What Is a Smartwatch & What Do They Do?

What is a smartwatch?

Smartwatch 2018 | A smartwatch by its name clear its description. Its typically like a watch but it is smart enough to make our life easier. It is more like a smartphone on your wrist. It has applications into it that make you use other kinds of stuff parallel. A wearable phone that can keep you updated without actually peeping into your phone. The software may include digital maps, schedules and personal organizers, calculators, and various kinds of watch faces. So, in short, we can say a smartwatch is a mobile device with a touchscreen display, designed to be worn on the wrist. There are so many companies coming up with the technologies in your hand. It completely makes sense as for generations we are fastening wrist watch and bring our smartphones in it. In short, mini-computers that are wearable.

Types of smartwatches that have been introduced till date are as follow –

• Pulsar Module 1: The first calculator Watch – 

The first calculator watch has been introduced as Pulsar Module 1. It was considered as “Computer Watch”. It was encased in 18-carat-gold and it was sold for $2,100. But unluckily it did not stand out at that time so well.

• Seiko TV Watch: The first TV watch –

Isn’t it fun if you can watch tv around your wrist? Seiko introduced the first TV watch of the time around “80’s”. In 1984, it received the Guinness World Record for being the “Smallest TV Set in the world.”

• The first Keyboard watch: Seiko Data 2000 – 

Seiko Data 200 was the first smartwatch that could do the storing of data up to 20,000 characters. It has a keyboard data entry, memos, and appointments. It has a magnetic wireless docking system that enables it to get synced with the keyboard.

• Seiko RC-4500: The original “Apple” watch –

This smartwatch is specially made to sync with your Macs. It is called as “WristMac”. It is the first computer around your wrist to sync with apple. It is connected using a Macintosh using a cable link to download its contacts, create the calendar and set alarms.

• Timex Data- Link: The first Wireless Computer –

This allows the user to input appointments, contacts and notes without a wire through the computer interface. The thing that happens in it is the data is being transferred to the watch by flashing data optically. It was actually a collaboration between Timex and Microsoft.

• Apple Watch Hermes: The first Designer smartwatch –

It was launched in 2015 which was the original Apple watch and it became the bestselling smartwatch in the world in no time. It has been priced between $10,000-$17,000 its collection has premium band collaboration with Hermès, a luxury French retailer.

• Fossil Wrist PDA – The first (and only) PDA Watch –

Do you remember the 1996 craze for PDA and the original personal data assistant, the Palm pilot? After the Palm has become a successful launch and its development, the fossil wrist PDA was released and it was priced at $250. When it was first launched it was called to be a revolutionary one and its ability to run various programs. It went as a failure too soon.

• Pebble Smart Watch: The first Million Selling Smartwatch –

Before it launched its product it gained fame through a crowdfunding Kickstarter through a campaign which was to raise fund to manufacture the product. It raised around 10 million dollars through the campaign and introduce its smartwatch around mid of 2013 which turned out to be very successful. It has enough features to make it smart. Its launching retailer price was $89.

• Samsung SPH-WP10 –

The first phone that could send the receive phone calls was named as “Dick Tracy’s Watch”. It was manufactured by Samsung. It also has the feature of voice control. But unfortunately, it did not work well in the market.

What makes a smartwatch “smart”?
Smart watches | are now into our lives to make our life way easier. It synchronizing essential thing into your wrist from your hands. It's taking up the important stuff that a phone could do to something that is wearable. There are now so many brands that come up with the technologies to make it smarter. Let’s look onto some technologies –

• Fitness tracking – Fitness bands are so much into the fashion now a day. It is something that becomes essential for us to have a good lifestyle. You can actually track your health states and the activities with your wristwatch. It is now enabled with so many new features like your walking distance, your heart rates and many more are there to enhance it and they are even coming up with new things to make it more efficient for a healthy lifestyle.

• Attending calls – Before smartphones, we had the only phone through which we could places calls and receive the same. So this became the basic feature and hence it is embedded into your smartphone so that you don’t have look upon your phone every time you get a call or do so. After phone calls, we go for texting feature and its there in your wrist.

• Good battery life – a Major issue faced by all of us is our phone battery so we want out smartwatches to have really long battery life. This is something very basic and much needed. I don’t wanna charge wearable every now and then. So here it should and has there in it.

• Other Apps – With these common features what people want is access to some basic things like contacts, memos, alarms etc. Many smartwatches are out there with these capabilities to make your life easier and there are a lot yet to come.

What is next?
Is these wearable really going to take up the place of our smartphones? Apple has already created the smartwatches that can call, play music, set alarms, check emails and many more. Its now coming up with new features as well. With the enhancement, the price is also an important factor. If the price comes down and its activity goes up then maybe this can become our new future. But there is a lot of time left in that. People are working on OS, Apps, accessibility etc. There are so many things that are coming up beyond our imagination.