Microsoft starts a robot invasion with coffee mugs and wearable tech

Microsoft’s annual developer conference Build is about to kickstart in a couple of hours. While the focus is expected to be pointed at Windows Phone, Windows 8.1, and Office, it appears that Microsoft also has an eye on bringing Windows to other devices as well. Microsoft has quietly launched a website, called Windows On Devices, ahead of its keynote at the Build conference. The website (which redirects you to an Azure website for now) hints that the software and devices maker might just be looking at “bringing Windows to a whole new class of small devices”.

There is an array of devices which are being speculated on for being paired up with the Windows software. The most pronounced ones are robots, coffee mugs, and a speaking bear! The site doesn’t reveal much concrete information at the moment, but a prolific Microsoft watcher, who goes by the name of hoxod, has speculated that Microsoft might be releasing a Software Development Kit for Windows on Intel Quark and Galileo platforms for the “Internet of Things”. For a refresher, Intel Galileo is the first product in a new family of Arduino-certified development boards based on the Intel x86 architecture. Intel is encouraging designers and the education communities for hands-on engineering teaching.

We have known for a while that Microsoft is working on wearable and various other technologies. Google recently announced Android Wear, its operating system for smartwatches. Microsoft has also said that it will release a software development kit in the spring which will enable integrated cloud services among other things.

Is it possible that Microsoft too is looking at venturing into smartwatches, once again? And if so, will it be announcing that at Build 2014? Stay tuned to WinBeta, as we will have everything from the event covered.