The Android Wearables – The Era of Smart Watches Approaching?

Smart watches aren’t a new concept. The first smart watch was introduced decades back – what’s new is what’s happening to the world of smart watches today. While smart watches in recent times have focused on connecting your smart watch to your smart phone, things are changing now.

The Google Announcement
Google is officially interested now in wearable technology, after more than a year of rumors that Apple is designing its iWatch too. Google released a software development kit (SDK) for Android Wear, an Operating System designed for smart watches. And what’s more, it also introduced the Moto 360, a smart watch from Motorola which is still owned by Google. The Moto 360 will be launched in the Summer of 2014 and makes us ask what’s up with Google and Motorola – as it has already decided to sell the company to Lenovo.

The Android Wearables and You
According to Google, it will preview the Operating System to developers in order to help them make apps for the new OS, what they call as ‘wearable experiences’. In fact, watch maker Fossil Inc. is said to be working with Google for the purpose to help make watches appealing and not those sturdy ugly looking broad smart watches we have all seen.

The Questions Are Plenty
Don’t get too excited if you are an app entrepreneur or developer too. There are too many hurdles to overcome right now, as this is the initial stage. For one, how will the Android smart watches handle fragmentation issues? Think of this, all smart watches are going to be in different sizes and might differ hugely in matters of size. Also, what about lag time? Will we be experiencing the trend in smart watches as well? After all, who wants lag time in their watches! The other important questions are, will voice recognition technology be introduced in the smart watches as well? While analysts point out the inevitable introduction of Google Now – the popular software for voice recognition in Android Smart phones, the question is how popular and effective will it be? More, will we be able to call with our smart watches as well or is the Operating System designed specifically for other purposes?

Things to Know for App Developers
Samsung has already launched its own SDK for smart watches, aimed at its Gear Watches. This will surely be worrying developers as this might mean developing apps on different platforms. The question is, which platform will be easier? Both Samsung and Google hold sizeable market share and it will be unwise to leave out either of them. A thorough look at both the systems will help us understand how difficult making apps for the platform will be. Right now, sources indicate that one can do a lot with the Android Wearable OS, including making apps for health and fitness – so we need to know what Google has in plans with wearable technology. The Moto 360 might just be the perfect example to view what’s on offer.