After the first google alerts started streaming in the news feeds on wearable tech at the beginning of 2015, the largest consumer electronics fair in the United States CES populated nearly all headlines.
What was being presented in the wearables and what was being said about wearables at this year´s edition of the CES in Las Vegas on the first days?
- Intel is heavily investing in wearable technologies. CEO Brian Krzanich showcases the miniature computer called Curie. The next generation nanocomputer includes a Bluetooth low-energy radio, motion sensors and communication components
- Swarosvki has partnered up with the Shine to introduce an embellished version of the activity tracker
- Sony is making a wearable pitch for competing with GoPro by presenting its 4Action Camera. Additionally the company is premiering its Smart Glass Attach, which is still in the conceptual phase. The same goes for the Smart B-trainer, an inner ear training coach that talks to you while jogging. Furthermore the company announced the new, stainless stell edition of its SmartWatch 3. This latest edition will be available as of February 2015.
Sony will also be speaking & exhibiting at our conference next month in Munich, so stay tuned for any european premieres from the Japanese electronics giant. - This Asian tech giant has started pushing the envelope by investing in the developers´ community for (wearable) tech by means of its MediaTek Labs initiative. At CES2015 the company introduced the MediaTek MT2601 SoC for wearable devices (in productions as we speak), which runs on Android software. Mediatek will be one of our speakers at the WT Conference in Munich on 3rd of February 2015.
- The wristable robot drone Nixie is also clearly one of the more eye catching wearable tech at the CES. Not only is it able not only to steer from your wrist like a digital falcon, but can also take pictures
- Broadcom – the company that builds technology that enables smart watches to wirelessly connect (Wireless Lan, Blue toothe, Zigby) – comments that it is interested to see who will come out as the winner in the battle for the smartest smart watch
- Zepp wearables is showcasing its racket sensor which allows the tennis player to monitor drive speed, sweet spot hit accuracy and serve speed and pastes these parameters to a video recording on the same paired app. WT commented on the Zepp sensor – that is also available for baseball and golf players – in this article
- Besides wrist tech, smart clothing is also taking up its rightful place on the center stage, represented amongst others by Cityzen Sciences from France, presenting their D-Shirt Cycling Shorts. The fabrics are clad with sensors to monitor muscle movement.
- Garmin is one of the larger incumbent players within the fitness tracker market. It is however the first time it starts building up muscle in the Smart Watch game. The company introduced a total of 3 smart watches in total at CES2015
- Chinese company Lenovo presents its 1st Wearable Technology: the Vibeband VB10. The device uses E-Ink Technology and combines fitness tracking with notifications-display fed by your cell phone
- Withings is one of our trade fair regulars, most recently during MEDICA2014. This very active wearable tech player from France launched the Activite Pop health-tracking watch at CES2015.
WT is excited to see these wearable techs materialize enough to have made it to the CES2015. This means that devices, smart solutions and IoT technologies have become consolidated drivers in this market and are market-mainstream ready.
What strikes us however a bit so far is that not many groundbreaking or disruptive technologies are showcased at the CES. Many of the devices have been promoted through the web in 2014 and CES has thus far not seen many premieres*.
We will keep a close eye on the rest of the program however to unfold in Las Vegas.
*At our conference in Munich we will be premiering a number of (enabling) technologies as we always try to offer our attendees insights in the latest developments. Please have a look at the WT I Wearable Technologies conference line-up.
