Secret Labs and House of Horology are seeking funding on Kickstarter for a smartwatch project that will be compatible with Windows Phone 8 devices. The AGENT smartwatch is described as being based on "next generation" technologies, with particular attention paid to power consumption, resulting in battery life of up to a week, while maintaining the powerful apps that are the defining characteristic of a smartwatch. 

The AGENT smartwatch is notable because it is one of the first to promise support for Windows Phone 8. It will connect to Windows Phone devices using Bluetooth, allowing the watch to alert you to incoming calls and messages, control music playback, and, potentially, communicate with on board apps.

AGENT also supports Bluetooth 4.0 LE (low energy), which is ideal for wearable accessories (e.g. heart rate monitor) and would be a superior connection option compared to classic Bluetooth, but the standard is not yet supported by Windows Phone. Support for Bluetooth 4.0 LE is expected to be added to Windows Phone in a future update, but there is no timeline for this. It's possible support could be added in the GDR3 update later this year, but it may have to wait for the Windows Phone Blue update earlier next year. AGENT's makers have said they will take advantage of Bluetooth 4.0 LE if it is added to Windows Phone.

AGENT will be recharged via the same Qi Wireless charging that Nokia uses in some of its Lumia devices. Indeed, the project specifically notes that Nokia's Qi accessories are compatible with the watch. Other features of note include a .NET Micro Framework based manged runtime environment, Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 based developer tools, a high speed memory display (described as combining the best of both LCD and E-Paper), and multiple on board sensors. 

What also caught our attention about this Kickstarter project is that the two partners have strong credentials in the area of electronics platforms and horology, which suggests to us that the finished product could have a lot of potential:

Secret Labs:

Secret Labs engineers and manufactures electronics platforms for software developers.  Our open-source Netduino product line (launched in 2010) is used by 10,000s of software developers worldwide as the basis for their custom electronics projects.

Secret Labs also builds hardware, software, and services in the smart home and building control industries—with years of experience working with wireless technologies and building robust protocol stacks.

House of Horology:

House of Horology crafts fashion-forward, precision timepieces.  Their Bedlam watches are popular on both runways and wrists.  New York Magazine just named them "Best Men's Watches of 2013." House of Horology's passion is to create premium timepieces without the huge price tag.

On Kickstarter there are various options to support the project, including a $149 option that will see backers receiving an AGENT smartwatch from the first production run. Impressively, the project has already reached its $100,000 goal, with 28 days of fund raising to go, but there still room for additional backers.

More information is available on the Kickstarter page.