From the Secret Labs (makers of the family of Netduino board), a very interesting project funded through Kickstarter: AGENT smart watch, a watch "intelligent" completely based on. NET Micro Framework!

The initial goal of $ 100,000 has been largely superseded even share reaching $ 1 million! Ten times higher than the target set! But what this product promises, whose distribution will begin at the end of 2013 for all those who have participated in the financing (the "backers")?

Managed Runtime

As anticipated, the AGENT is completely based on. NET Micro Framework (version 4.3) with all those who are the advantages for developers in managed code (eg C #), but mainly related to the development environment that is obviously Visual Studio 2012 !

Hardware : double processor, LCD and sensors

Since applications developed for the smart watch may require more power, the AGENT has a Cortex-M4 to 120 Mhz to which, however, was accompanied by a second processor (an AVR, much reduced) in such a way that the primary may remain in "sleep" mode for longer time (when not necessary), to the advantage of consuming less battery.

The LCD display that comes with it has a very low power consumption while still providing good performance in the case of fast animations and outdoor readability.

Regarding the sensors onboard, the smart watch is equipped with an accelerometer and a light sensor through which the display is illuminated in a more or less intelligent according to the light conditions.

Connection and charging

Communication with the AGENT is possible through Bluetooth 4.0 LE, thanks to which we can connect to it from a smartphone (Windows Phone 8, Android or iPhone). It supports SPP (Serial Port Profile), so the application does not use the smart watch nothing but a serial port.

Charging is only and exclusively through the standard Qi wireless, so you can use the chargers already on the market for the Nexus or Nokia Lumia. For the duration of the battery are guaranteed 7 days with the use of Bluetooth and 30 days without (watchface-only), the AGENT is able to disable the Bluetooth and switch mode "simple clock" when the battery reaches about 10% of battery life.

Conclusion

A very interesting product that unlike many other smart watch aimed at a completely Microsoft framework for the operation and its development. If you want to explore its features, I refer you also to the official website, from which you can also download an SDK AGENT by which you can begin to develop applications to be tested on a dedicated emulator!