Courtesy of pcworld.com
In the never-ending war of one-upsmanship, we have a Bloomberg report that Samsung is also working on its wearable devices line by developing a wristwatch. This confirms rumors from last month about a Samsung watch in the making.
During an interview in Seoul, Korea – Lee Young Hee who is E.V.P of Samsung’s mobile business said “We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long…we are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.” Hee did not give a glimpse behind the curtain regarding features or pricing. Some attest Samsung’s disclosure about their watch to based on reports that Apple has about 100 product designers working on everything from shape of the glass and housing to map capabilities, bio-sensors, and a complete iOS.
According to rumors coming out of the Cupertino campus, Apple wants to introduce the iWatch (unofficial but makes sense) later this year. If that happens, they can set the market with a price that can capture the initial influx of consumers who may turn out to be loyalists to their platform – outside of the present Apple loyalists of course – for the smart watch. In that regard, Apple would have an advantage on pricing. Then again, if Samsung were to deliver the goods first the advantage could lie with them just as easily as many would be expecting an OS much akin to the Android platform.
courtesy of news.cnet.com
WEARABLE DEVICES
Considering that both Samsung and Apple are fully aware that smartphone sales are slowing down (analysts project growth will slow to 9.8% by 2017 down from 27% this year) the race for a smart watch is on. Wearable devices are expected to be big business especially if an item like a smart watch can sync with already owned devices such as a tablet or smartphone. The key will be ease of use and style.
A new product line is needed and the first to deliver wins. For now at least.
