Are these drawings our first real look at a Microsoft smartwatch?

swirling around for a couple of years now, however, we have had little in terms of official details. The latest we heard on the matter is that the company had filed for patents, all the way back in October 2012, actually, which pretty much confirm that something is cooking in the Redmond offices. And now another, brand new patent filed by Microsoft provides us with more drawing and sketches on how this upcoming smartwatch might look. And it looks mighty fine, truth be told. According to this report, the alleged smartwatch could be released this year, and the drawings that accompany the patent filing provide a hint at the design. Here, take a look at the sketches: [gallery ids="66656,66657,66658,66659,66660"] You can check out the patent in full here, but as the images show, the smartwatch looks very much like a fitness band which could be used to people who want to track their progress while exercising. Obviously, that is just one function, but fitness is an important factor for these smartwatches. It remains to be seen how much this factors in for other companies that are said to be building competing products, like Apple, Google and Sony, but early signals point to something similar. At least for this first generation of devices. And although elaborate details are missing from this new document, a previous patent filing hinted that Microsoft’s smartwatch would be assembled in such a way that would allow owners to remove the watch from the band and recharge the device separately using a dedicated dock. Several Redmond officials have expressed their desire to see Windows running on smaller devices, and with both Windows 9 and Windows Phone 9 right on the horizon, a smartwatch makes a world of sense.]]>