2015 CES outlook: Versatile wearable devices will win?

According to foreign media reports, this year's International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2015) will be held next week in the United States Las Vegas, equipment manufacturers will be on the world stage to showcase their cutting-edge new equipment, but also discuss the future will be born what kind of equipment, and how to build the product.

For wearable technology, more may not mean better. In the area of wearable equipment, there is a battle between versatile wearable equipment and cheap, wearable equipment, and people have different views on who wins. It is hoped that at this year's CES show, there will be answers to this question.

Wearable equipment is undoubtedly a key new technology. According to IDC, a market-research firm, shipments of wearable equipment are expected to grow to 112 million units by 2018, more than five times times the number of last year's data. Even Vogue, the fashion magazine, has taken Apple's smart watch Apple Watch as its cover picture, one of the most desirable wearable devices to be expected next year. Smart glasses and virtual reality helmets, once thought to be nothing but scientific fantasies, are now flowing into the marketplace as consumer products.

So what happens next in the wearable equipment field? At this year's CES show, equipment makers will compete not just with those in the field, but also with the products that are best suited to future development. Wearable technology giants, including Samsung, LG, Motorola and Intel, are expected to establish their status ahead of Apple's watch launch. Other smaller wearable equipment companies are expected to establish partnerships with other sports, fitness and apparel industries, such as Adidas, to ensure they are not eliminated.

But at this CES show, even after its closing, people on wearable equipment the substance of the future debate is largely a technical one, and it is now more of a philosophical one: consumers want to buy a wearable device, and then the device can provide almost everything, or want to buy a bunch of networking equipment, such as shoes, Shirts and glasses and so on, they work together to achieve a common goal?

Wearable equipment companies are already in the company, but analysts say they do not believe there is a clear answer to the problem.

"I think this is one of the problems that need to be addressed in the wearable equipment market," said Wes Henderek, an analyst at market research firm NPD Group Wess Handrick. "The wearable devices are not as effective as they are at the moment," he said.

Universal type and special type

Apple is a staunch supporter of versatile wearable equipment. Apple Watch, which is expected to be listed this spring, will feature a full color display, heart rate measurements, a fitness and health tracking software, and a range of applications, from productivity to communications. The equipment is priced at a maximum of USD 350.

Apple is not the only company to do so. Google's Android Wear software also offers a number of features, with Samsung, LG and Motorola's smart watches on the software. For example, the Moto 360 smart watch can play games, have an interactive, James Bond-style dial, built-in Notes application Evernote, and Support Voice command features. Samsung Gear S Smart watch provides cellular wireless connectivity so users can use the device to make a phone call, or even leave their mobile phone at home.

But not all companies support this strategy. More and more start-ups are turning to specialized devices. They embed sensors in a variety of products, from shirts to skis to factory-used gloves to 3D-printed prosthetic limbs, and so on, and these products are much cheaper than smart watches produced by big companies.

Because these devices are not trying to provide all the functionality, they are generally cheaper, but may be more efficient and powerful in performing a particular task. There is another prospect for these devices that they can "talk" to each other, creating a network of devices across our bodies. For example, smart earplugs can read your heart rate and send data to a smart wrist strap that tracks your body's movement, which collects more sensitive data such as sweat composition, skin temperature and electrolyte levels, and then integrates the data into a mobile application and finally displays it on a smartphone.

In March this year, Forrester, a market research firm, surveyed thousands of U.S. consumers and found that most people wanted to have a wearable device worn on their wrists, such as Apple Watch. But demand for specialised equipment continues to grow, such as jewellery, folder-type devices, shirts and shoes that are embedded in sensors. Gartner, an industry research firm, estimates that shipments of smart clothing rose from 100,000 to 10 million in 2015, almost one-third of global Smart watch sales.

Even inside Google, some people think it makes sense to make a strategy for making special wearable devices. When the internet giant first launched the glass in 2012, the company used it as a head-and-wear computer. But now, as the number of other types of wearable devices has soared, some Google executives have debated whether a device can provide all the functionality.

"Google Glass is just one of many wearable devices, and users will end up wearing a lot of things," Astro Thelles Astro Teller, director of Google X Labs, who developed Google Glass, said. ”

He says Google's current strategy for wearable devices is reflected in another wearable device developed by Google X Labs--Smart contact lenses. This contact lens is embedded in non-invasive sensors and microchips, and will be produced by Swiss Novartis (Novartis). The goal is to help diabetics monitor blood glucose levels by reading the glucose content in the tear, thereby eliminating the pain of blood tests.

