A couple of years ago, wearable tech seemed poised to take off, become something everyone had to have, soon to go mainstream.
And despite rumors of reported production snafus and a messy recall, the state of wearable tech things are looking up.
With much fanfare, Apple unveiled its new Watch Sept. 9, and a number of Android Wear watches have taken things up a notch. Samsung announced that its Gear S smartwatch would be the first to make calls without a nearby smartphone link, and Android Wear smartwatches by Pebble and LG are getting good early reviews for function and design.
Not to be outdone, Swatch, the Swiss company that is the world's largest watchmaker, recently announced it would be developing a smartwatch to be released next year. Watches by Fossil, LG, HTC and Motorola are also highly anticipated and getting early good reviews.
The Moto 360, in fact, debuted its customizable plastic-framed and plastic or leather-strapped smartwatch Sept. 5 for $250, with a $300 metal-frame version to come in October. Asus in September also said it would be releasing a squared-off smartwatch with a leather strap before Christmas, at a price below Apple's $349 retail tag.
The Apple Watch revealed Sept. 9 has a thin screen that lights up when its wearer raises his or her hand, ships with apps for health, time, and weather, sends social media notices, and requires an iPhone 5 or later to function, among other features. Not included however, as satire news site The Onion identified here, is the "ability to stop and start the flow of time."
The promise of wearables
“Wearable tech” is nothing new. The pocket watch, developed in the 16th century, was essentially the original “wearable tech.” The first wristwatch was presented to the Queen of Naples in the 19th century. And of course, James Bond’s wristwatch today would be called a “smartwatch,” but was merely a top-of-the-line, one-of-a-kind spy’s gadget.
In 2012, the advent of the Pebble watch and Google Glass seemed destined to usher in a new era of wearable tech. But, despite some enthusiasm and a lot of press, they’ve done little so far to shake the dominance of the good, now old-fashioned smartphone, for which many people abandoned their wristwatches in the first place.
The limits of wearables
After the initial “oh, cool!” response to wearables, reality quickly sank in. Google Glass received a number of snarky reactions to its design, not least from Apple’s Siri herself. People found it impractical and unfashionable, and there were almost immediate calls for a redesign.
Essentially, beyond certain specific uses, wearable tech remains highly expensive, unrefined, or both.
Dork-only wearable tech is not necessarily inevitable, though. Pebble, which has surprised many observers by beating Apple in the watch-tech game so far, has redesigned its watch to meet the expectations of fashion.
Wearable tech’s most likely fans
So far, especially when it comes to Google Glass, applications for wearable tech are found in niche areas. Surgeons and other health care providers are finding a use for the technology, like recording and archiving medical procedures, providing education for specific procedures, and bringing in medical assistance from remote locations. Health care providers and parents alike have also found wrist bands and other wearable devices helpful in tracking vital signs and other data on infants.
And athletes — rec, amateur, and pro — who have already eagerly adopted new technologies to help them improve performance, have been natural early adopters of wearable technologies. Wearable tech for professional athletes is often coming from the fashion side. In fact, more than 80% of American consumers are interested in wearables to track their fitness, although very few are actually doing so.
For fans, ESPN last week released an app for Pebble, which seems to be upping its game without too many stumbles, that allows wearers to receive up-to-the-minute updates on game results and schedules.
Right now there are a variety of bracelets and watches — most, again, in the fitness category — that can send alerts, take simple health and fitness measurements, and perform other basic software feats. But none so far with the anything near the range of capabilities that can found on smartphones and tablets.
Privacy fears
As goofy as Google Glass remains to the average person walking down the street, privacy activists aren’t laughing.
Just last week, wearable fitness device maker Fitbit retreated in the face of criticism by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), a privacy advocate. Schumer’s Future of Privacy Forum monitors privacy issues and promotes privacy protection policies in both the public and private sectors. Bowing to Schumer's criticism that Fitbit is a "privacy nightmare," the company said Friday that it will no longer sell its user’s personal information to advertisers.
Privacy concerns were compounded in a big way when private nude photos were hacked from many celebrities' iPhones and published on the Internet not much more than a week before Apple's much-anticipated Sept. 9 event.
The future of wearable tech
The future of wearable tech? It's here. Or, put another way, it has yet to quite arrive, but is on its way. A lot depends on how people accept the wearables being unveiled by Apple and others this fall and in coming months. So far, only 8% of 4,000 people surveyed by tech research company CCS Insight use smartwatches or fitness trackers; and only 3% use smartwatches.
Wearable teach, really, is a branch of the “Internet of Things,” the interconnectedness of the devices in our homes and the technology we have with us at all times. That, for now is the smartphone in our pockets or pocketbooks.
In an Accenture study released last week, which found that network technology is on the rise, 62% of late adopters expect to buy wearable tech in the next five years. So far, though, wearables have not been a hit with young people.
"Wearables are far too geeky looking, too hard to use, and don't have nearly the battery life consumers expect,” technology analyst Patrick Moorhead told PC Magazine. “The connected home is now being invaded by warring standards bodies and companies trying to get the upper hand by using different kinds of judo. These standards need to solidify, or consumers won't want to have to deal with a mess of incompatible devices.”
Maybe we're getting there. Motorola's Moto 360 smartwatch reportedly sold out in under two hours. And Apple has not only hired many top people from the fashion world to its top ranks, but also invited an unprecedented number of fashion industry types to its "big event."
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