Apple and Samsung are said to be working on smart watches. Elsewhere, Sony already released a its own version of a smart watch months ago. For now, the information on the topic is still quite limited. There are no leaked photos or details. In addition, Apple Inc. continues to deny giving any comments on these rumours. From Samsung, however, confirmed that they are developing an innovative watch. That happened a few days ago, when the company’s chief executive, Lee Young Hee, shared that the work on the product has already begun.
Also, there is pretty much no information on the features of these smart next-gen electronics. Everything that is known about them is that they may be able to connect to smartphones and notify you when you receive a text message, a phone call or an email. That is said to happen through Bluetooth. In addition, the new smart products of Apple and Samsung may also have the ability to access some mobile applications like radio and music player. However, these functions are yet to be confirmed or denied by the two technology giants.
While a new smart gadget sounds really thrilling, we cannot help but think that smart watches will have a hard time on the market. Samsung and Apple are famous for the fact that they tend to invest and create products that are practical and have the potential to become a market hit. Both of them have released some of the most popular smart devices like tablet PCs and smartphones. But a smart watch does not seem really promising. Here are a few reasons why:
Been There, Done That
A wearable smart technology is nothing new on the horizon. Many companies have already attempted to introduce such gadgets, but without much success. One of them was software giant Microsoft Corp. Back in 2002, the company introduced a smart watch called SPOT. It had features like FM radio and delivering of sports, weather and traffic news. It did not have the capacity to connect to a smartphone, but that was not a big miss since these electronics were just starting to make their first steps. Although, Microsoft’s SPOT offered functions that were advanced for the time, it only lived to see a few short years on the technology market. Among the main reasons for the low popularity of this smart watch was the fact that it required monthly fee of $60.
Nowadays, manufacturers continue to create wearable computers hoping to steal the hearts of the consumers. Most of these devices do connect with smartphones. Nevertheless, they offer little features of their own. In other words, they are almost useless without another smart device. About two years ago, Alletra launched its smart watch InPusle that mainly focused on Blackberry devices. Later, it showed off a new version of the product called Pebble. However, the sales of both of these gadgets were below impressive. Other companies that have attempted to make a break into the smart watch field include Fossil and even Sony which released a wearable computer last year.
Dependent
Smart watches are also too dependent of other devices. They cannot run larger applications or perform tasks on their own. In addition, even if they could give consumers something more, they will be useless since smartphones’ features are more practical and impressive. Just ask yourself whether you would prefer to watch a music video on your 5” smart mobile phone or on the tiny display of a watch.
Better Alternatives
Many companies point the remote control function of smart watches are their main advantage. But, if we need to be honest, there are many other devices, features and accessories that have already taken this spot. For instance, some earphones have remote control capabilities for music player options like volume or even replay.
Unattractive
Also, the smart watches fail in one category that is very important to modern consumers – design. Although, wearable computers have been around for more than ten years, under one or another form, they continue to lack style. Moreover, users cannot express their personality with them since they are all bulky and come in limited colour options.
Bottom Line
All that shows that Samsung and Apple are taking a huge risk by working on wearable computers. The smart watches that we know today are not something that we need. However, if the two technology giants offer products that are innovative, practical and fashionable, they may turn the situation around.
