The smartwatch is an interesting trend that is starting to gain more traction. Last year there were a number of devices that made their way to market and to consumers’ hands. Obviously, some had more success than others. The Pebble clearly stands out in my mind as being one of the bigger successes of the year. Omate pulled in quite a bit of funding, but hasn’t really taken off, in my eyes, the way Pebble did. Of course there was the Motorola MOTOACTV, Sony Smartwatch 2 and the Qualcomm Toq. Again, none were all that successful. Yes, I am fully aware there were others, like the AGENT, Meta, i’m Watch and others. We can’t leave the Samsung Galaxy Gear out of the mix, even though it came out much later in the year. While the Gear is nice, it’s limited connectivity to Samsung devices, by default at least, is a bit of a turn off when it comes to multiple device uses and users.
My idea of a smartwatch doesn’t involve half of what the devices above have. While Pebble MIGHT be a bit more acceptable for me, I still can’t pull the proverbial trigger. I know the title of this editorial said  “Why a Smartwatch Won’t Grace My Wrist“, however that is technically a lie. It is only a lie depending on how you look at things though. While I have no use, or see a need for, any of the smartwatches above, that doesn’t mean that by classification that there aren’t smartwatches that I do see as being useful, beneficial and that can enrich my smartphone life. A smartwatch, in my opinion, just needs to be an extension of my phone. First and foremost though, it needs to be a watch followed up with a few little perks at an affordable price.
This year at CES 2014 I saw two ‘smartwatches’ that I would quite easily spend my hard earned dollar on. The Martian Notifier and the Cogito Original. By classification they are smartwatches, but I see them more as being ‘connected devices’. Both watches take the traditional approach and are a watch, first and foremost, followed by a smart aspect. They give you what a traditional watch was created to do in the first place, the time. While one could argue that you can just look at your phone for that, it would defeat the purpose of a watch and the ease of just looking at my wrist. While Cogito states some limitations by device and Android OS version, both will still connect to multiple devices. They give me quick glance access to notifications that are important to me (SMS, Calls, Email and the likes) combined with the time without having to touch or tap or shake to get it.
Certainly the more elaborate smartwatches, like the Galaxy Gear, deliver notifications to your wrist, but from my experience they require a bit more user interaction when one is received. Where as the Notifier and Cogito just lets you know what is waiting so you can decide if it is important enough to look at it or not. For instance, on the Notifier a 96 x 16 px screen scrolls a readout ticker style of the senders name or number followed by the message and you can choose to have it scroll 40 characters or the entire message. As a married man, I just need to see if the wife is texting. Having to reach for my phone all the time to check it is a serious pain. (Yes, I have special tones and things for her, but that doesn’t mean I remember what is what or that I even heard it go off.)
I would like to say that I will never wear or use a smartwatch, but in all actuality I will. It just won’t be one that duplicates my phone on my wrist. It will be one that gives me the time and lets me know simple things, like who is calling or what the wife wants me to get at the store without pulling my phone out. I want something with a classic look and design with the time being the real focus. It’s also important that I don’t have to remember to plug in every night so that I am not wearing a black screen the next day.
What are your guys thoughts? Is a full featured smartwatch up your alley? Do you want widgets, a keyboard, a fitness tracker, changeable watch faces, movies and a camera, or are you more like me? I’m aiming for the extension of my smartphone rather than a wristable duplicate. Let me know. I am very interested in hear what all you guys think the primary shift is going to be in the smartwatch category this year.
Image credits to Kristian Bell/AndysVinyl
