I’ve recently been looking in more detail at technology embedded within wearables, or as they’re known… Smart Wearables.
Smart Wearables are devices, you can wear, which are smart. For example, smart watches, smart glasses, etc… you could call them smart accessories. There’s even smart rings… and clothing that is getting smart, such as smart shoes, and t-shirts being wired to transmit information to your phone…. which i’m guessing, will have to be a smart-phone.
There’s news and rumours of the next generation iWatch – which will have more capabilities, for example…you don’t need to sync with your iPhone, etc..
And lets be honest. This is happening very quickly.
It only seems like a few years ago the iWatch came out…. in fact it was, April 2015 it was released. And the number of improvements and advancements that have been made are phenomenal.
It can take calls, it can show you messages, it can alert you when your Uber is arriving, you can connect several apps to it… and it can tell you when you have to get up and walk around.
Which is great! – but what about those fitness trackers? – you know, like Fitbit and Jawbone.
Well… I paused and thought, I know Fitbit have several devices but haven’t heard from Jawbone.
Well, there’s a reason behind that. The company that had raised $590m through various rounds of fundraising and was valued at $3bn, is no longer as we know them.
That’s right – they’ve gone off the radar… not responding to messages… and are in liquidation.
I agree – feeling great is a very good look. But unfortunately, it’s not gone according to plan for the company. They had a great strategy…
But people want more.
More than just telling me about my fitness. Why can’t I wear something that will tell me more than the number of steps. Why can’t I have a device that will send messages, or show me my instagram feed… or even link with my Philips hue and turn the lights on?
As technology advances, our needs do to.
We want the technology to do more. To deliver more. To make tasks easier and simpler for us.
And to be fair, it’s doing it. The Smartwatch is doing that for us. Technology is enabling it.
And companies have to keep up. It’s sad for Jawbone… but I can see, others still doing really well, such as Fitbit and Garmin – who have recently added the ability to make contactless payments from their wearable devices.
It’s that kind of thinking that enables us customers to do more… with less.