The smart watch revolution is here

If I asked you to define a watch, chances are you would say ‘a watch is a device which tells time and date.’ Heck, some of you may not even know what a watch is. Of course I am just exaggerating. If you think a watch is something that just tells time, how wrong you are. Watches have evolved. The advent of mobile phones basically was the start of the fall of the wristwatch. Mobile phones have time and date features built in rendering the humble watch un-necessary for most people. I remember my first watch, a digital master-piece. It was a technological wonder. Ok, I lied about that but in the eyes of a teenage geek, this watch was state of the art, with stop watch, count-down timer, alarm and of course date and time. One of my favorite functions was the glow-in-the-dark button which, when pressed activated an Led light that illuminated the screen. Sweet! This watch was truly futuristic. It made me one of the popular kids among my peers.Enter the Smart watch Casio DatabankThis was perhaps the grandfather of the current breed of smart watches. Casio’s databank from the 1980’s was truly ahead of its time. Apart from standard watch functions, the databank was able to store additional data such as phone numbers, email addresses and postal addresses. Some models of the Databank had a remote control function which could change channels and adjust volume on the TV. I remember some friends playing pranks with their watches secretly changing TV channels or muting the TV. The Databank was available in plastic and metal bodies. Ipod Nano watchYou heard right, the latest generation Nano can be turned into a watch. Though Apple did not intend for its Nano to be worn as a watch, some creative people discovered the Nano’s new form factor could easily be converted into a modern, app powered smart-watch, with the addition if a simple strap. With the ability to accept apps, developers were able to create watch apps which could customize the Nano screen into different watch faces, ranging from digital, to analog or fancy artistic watch faces. After watching Apple launch the 6th generation ipod nano, Scott Wilson, creative director at Nike watches and founder of Minimal a design firm, was inspired to transform the new nano into a smart watch. He created the Lunatik and Tiktok watch straps which transformed the nano into a watch. Having shopped the idea to many financiers and manufacturers, with no success, Scott decided to post his idea at Kickstarter a crowd-funding website. With an initial funding goal of $15,000 to produce the watch straps, his innovative idea ended up raising over one million dollars. The Lunatik and Tiktok range of products paired with watch apps can transform your nano into analog or digital watch.Pebble Smart watchThe Pebble is a unique gadget. Using the Kickstarter platform, it was able to raise over $10,000,000 in seed funding. That amount just goes to show that people will pay any amount of money for a product if they think it will add value to their lives, even if the product is just an idea.Anyhow, the pebble watch is a customizable e-ink based smart watch. It connects to iphones and android phones via Bluetooth alerting you of incoming calls, caller ID, facebook message, different downloadable faces for easy customization.The possibilities are endless.Sony Smart WatchNot wanting to be left out of the action Sony decided to release their own smart watch. The Sony smart watch is an android powered watch which keeps you updated on email, SMS, facebook, twitter etc. The watch features a touch screen and is customizable through apps. The watch can be used to play music, reject and mute calls. Wrap upWhile we all thought the humble watch was soon getting extinct, it is re-inventing itself for the dot-com era. This is a good thing as watches are turning into lifestyle items as opposed to utilities for simply telling time. Watches of the future will go beyond what is currently possible to receive phone calls, twitter feeds, monitoring homes remotely, displaying web pages, streaming and much more. It’s only a matter of time.