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After a long and fruitful run, Microsoft and Abacus have finally thrown in the towel on the Spot Watch program. Currently there are no more models available for purchase or even warranty replacement, and now all effort will be going towards the MSN direct capable GPS receivers, as well as the MSN direct software for Windows Mobile devices.

The Garmin 780 is one of the first MSN Direct v2 devices to hit my hands since the new Garmin lineup was released at CES, and today I will give you a rundown of the features this new system provides.

Microsoft has just introduced a technology preview for accessing MSN Direct content on Windows Mobile-based devices.

Today Garmin released four additional MSN-Direct capable GPS receivers, those being the 205 and 255 3.5" models and 205w and 255w 4.3" widescreen models.

SPOT is young, but the excitement is growing by the minute as Microsoft works hard to create buzz. Ask anyone walking the streets of New York City if they’ve heard of MSN Direct; billboards and other advertisements are all about. There are very few choices when it comes to current SPOT watches though. With only three brands, two manufacturers and content all coming from the same service; aren’t all the watches more or less the same? No, not even close.

Our forums are burning with questions about the MSN Direct service, SPOT products, Microsoft support and specific issues surrounding watches from Fossil and Suunto. I spent some time with Fossil today to clear up a few outstanding issues, including the latest on the problems surrounding electric shock.

SPOT watches will soon be able to receive a Sport channel that will round out the other rather general content like news and weather. Following is a Q&A that will shed more light on what can be expected from the new channel.

One of the most common knocks I hear regarding the first round of SPOT watches is, "They're too big!" Well sure, they aren't small, but for the functionality they provide, sacrifices have to be made. Fossil in particular has come a long way since the Wrist PDA, launched in March of 2002.

While at CES this past week we talked with a gentleman that worked for Suunto. Specifically, he represented Suunto as the salesman for the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Suunto had setup a booth within the gigantic Microsoft CES "booth". Okay, it was more like a small town that Microsoft had setup within the Las Vegas Convention Center, but that's besides the point. In this article I cover a few things learned about Suunto and the SPOT technology they're employing.

At the Gates keynote tonight, SPOT was not the hot topic I thought it might be. It turned out to be a brief highlight in a keynote focussed on data access anywhere.

Fossil's complete line is now available from Amazon and it looks like the $130 Abacus is now shipping. The others promise to ship in 2-3 days.

An article that was published today by IEEE and written by Harry Goldstein, calls SPOT a loser. I find it difficult to pass judgement so early, especially since the author has never used a SPOT device. Odd isn't it?