Rumors on the internet indicate that the iWatch will launch later this year probably around the October timeframe. Analyst tracked mass manufacturing activities for expected iWatch parts that would indicate Apple is getting ready.
Apple started the iWatch project in 2012 or even before and it took the company quite some time to develop the watch, while the market around wearable heated up. Early entrants by Sony, Pebble and Samsumg stayed behind expectations and adoption remains slow. On the other hand more specialist devices like activity tracker from FitBit and Nike flourished.
The reason for this sluggish adoption of smart watches is a combination of consumers with high expectations fueled by the hype and the reality of technological constraints faced by the manufacturers. Companies like Pebble that focus on long battery life and offer a product that works with iOS and Android have some niche following (around 1 Million users) that seem to be more satisfied than the Samsumg Gear users who expected more especially longer battery life and more Apps. Also the newly released Gear 2 has not met expectations. Samsung added a heart rate sensor, but it does not seem to work well on the wrist while exercising, which is a common problem (e.g. see Amiigo a new indiegogo project release in May 2014).
The main reason for the current under performing of those devices and the resulting sub-optimal user experience are technological constraints:
- Battery technology and form factor; the design goals for a watch, e.g. small size, color display, multiple sensors, comfortable to wear and affordable impose challenges for the battery technology. Still, the smaller the size of the battery the lower the capacity and with a power hungry color display and a lot of sensors engineers have a problem making the device small enough and lasting through the day. The manufacturers need to educate the consumers around different usage patterns. If you use the watch sensors the battery life will be much shorter, e.g. activity tracking and HRM throughout the day.
- Style and cool factor, a watch is a status symbol, it does not only need to work well it also needs to look cool. It reflects the status of the person wearing it. That's why Apple hired a senior executive from Tag Heurer to drive the brand.
- It is very difficult to get all these sensors working properly under all conditions, especially HRM on the wrist or detecting steps with a wrist worn device. Samsung seem to have sprinted to the market and did not deliver useful results (e.g. HRM not working or providing in-accurate readings while working out due to the movement).
- Current smart watch manufacturers did not get the developer community exited enough to write Apps for those devices, especially Samsung does not have a good selection of Apps to choose from. Pebble did a better job engaging the developer community, but still very much focused on watch faces rather than Apps that solve specific user problems. To be fair Pebble has some apps like sleep and activity monitoring, remote control for your phone etc. that are loved by the early adopters and who are prepared to see beyond the low tech user interfaces.
In my opinion Apple was very smart to wait as long as they could to release their iWatch (if it is coming this fall, would not be surprised if they will wait longer) as technology is advancing especially in the main problem areas of battery technology and availability of very low power components and sensors. I think the last thing the wearable market needs now is another device that does not meet the hype. This would divert investment attention away from the wearable market, which in my opinion is the next most important development to drive the internet-of-things. The internet-of-things will be/is even a bigger growth engine for the economy than the mobile market right now.
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