If you read The Guardian yesterday then chances are one story will have stood out like a new gadget everyone’s been impatiently waiting for since Star Trek. Or indeed Dick Tracey, as the article rightly points out.
Although this is by no means the start of the wrist-tech race proper, it’s certainly the most exciting heat yet. In actual fact, as IB Times correctly points out in this fascinating history of the device, the Seiko Data 2000 (pictured) was the first digital watch capable of doing more than just tell the time.
Needless to say, we’ve come a long, long way since then, with Sony having made some of the most significant inroads in recent years. As such it’s no surprise the giant is one of the main companies vying for custom in the impending smart watch assault. Alongside Samsung, and the lesser known Qualcomm (a firm that usually makes chips for other brand’s handsets), these firms will all begin selling new models in the coming months.
The first of which will be the Galaxy Gear, Samsung’s invention. Slated to be shipped at the end of this month, it uses Bluetooth to team up with the wearer’s phone, enabling them to take calls, use some apps, and even take images. So too does the Sony variation, an update of the SmartWatch. Meanwhile Qualcomm’s Toq also boasts similar features.
Decisions, decisions, what’s notable about the tone of the overall piece, from a marketing perspective, is the reference to Apple. So far there has been no confirmation from the Californian market leader as to whether or not it’s even concerned with developing a product in this marketplace, and although it’s highly likely that it is (not least with a copyright application on iWatch). Yet for all intents and purposes, the three companies mentioned above are clamouring for a foot in the door to ensure they’re there before the makers of Mac get started.
There will, no doubt, be several reasons for this. But, in terms of PR and the like, by allowing itself time to gauge responses to other launches, and keeping a tight net around any information regarding its own research, Apple is telling an engaging story without speaking a word, and thus adding to the impact of the final big reveal. If, of course, that ever actually comes. So-  we may never have an iOS on our arms, but whether we will or not is still a bigger talking point than Sony or Qualcomm’s recent revelations.