We’ve come a long way from the Casio calculator watch.
The idea of the smart watch is much like it sounds; paired with a smart phone, the watch would alert users to messages, calls, tell them the weather or the news and so on, with the bonus that you wouldn’t have to reach into your pocket (so strenuous).
But while there are a few smart watch offerings out there, we’ve yet to see them make the leap to popularity that smart phones have.
However, this may be set to change, if the latest rumours are anything to go by.
iWatch
Doing the rounds this week is the report that Apple was experimenting with “wristwatch-like devices” made of curved glass, the New York Times reported.
The rumour has been around for since about 2011, the Verge reported, but was this time backed up by a report from the Wall Street Journal who also cited sources briefed on the smart watch attempt.
The Journal said Apple was working on a “watch-like device” that would perform some smartphone functions and had discussed such a device with its manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry, or Foxconn.
Apple declined to comment on the story but reports flew thick and fast, many making mention of the smartwatches already on the market.
Samsung – always one step ahead…
Hot on the heels of the iWatch reports was the rumour that Samsung is creating its own watch, code named the Galaxy Altius (although this name should be taken with a grain of salt, Techradar reported).
Fun fact, Altius is Latin for ‘higher’. I leave you to make the associated puns.
Apparently spotted on Korean message boards, the watch looks to have a touch screen, music, messaging and…an e-book reader?! Slashgear posited the watch will have a 500x500p display, based on leaked photos.
Pebble and the Sony SmartWatch
These include the Kickstarter-backed Pebble which connects to iPhone and Android using Bluetooth to alert the user to incoming calls, emails and messages, and has thirty party apps such as fitness trackers, with a 1.3 inch e-paper screen.
Then there was the generally panned Sony SmartWatch, with a 1.5 inch touch screen and paired with Android phones to display email, messages and social network updates, and which didn’t work when not paired to a phone and billed by Gizmodo as “maybe the worst thing Sony has ever made”.
Time has a break down of other smart watches available here.
And on the wearable gadgetry front, there’s always Google’s Glass, the headset which would place a tiny computer display in front of users’ eyes, allowing them to check social network updates, view photos and check the weather, billed for release in 2014.