Microsoft has been added to the growing list of companies said to work on touch-enabled smart watches, joining Samsung Electronics, Apple and LG Electronics, a newspaper reported.
Microsoft has asked suppliers in Asia to ship components for a potential touch-enabled watch device, executives at the suppliers told The Wall Street Journal. One executive told the Journal that he had met with Microsoft's research and development team in Redmond, Wash.
Microsoft declined to comment.
Other tech leaders have been also reportedly looking to produce the wrist-worn technology. The New York Times reported earlier this year that Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like iOS devices that feature curved glass, and Bloomberg reported that the company has about 100 people working on a smartwatch project. Apple board member Bill Campbell recently gave more weight to those reports by discussing the value of "intimate" devices such as cell phones and Google Glasses.
A senior executive at Samsung told Bloomberg last month that the electronics giant has been working on wearable devices likes smartwatches and has "been preparing the watch product for so long."
Startup Pebble Technology is already selling a watch that syncs wirelessly with smartphones and vibrates to alert wearers to incoming phone calls, Twitter posts and emails. Google is testing with consumers Google Glass, an eyeglass-style gadget that displays certain computerized information in a user's field of vision.
Late last year, the Financial Times shared another report about Google. The Android team was also reportedly working on a smart watch.
Korean technology giant LG Electronics is also reportedly developing its own smart wristwatch, The Korea Times had reported. LG was also said to develop a smart product similar to Internet giant Google's Glass.