The rapid technological advances of recent decades have opened up the possibility of transforming the wristwatch into a device capable of much more than just measuring time. Smart watches have been in development since 1972, when the Hamilton Watch Company came up with the “Pulsar” device. However, a major boost to smartwatch development was received with the release of smartphone operating systems such as Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS, and Microsoft’s Windows mobile platform.
Advances in computer hardware technology have made it possible to assemble small sensor chips and other circuitry into devices such as watches and eyeglasses. Also, the interoperability features of the modern mobile operating system can be used to install the same kernel on these devices. The first smart watch developed by Sony was called “Sony SmartWatch”, a wearable electronic watch that could be integrated with Sony Android phones. However, this specific device had its own operating system that was compatible with Android devices.
A big boost for this relatively new industry came when Samsung introduced its advanced smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear. Unlike the Sony SmartWatch, this device runs on the Android platform, but its connectivity with smartphones and tablets is currently limited to the latest Galaxy Note and Tab devices. It incorporates most of the features expected of a next generation handheld device.
Galaxy Gear can connect to a mobile device using the latest version of Bluetooth technology and perform tasks that make certain functions of the phone redundant. The smartwatch can see incoming calls, make outgoing calls based on voice commands, take photos with a small camera located on the watch face, and much more. In addition to displaying the time, the device is also equipped to display the current temperature and can also monitor certain health parameters with the help of Android apps. The best thing about this device is of course the fact that most of the apps that are already available on the Google Play store are compatible with it.
Other operating systems like iOS and Windows 8 are expected to come up with their own versions of a smart watch. In fact, there is a high probability that Apple will launch an advanced smart watch called Apple iWatch soon. Other technology manufacturers such as Qualcomm have also announced their intentions to develop smart watches, making it clearer that the future of mobile computing does not depend solely on smartphones and tablets.
