The original iPhone was released on June 29, 2007, and it completely changed the world. Before this new phone was released, many manufacturers knew that phones would eventually be like computers, but no one was able to pull it off. There were many attempts, but before Apple no one could pull it off and market it in a way that the general population would see it as something worth buying.
Today, we believe that this exact same situation is happening with the wearable technology market. Many manufacturers have had an attempt to this market including Pebble (a kick starter campaign company), Samsung, Sony, Google, QUALCOMM and soon, Apple.
The three most outstanding attempts are Samsung, Google, and most importantly, Pebble. Google has its widely-known glass. Glass currently is in its second generation. It is interesting because it gives you the ability to always be able to see your phone’s notifications, can answer any question with the simple voice command “ok glass,” and finally, it allows you to take pictures of anything you can see. A large portion of the public is worried by this feature because you could never know if someone is taking a photo or video of you.
Pebble being the original smart watch maker is, until today, one of the best smart watches on the market. Unlike any other product in its category, it has a wide variety of apps. Its battery lasts for days on a single charge, making it better than most of the market.
Samsung’s attempt at the smart watch was one of the most interesting. It has a camera feature but the photo quality is poor. It has an LCD screen, making it the best quality on the market but this feature has diminishing returns. Because of this screen, you are lucky if the battery lasts 24 hours. It has a large lack of apps due to how few people bought it. The main reason for its unpopularity is because of how few products it is compatible with. The gear (the Samsung watch) only can connect to Samsung phones, making it work for less than half of smartphones, forcing it into a niche market.
Overall this market still hasn’t reached its peak. While we have many options, we do not have something that is world-changing. When we come to this day, everyone in the developed world will have whatever the piece of wearable tech is.
Someday, wearable tech will change the world, but that day is not today.