Before 2007, Blackberries were just about the smartest devices going in the phone industry. Roll on June 29th of that very year and we are introduced to something that would alter the way we communicate with each other forever.
That’s right, it’s been over six years since we’ve been introduced to the wonder that was the first generation iPhone – a device that took the struggling smartphone market and turned into one of the most lucrative consumer segments in the world.
With the smartphone being the furthest thing from a secret, where is the latest trend in the tech world taking us? To something that’s just as smart as the phone but that doesn’t go into our pockets.
Wearable technology is a rapidly growing priority for developers like Google, Samsung and even though they haven’t admitted it, Apple too.
No one is going to want to miss the opportunity to build and market the next ‘iPhone’. Samsung, Sony and Google have already made their early efforts with major players like Apple and HTC yet to disclose their position on it.
Samsung have recently released their first ‘smartwatch’, the Galaxy Gear, to mixed reviews, with the majority claiming it doesn’t warrant its €350 price tag.
If you haven’t been purposefully dodging the news over the last year, you will be aware that Google have taken a very different approach to the new developing field.
Google Glass launched to a select few with an impressively large price tag but this didn’t defer people from scooping up the limited early editions.
The success of Glass certainly suggested that the market is there for wearable tech, however Apple are still sitting on the side-lines and God knows they need something big to get them back to the top of the pile.
A great deal of the success of the iPhone was the fact that it quickly became a fashion statement, for those of you in doubt of that statement observe the iPhone 5C.
In this day and age, the majority of us need a smartphone, or at least believe we need one. So what sells a smartphone to the average punter? Marketing, logo and most importantly whether or not it’s pretty.
It may sound sad but it is very much a fact of life within the tech industry, while we see improvements in processing power and software upgrades, the majority of the market are more concerned with the look of the gadget, and that’s why wearable technology is going to be such an exciting market.
Whether you love or hate the idea of strapping a computer around your wrist, it’s going to become a massive industry. The question that still has people guessing is will it complement smartphones or replace them?
Michael Cogley
image: Trey Ratcliff via flickr.com
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