Smartwatches: Not yet ready for primetime

Smartwatches: Not yet ready for primetime

After smartphones and tablets, the concept of wearable technology sounds very attractive and smart watches naturally feels like the next big thing. However, smart watches in the market today remain iffy to use and lack any real killer features. As the tech industry clamors to sell you the smart watch dream, let us explain why today's smart watches aren't really smart.

The Birth of Smart Watches

Smart watches can be loosely defined as a computerized wristwatch that has functions beyond timekeeping. For example, dive computers are a type of custom-purpose "smart" watch with many features designed to monitor, track and report on critical information such as pressurization, depth and air supply. When you're not diving, some models work just as well as a standard timepiece. 

Such watches have actually been in existence in some form or another long before the current crop of Pebbles, Galaxy Gears and what have you. Nevertheless, one can say that the current excitement and craze surrounding smart watches really started with the Pebble.

On April 11, 2012, Pebble started its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in a bid to raise US$100,000 in capital to begin production of its smart watch. The campaign turned out to be a wildfire success and achieved its US$100,000 target within just two hours.

Five weeks later when the campaign ended, the company received a whopping US$10 million in pledges, making it the highest funded project in the history of Kickstarter - a title it holds even to this day.

Following Pebble's success, many brands began making their own smart watches or announced their intent to do so, including big names like Samsung and Motorola, and also smaller players like I'm Watch and Cookoo. At the beginning of this year, Motorola showed off the Moto 360 and LG demonstrated its G Watch.

Apple also also long been rumored to be working on their own smart watch. Apple CEO Tim Cook even said that the wrist "is interesting" and further substantiated his comment by saying that a compelling product needs to be created first so that people would want to wear it. The latest rumours suggest that it could even launch later this year and be available at multiple price points and in different case materials.

Not Quite So Smart

In some ways, the word smart watch, in reference to watches such as the Pebble, Galaxy Gear and so on, is a bit of a misnomer. This is because many of these watches actually do little more than notify the wearer of incoming messages, mails and calls. To some, this may be helpful, but the fact is if you do require to answer that call or if it is an message or email that needs your immediate action, there is no way to pen a reply on your smart watch - you still need to get your phone out.

Speaking of which, these smart watches can only receive notifications only if they are within Bluetooth range, which is not very long - usually around 20 to 30 meters and drops drastically if there are obstructions, such as walls, or interference from other wireless devices, such as your Wi-Fi router.

Once it is out of range, these smart watches lose a lot of their functionality as they do not have many standalone functions and can do little more than tell the time on their own, some not even that.

To this, some brands try to include standalone functions such as Samsung's Galaxy Gear, which was the first massmarket smart watch to feature a 1.9 megapixel camera that lets you take photos and videos.

Samsung's follow up, the Gear 2 improves on that by including an in-built heart rate monitor and preinstalled fitness apps that do not require a smartphone to function. Hopefully, other smart watch makers will follow suit and improve on the standalone functionality of their offerings.

Give Me Juice

Limited functionality aside, another problem plaguing smart watches is battery life. Regular quartz watches, even multifunction ones such as Casio's Protrek series and Tissot's T-Touch series, can easily last for years on batteries.

Some quartz watches even use rechargeable batteries that can be charged through solar power or simply by the wearer's wrist motion, not unlike an automatic mechanical watch.

On the other hand, mechanical watches will run so long as they were being worn or wound regularly as they usually offer at least two days of power reserve.

Even with the most optimistic outlook of battery saving technologies like E-ink displays and displays that go to sleep when not in use, most smart watches are going to need a charge at least every other day to ensure that it does not suddenly die on you.

Instead of a trustworthy companion device, you end up with just another gadget that requires constant charging for minimal functionality.

The problem of battery life is not just limited to your smart watch but extends to your phone too. Enabling Bluetooth the entire time will have some effect on battery life, even with the newer Bluetooth 4.0 low power standard. This then becomes a problem for smartphones with average or below average battery life.

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Dreaming of Captain Kirk

When Samsung launched its Galaxy Gear smart watch last year, it created an advertisement that featured famous characters from popular culture that had smart watches - George Jetson from the Jetsons, Captain Kirk from Star Trek and Michael Knight from Knight Rider amongst many others. That clip summarizes the misguided perception that many people have about the current crop of smart watches.

As we have mentioned, smart watches today do little more than act as a secondary display for your smartphone or tablet. While that is undoubtedly a very useful function to some, it is certainly not as "smart" as some of us have been led to believe.

While characters in the advertisement could communicate with their watches, none of the smart watches in the market today actually offer that kind of functionality.

In fact, it could be argued that multifunction watches such as the Casio Protrek are even "smarter" since they have loads of standalone functions which provides useful data such as an altimeter, barometer, compass, world-time and more.

