Insights

Has Microsoft’s new AI project solved the problems that killed its forgotten Moonraker smartwatch ten years ago?
Could Nokia's canceled smartwatch have saved Windows Phone and challenged the Apple Watch's future dominance?
What crucial lesson does the Moonraker teach tech giants about losing 'living knowledge' during corporate acquisitions?