One look at Wall Street, or the watches section of Crunchwear.com will show you that smart watches are in. Currently dozens of companies are announcing, funding, and building their own, with more sure to come in the near future. Currently market models range from the Pebble to the Sony Smart watch, many of which are now already a few years old. But while the first smart watch was technically released in the 1970s, the market is rapidly expanding as everyone seems to want one of these fascinating devices.
Two Kinds of Smart Watches
While the average buyer is only familiar with the term ‘smart watch’ there are two vastly different types of smart watches. The stand alone watch, and the Bluetooth smart watch. The first is it’s own mini computer that can often take and accept calls, dial, run apps, and a number of other things without you even having your smartphone with you. The second is mostly a screen that connects to your phone via Bluetooth. This type of smart watch is for the person who wants to check their messages and mail without having to pull out their phone, and is essentially a notification bracelet with a few extra features like volume control, music control, weather, and usually the ability to take calls. This type of smart watch is much cheaper, and the type most commonly seen on the market today.
Why the Trend
Anyone who does even the tiniest bit of digging into the history of the smartwatch will see that it is not a new idea. Smart watches have been around for years, they just haven’t been quite as advances as the ones that we are seeing today. Perhaps this is the reason why they never took off before, but new sales and pre-order figures show that smart watches are now one of the hottest technologies on the market. Why? Statistics point to the fact that the demand for hands free is on the rise, and smart watches offer the perfect solution for most. Considering that many can be set to actually look like a digital watch when not in use, the smart watch is literally also a watch.
Will the Demand Keep Up?
With so many companies now making smart watches, it’s easy to consider the possibility that the market might drop, and that the smart watch might be forgotten within a year or two. Despite this, the demand for wearable technology is clearly on a steady rise. While mobile phones have nowhere to go but thinner and wider, bracelets, watches, and other wrist worn technology still has a lot of expansion and a lot of future capabilities. Considering that we have been fascinated with the smart watch as far back as Dick Tracey in the 1930s, the smart watch is most likely not going anywhere soon.
Plus, smart bracelets, wraparound screens, and standard watches all seem to be popular styles, so buyers actually have a lot of different fashionable options to choose from rather than what is essentially a rectangular box with a screen.
