The 2014 International
CES event, an annual global consumer electronics and
technology tradeshow, took place in Las Vegas last week. It
featured innovative technology that is changing the shape of our future, quite literally,
featuring curved LED screens, VR goggles, smartwatches and 3D printing. The
event harnessed the power of social media as much as possible, utilising the
hashtag #CES2014 to track the buzz generated by the show around the world. Its
top trending phrase was ‘wearable tech’ which is undoubtedly going to be a
massive trend for 2014, as well as the future of the technology market. Google
Glasses and Sony’s SmartWig are both heavily talked about wearable tech currently in the pipeline
but a product which featured prominently at CES was smartwatches.
It seems
like the logical step, and the most marketable, wearable tech device, but there
has been criticism about the practicality of a smartwatch, and questions about
its usability. It seems as if companies have been scrambling over themselves
trying to stay ahead of the curve by being the first to release a full-functioning
smartwatch, which has resulted in poorly designed, sub-par pieces of
technology. Currently smartwatches, like those showcased at CES, are contingent
on the use of a smartphone. The fact that smartwatches are not presently autonomous appears to be the biggest issue with consumers, because there seems
little point to it if it relies on a smartphone to work.
Smartwatches with their own micro-sim are already being discussed, but besides these
customer qualms, there’s been hugely positive feedback on the smartwatches
showcased at CES.
One hot favourite
is the Pebble Smartwatch, which gained its popularity after crowd source
funding from Kickstarter. The
company announced at CES that they are releasing
a steel encased version at the end of this month, as well as their own Pebble
app store, whereas previously users had to go through third-parties to download
their apps. There is no denying that there are still issues, but the concept
and product potential is incredibly impressive. The Pebble Smartwatch
features include weather, traffic and news updates, notifications from social
media apps, games, utilities, remotes to control your central heating or lock
your car door and with its 5ATM waterproof status it is also being marketed as
a fitness aid to help users track their goals whatever the weather. Their sleek
designs, with e-Paper display are keeping them in pole position at the moment,
but with huge corporations such as Apple and Google leaking hints about their
versions of smartwatches, this emerging market is clearly going to be a
competitive landscape as we continue into 2014.
It’s vital
for any business wishing to learn more about the wearable tech market to invest
in business intelligence, to keep up with competitors and recognise areas for
potential growth in the industry. The Industry Report Store has just released
an extremely valuable report from Technavio featuring an in-depth market
analysis for smartwatches in the current climate, and in coming years. As well
as input from industry experts, this report contains details about majority
vendors including Apple, Samsung, Sony, Qualcomm and Pebble Technology.
About Industry Report Store:
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Elizabeth Ryan
Marketing
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