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Not the wearables we're waiting for
Wearable so continue to attract headlines. Yet there's little interest in the current crop of tiny deceives outside of the geek bubble.
The hardware is impressive, but still clumsy. Early wearable software is still based on formats more suited to bigger screen devices like smartphones. And the supporting services aren't ready either.
Dam Frommer nails this nicely in a long-form essay at Quartz, where he says:
While it’s impressive how small today’s computers can get, Google and its partners have still failed to demonstrate truly compelling use cases—let alone “rich user experiences”—that will create a mass market for $200+ smartwatches. In almost every example during Singleton’s presentation, simply accessing a smartphone—an activity Google says its one billion Android users already do an average of 125 times a day—seems like it would be a more capable and comfortable solution. (And there’s no either/or option here—today’s smartwatches must be paired to a phone in the vicinity to access the internet.)
Bill Bennett
Freelance journalist.
Auckland-based Bill Bennett writes technology and business stories that are directly relevant to New Zealand readers.
His emphasis is on telecommunications, but he also covers other aspects of technology and business. You can find his features in the New Zealand Herald and hear him regularly on RNZ Nine to Noon and the NZ Tech Podcast.
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