Michal Ždanský Smartwatches are starting to become the buzzword of this year. Independent firms and large companies seem to have discovered a new market segment that represents great potential, especially at a time when there is little innovation in the field of smart devices, which was seen both with the iPhone 5 and, for example, with the Samsung Galaxy S IV or the newly introduced devices Blackberry.
Body-worn accessories are the next generation of mobile devices, but they do not work as separate units, but in symbiosis with another device, mostly a smartphone. Several devices were already here before the smart watch boom, mostly those that monitored some biological parameters of your body – heart rate, pressure, or burned calories. Nowadays they are the most famous Nike Fuelband or FitBit.
Smart watches came to the attention of consumers only thanks to Pebble, the most successful device of its kind so far. But Pebble weren't the first. Long before that, she released the company SONY's first attempt at a smart watch. However, these weren't very good at battery life and only supported Android phones (which also powers the watch). Currently, there are five well-known products on the market that fall into the Smartwatch category and also support iOS. In addition to those mentioned Pebble they are I'm Watch, Cookoo Watch, Meta Watch a Martian Watch, which are the only ones that support Siri. All of them have their pros and cons, but the concept is the same – they connect to your phone via Bluetooth and, in addition to the time, display various notifications and other useful information, such as the weather or the distance covered during sports.
But none of them are made by a big tech company. Yet. Apple watches are already being talked about longer period of time, now other companies are getting into the game. Work on the watch was announced by Samsung, and LG and Google are said to be working on it as well, which is finishing work on another device to be worn on the body - Google Glass. And Microsoft? I'm under no illusion that a similar project isn't being worked on at the Redmond tech lab, even if it may never see the light of day.
Samsung is no stranger to watches, already in 2009 it introduced a phone with the label S9110, which fit into the body of the watch and was controlled via a 1,76″ touch screen. Samsung has an indisputable advantage over other companies – it manufactures key components such as chipsets and NAND flash memory itself, which means it has lower production costs and can offer a cheaper product. Samsung's executive vice president for mobile devices, Lee Young Hee, confirmed the development of the Samsung watch:
"We have been preparing the watch for a long time. We are working very hard to complete them. We are preparing products for the future, and watches are definitely one of them.”
They then came up with a surprising claim Financial Times, according to them, Google is also preparing a watch, which is currently still working on another smart accessory, glasses, which should go on sale this year. According to the paper, Google sees the watch project as a bigger draw for the mainstream. It means that in the futuristic Glass is it likely to appeal to a handful of geeks rather than ordinary smartphone users? Anyway, what is written about the watch, it can be expected that it will be powered by the Android operating system, which will also appear in the glasses.
Then the newspaper rushed to the mill with another little bit Korea Times, according to which the production of watches is being prepared by the LG company. He has not released any details yet, only that the watch will be controlled via a touch screen and that it is not yet known what operating system it will choose. Android is most likely, but the new Firefox OS is also said to be in the works.
While Samsung is the only one to actually confirm work on the watch, media attention is turning to Apple, which is expected to produce another revolutionary product. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple didn't approach a similar device strictly like a watch, especially in terms of design. Apple's patent although it suggests that it should be a product intended for the hand, this may not mean anything at all. Apple, for example, can use the design of the iPod nano 6th generation, which can be clipped anywhere, even on a watch strap.
Blogger John Gruber commented on the battle for smart watches as follows:
A likely scenario is that Apple is working on a watch or a watch-like device. But some combination of Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and others will be rushing to get their watches to market first. Then, if Apple introduces its own (one big if - Apple cancels more projects than it introduces), they will look and function like no other. After that, the next batch of watches from all the other competitors will strangely look like Apple's clumsier version.
More about smartwatches:
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They will conquer
They will probably win ;-)
I like Gruber's comment. :)
if the apple watch was really good in design (which i have no doubts about :)), worked with the iphone and could be used as a nike fuelband at the same time, i'm going for it! But it can't cost too much either :(
Well, I don't know, I often subconsciously take my watch off because it's not comfortable on my hands for long periods of time. They must be preparing something like that, but I don't really see the reason if it were another Pebble - I'd still have to have an iPhone in my pocket.
If it was a separate communication device? That's something else...
I don't see why I should exchange my beautiful Aerowatches for a digital scumbag that won't be able to take pictures anyway :-)
I don't know, but I think the whole watch charade is just an inflated bubble.
After all, who needs a multimedia watch?
Just geeks. After all, if I buy an expensive and complex machine such as an iPhone, I will not control it with a cheap and simple watch.
And indeed. Who among us bothers to reach into our pocket and pull out our beautiful new iPhone 5 at school during a lecture, in front of colleagues at work, in the subway, or just in a restaurant?
From my point of view, it doesn't even fit with Apple's policy, but maybe I'm just spouting nonsense here. And everyone needs a multifunctional watch to read a text message on it and only then take out their iPhone and reply to it or directly reply through the watch.
Yes, Apple certainly increased the display in order to release a watch right after that, thanks to which you won't even have to take the iPhone out of your pocket.
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