Microsoft smartwatch coming in October

The latest reports regarding the company's return to the wearable technology market claim that Microsoft's first smartwatch for over a decade will feature 11 individual sensors.

The latest reports regarding the company's return to the wearable technology market claim that Microsoft's first smartwatch for over a decade will feature 11 individual sensors.

That's one more than Apple's rumored iWatch is expected to have, but the information doesn't stop at the sensor count or launch date.

Unnamed sources that have been speaking to Tom's Hardware also corroborated earlier reports that Microsoft's watch will work with Android and iOS handsets as well as Windows Phones and that the device is designed so that the screen is worn on the underside of the wrist.

This is for two reasons. First of all privacy, as the display will be hidden from casual onlookers and the second, apparently, is ease of use; putting the screen at the bottom is meant to make it simpler to use for wearers focused on fitness.

The sources seem to confirm an earlier report in Forbes, published at the end of May, that also claimed the watch would have a round-the-clock heart rate monitor and would only require recharging once every two days.

However, the Forbes piece also suggested that the watch would be ready to go on sale this summer rather than the October launch that Tom's Hardware's sources cite.

Apple's 'iWatch' is also expected to be revealed to the public in October, and there is a strong possibility that the device will be unveiled alongside a 5.5-inch iPhone phablet.