However, the potential for smart watches with greater standalone features and functions is latent, and manufacturers are showing signs of exploiting it. While the Galaxy Gear series can still be considered gimmicky, its a step in the right direction.

The other hurdle to overcome is screen size. In an age where smartphone screens have become increasingly larger due to media consumption trends, these usage methods do not really translate well to the tiny screens of a smart watch.

The Fight for Your Wrist - Fashion & Culture Perspective

Consumers today are increasingly tech savvy and design conscious. Apple, which has been immensely successful in recent years, attributes their success to a winning combination of hardware, software and design. In the same vein, and perhaps arguably more so considering that a watch is really more of a fashion accessory these days, a smart watch with all the right functions and capabilities alone is not going to do well if it lacks a compelling and attractive design.

Admittedly, design is subjective topic, but we think its fair to say that current smart watch designs are still rather unattractive and seems to be more suitable for men rather than women. The Pebble with its polycarbonate case makes it look a bit like a toy. On the other hand, Samsung's Galaxy Gear, though well-built, is too chunky for most ladies to wear.

On the Samsung Galaxy Gear, Om Malik, a partner at venture capitalists True Ventures and founder of tech website GigaOm, said that it was not impressive enough to replace his beloved watch. "Nope. It isn't impressive enough to replace my Nomos Orion", he said. "That Bauhaus dial design has a sense of serenity and a balance that is hard to match."

Fortunately, there is progress being made in this area. The new Pebble Steel with its steel case and bracelet is more stylish looking and in keeping with the look that is expected of a high-tech gadget, whereas Samsung's follow up to the Galaxy Gear - the Gear 2 - is slimmer and less chunky.

However it seems that it is Motorola's eagerly anticipated Moto 360 smart watch that seems to have hit the nail on the head. Motorola design chief Jim Wicks said: "We came to the realisation that if we're going to do this, we need to really embrace what this space is all about."

With that, they set back emulating the design cues of the classic dress watch that has adorned the wrists of men and women for decades. Judging from the early photos that we have seen, it seems like the Motorola has a winner on their hands - in terms of design, at least.

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Swiss Reluctance

The Swiss have been making watches for a long time and today accounts for half the world's total watch production in terms of value. However, if the recent Baselworld watch and jewelry fair was anything to go by, it seems that the Swiss are not sold on the concept of the smart watch. None of the major Swiss brands have announced a smart watch.

Nick Hayek, CEO of The Swatch Group, Switzerland's largest producer of watches, commented that he has been contacted by "practically all players in smart wearables". However, he is not convinced that smart watches are the next revolution and sees no reason why they should enter into a partnership with these firms.

"Personally, I don't believe it's the next revolution," Hayek said. "Replacing an iPhone with an interactive terminal on your wrist is difficult. You can't have an immense display." He further adds: "The smartwatch is an opportunity for us, whatever happens. If people who never used to wear anything on their wrists start wearing a so-called smart watch, then we certainly can convince them quickly to try wearing a beautiful watch instead."

Likewise, Breitling's CEO Jean-Paul Giradin was not sold on the current crop of smart watches that are in the market right now. "A watch has to stay as the personal instrument on your wrist, having standalone functions," he said in a recent interview at Baselworld 2014. He also stated that smart watches should not just be another interface with your tablet or smartphone.

Hurdles to Clear

As things stand, the concept of smart watches hold plenty of promise, but there just isn't any compelling use for them yet. A recent study by consulting firm Endeavor Partners shows that as many as a third of Americans abandon their wearable tech device within six months of purchasing it.

This finding corroborates with that of another consulting firm CCS Insight, which found that around 40 per cent of owners stop wearing their wearable tech device within the same period.

Most early adopters realise after a while that the their smart watches cannot replace their smartphones, nor do they offer any compelling standalone functionality.

When you look at the history of smartphones, it is the most successful convergence device of our times. It is always by our side and in our hands; it has either significantly reduced the importance or made redundant altogether traditional stand along devices such as digital cameras, plus portable music and video players.

Introducing smart watches, or any wearable tech for that matter, cannot simply be a matter of perfunctory design and engineering.

After the first wave of Pebbles and Galaxy Gears, manufacturers seem to be getting it.

Wearable technology has to be sexy, it has to follow contemporary fashion trends or be bold enough to create one if people are to wear these devices as part of their regular wardrobe.

The race is also now on to find that killer function that defines a smart watch and its screen size. A "companion device" that basically tells you to reach for your smartphone is redundant.

And then of course, there's the battery issue. The smartphone market has been battling this war for years, what more for a wrist watch that's expected to do so much?

With so many players entering the smart watch market right now, we do expect progress in the next few years to be brisk. Smart watches may one day takeover smartphones and tablets as our most important mobile gadget, but today, they're still within the realm of sci-fi.

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