He pointed out that it would be foolish to try to make a small contact lens offer different functions and uses.

So far, the strategy of making a wearable device available with limited functionality has proved successful, although some devices are rapidly outdated. Wearable technology start-ups like Fitbit, Jawbone and Withings, as well as traditional equipment manufacturers such as watch maker Garmin, have long sold wearable devices focused on a handful of features and won consumers. Now, the smart bracelet and fitness tracker are at the forefront of wearable technology.

While companies such as Fitbit are beginning to try to add more functionality to their wearable devices, such as a display that displays time and number of walks, the focus is still on health-oriented functions such as measuring exercise and monitoring sleep. Applications on smartphones that work with these devices allow consumers to enter data that the device cannot measure, such as the amount of energy consumed in the exercise.

So far, the strategy of making wearable devices provide only limited functionality appears to be valid. From April 2013 to March 2014, Fitbit accounted for 68% of the Global fitness tracker market, according to market research firm NPD. Gartner said that as the explosive growth of smart watches, especially Apple Watch, could have an impact on the market, this year's sales growth in the fitness bracelet slowed.

Fitbit is intensifying efforts to announce the launch of its self-developed smart watch surge last October. Although the device is also equipped with a color display and a number of applications, but not to compete with Apple Watch, but still focus on fitness tracking function.

Fitbit's main rival, Jawbone, released the smart-bracelet UP3 last fall, which inherits the company's 2012-year-wide consumer-led series of smart-bracelet-free displays. Jawbone says the device does not require a single display to perform common functions such as heart rate monitoring.

Andrew Rosenthal, Jawbone Health platform manager, said at a conference on wearable equipment last month: "I might buy a smart watch, but I won't use it to monitor my sleep." We are not going to try to build a smart watch, this is not our strength. ”

Still, there are signs that a good day for dedicated wearable equipment will be over when technology giants push consumers to turn their attention to smart watches. Apparel giant Nike entered the field of wearable equipment in early 2012, launching a fitness tracker FuelBand, a low-cost smart bracelet for athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

But only two years later, Nike fired the hardware team responsible for FuelBand development, and the company's CEO, Mark Parker, confirmed that the company had shifted its focus to Nike software Parker. Nike may have seen a bad omen – the company has worked with Apple in the past and Apple CEO Tim Cook has been a member of the Nike board for nearly a decade. This spring, a Nike application is expected to appear on Apple Watch.

From smart phones to smart watches

Another reason, it is believed that wearable equipment will eventually become a versatile device: smartphones have undergone the same transition: Smartphones were initially in the form of radios, then two-way pagers, but eventually they added many features, replacing fax machines, calculators, hand-held cameras and GPS devices.

"A device war is usually between a general-purpose device and a dedicated device," said Tim Chang, a venture capitalist Mayfield fund. "Tim Zhang was founded in 2010 by a wearable equipment company based science, which was sold to Intel at about 100 million US dollars early last year," he said.

What is the difference between a general-purpose device and a dedicated device in wearable equipment? One of the challenges is battery time.

Smart watches with larger displays, such as Samsung Gear Live and Moto 360, are often criticized for short battery time. Apple CEO Tim Cook has hinted that Apple's watch battery will not last longer than a day, and that users need a full day.

But there are some exceptions. The start-up Pebble's smart watch battery lasts up to 5-7 days, thanks in part to the company's buttons to replace touch and to avoid color displays. Microsoft's band is a cross-border product between a fitness bracelet and a smart watch, with a color display screen and a heart rate monitoring function that lasts up to 48 hours.

Simple wearable devices tend to have longer battery times if they don't try to do too much. Astro Taylor believes that wearable equipment will be distributed on our bodies, on the one hand, from a fashion standpoint, on the other hand, from battery time.

He is not the only one to hold that view. American singer Will.i.am, for example, launched his own smart bracelet Puls last year. The device was not well received, but when he announced the launch, he said his company, I.am+, is preparing to launch other wearable devices, one of which is a smart jacket that can be recharged when its sleeves touch your smart watch.

Analysts concluded that in the short term, versatile wearable devices would be likely to prevail, especially since specialized equipment was disappearing in other areas. As time goes on, laptops, desktops, printers, and smartphones tend to add functionality.

Mayfield Fund, Tim Zhang, points out: TomTom has been successful in selling GPS equipment to car owners, and is now forced to integrate its main products into mobile phones as a common software. "The companies that have been successful with their specialised equipment are now the most nervous," he said. ”

(Responsible editor: Mengyishan)