Nike is renowned for its prowess in making premium sportswear, but has also showed in more recent times that it is unafraid to delve into the world of technology. Close ties with Apple have certainly helped matters, and with the FuelBand SE - the company's second-gen wrist-worn activity logger - having recently been introduced with a plethora of color options, this push shows no sign of slowing down. An interesting tidbit from the DigiTimes suggests the company could be taking things a step further, plotting a new smartwatch for release as soon as the first half of next year.
The Pebble smartwatch is probably the most famous smartwatch of them all, and while some may argue that it's not as smart as it could be, there's little justification for saying that it's not been the start of a whole new push into wearable technology. Alongside Google Glass, Pebble is rightly thought of as a pioneer in the wearable tech space that has since seen Samsung and Sony make an entrance. With Apple presumably also readying its own smartwatch, the arena is only going to get more interesting too.
Pebble's Smartwatch is credited with kicking of the current smartwatch boom. Having taken off on crowdfunding site Kickstarter and yielded the backing of over 80,000 interested parties, some of the bigger names in the tech game have rumored to be joining the fray, but while Samsung's Galaxy Gear remains the only fruitful release thus far, the Pebble continues to cement its place as market leader. As part of a significant update to the wearable gadget and its accompanying apps, Pebble has announced some key updates to the corresponding iOS app, as well as support for gesture-based controls.
Last month, Samsung dropped its Galaxy Gear smartwatch, and although Pebble's Kickstarter-boosted effort is credited as the main reason for the uptake in big-company interest on wrist-worn tech, it's fair to say that the South Korean company doesn't have a great deal of competition at this moment in time. According to a report over at The Wall Street Journal, though, this could soon be about to change, with Google apparently just a couple of months away from finalizing a smartwatch of its own.
There doesn't seem to be a shortage of big named companies that are prepared to jump on the wearable technology bandwagon. Samsung have recently hit the market with the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, a device that has so far failed to impress anyone. A number of other large brands are rumored to be planning on getting in on the action with their own wearable but the latest to come forward with real intent is Adidas, one of the world's biggest manufacturers of sports clothing and accessories.
If the smartphone was the biggest growth market in technology over the last five years, then wearable technology is quite possibly going to be in the same boat from this point forward, especially if all the rumored devices do actually see the light of day.
The T3 YouTube channel has posted a very interesting looking concept render of a Google smartwatch, designed very much in the image of the search giant's Nexus brand of products. Running, as you would expect, an adapted version of Android, it would link up with your smartphone to supplement the overall experience by answering calls, syncing calendars, and generally lessening the need for you to incessantly reach for your pocket.
Reports of Apple building an iWatch have gained a significant amount of traction over the past couple of months, and naturally, there have been plenty of suggestions that several rivaling companies could be about to make similar arrangements. Following on from reports that both Google and Samsung are considering this particular branch of wearable tech, The Wall Street Journal has chimed in news that Redmond-based software giant may too be working on such a device.
Amid the constant inroads made in the smartphone and tablet industries, there would appear to be a growing requirement among consumers for so-called smartwatches. Tech fiends have taken the preemptive steps of conceptualizing such products in the image of Apple and Google's respective ranges, with the former said to be teaming up with none other than Intel to bring such a product to market. As we continue to dream of the day when one of the biggest names in the business comes through with an exciting new product, one decidedly smaller firm is ahead of the game. Unless you've been living under a rock - or in this case, a pebble - you'll have caught some of the hype surrounding Pebble's Smartwatch device as it smashed records over at Kickstarter, and it has now been revealed that the device will begin shipping on 23rd of this month.
To many of us tech-orientated folk, there's something really fascinating about a wristwatch which, to some degree, manages to offer the features we've become accustomed to with our various other mobile gadgets. Much has been made over Apple's purported "iWatch" over the past couple of years, and although the fruit company hasn't even so much as hinted such a device would be on the way, various patents filed have been more than suggestive. Now, Mountain View-based Google looks as though it might get in on the act, filing a patent of its own for what looks to be a so-called "smartwatch."
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