Microsoft planning smartwatch launch to beat Apple to wearable market

Firm plans to release device before Apple Watch

Microsoft is rushing to release a smartwatch in a bid to preempt the Apple Watch and grab control of the wearables market.

Forbes reported an unnamed source familiar with the matter as confirming that Microsoft is already developing the smartphone watch. Details remain vague and Microsoft declined V3's request for comment on the Forbes report.

However, the device is expected to have a fitness feature that passively tracks its wearer's heart rate.

The smartwatch is also expected to have an enterprise focus, will work across different mobile platforms and boast an impressive two-day battery life.

The exact release date remains unknown, although the source suggested that Microsoft is rushing to bring it to market before the Apple Watch and will launch it "in the coming weeks".

The Apple Watch is the first smartwatch from Apple and was unveiled alongside the firm's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones in September.

The Apple Watch is set to arrive at an unspecified point in 2015 and features a number of new software and hardware technologies.

These include a custom designed S1 chip and "digital crown" which reworks the analogue crown traditionally found on watches to translate rotary motion into digital data.

Microsoft will be joining an already competitive market. Google released its own Android Wear smartwatch operating system in March.

Featuring a card-based user interface similar to that seen on Google Now, Android Wear has been used on smartwatches from firms including LG, Motorola and Asus.

Samsung is also working hard to push its Tizen operating system for wearables and has released a wave of Gear smartwatches running the software.