Report: Google developing a smart watch to challenge Apple
The Wall Street Journal posted an article today about how Google is developing a video game console, not entirely surprising, but in the article was this gem about the company also developing a smart watch to rival the likes of Pebble, Sony, and presumably Apple:
Google Inc. is developing a videogame console and wristwatch powered by its Android operating system, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Internet company seeks to spread the software beyond smartphones and tablets...
The people briefed on the matter said Google is reacting in part to expectations that rival Apple will launch a videogame console as part of its next Apple TV product release.
I'm not interested in the console gaming aspect of the WSJ piece, but I'm extremely interested in the wearable computing angle as I believe that smart watches have the potential to be the next frontier in the digital revolution and I think that Apple feels the same way.
According to Bloomberg around 1.2 million smart watches will be sold in 2013, generating $370 million in sales and ABI Research estimated in May that sales could jump more than 20-fold by 2015.
MacRumors notes:
News of Apple's upcoming smart watch dubbed "iWatch" surfaced in December, and hints that Google would develop a competing product surfaced in March, though the company filed for a patent on the technology at an earlier date.
Predictably, Samsung announced that it was developing a wristwatch similar to a smartphone in March.
Sony recently announced its second-generation SmartWatch 2 (due in September) to pretty anemic reviews although it looks like an improvement over its craptastic first effort. I still recommend waiting on the vaunted Pebble smart watch too, as it feel alpha at best.
What will it take to make a successful smart watch? Can Apple re-invent the category?