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Wearable Hybrids Prove the Bloated Smartwatch Is One of Silly Valley's Biggest Mistakes

Accepted submission by Phoenix666 at 2018-07-18 14:01:29
Mobile

El Reg [theregister.co.uk]:

Five years ago, a collective mania overtook the industry. Nobody could think of a clear reason why consumers needed an expensive "smart" watch when they already had a smartphone in their hand, pocket or bag. What value could it deliver? Even Google didn't seem sure: in its now notorious launch video, a punter used a watch simply to replicate features on their phone. But the industry convinced itself that wearables were another platform, and nobody wanted to be a sad second in this race. So the giants entered the market. Not because they wanted to, but as a hedge. Someone else might take a lead.

As we predicted in 2014, this was a solution looking for a problem [theregister.co.uk]. And an expensive one, at that.

Are wearable devices whose OS wakes up only when needed for smart features the answer?


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