Tag: technology

Categories
Cyber

The Pros and Cons of Wearable Tech

Google Glass was arguably the first piece of wearable tech to come to the market that really made waves in the tech world. Not necessarily for good reason. In theory, they’re amazing and a true testament to the future that we currently live in, with the ability to answer calls, virtual reality, real-time translations and a whole host of other great features. In practice though, they’re inconvenient and still with major bugs and fixes needed. Not to say they flopped but they’ve still go a long way to go.

However, instead of head-mounted wearable tech becoming the go to for technology enthusiasts, wrist-worn technology seems to have become a staple in a lot of people’s day to day lives. FitBits and Apple Watches, in particular, have proved massively popular. I’m going to leave it to you to research those products (or maybe keep an eye on the blogs for a review…), for now, here are the major pros and cons of wearable tech.

Pros

It’s convenient

Wrist-worn technology can attribute a lot of its massive popularity to the fact that it offers an easy way for users to track and monitor their steps, heart rate and calories burnt. Smartwatches, in particular, are great for checking messages and news quickly throughout the day, without having to look at their phone.

Most of it is discreet to wear

It’s really easy to blend a wrist-mounted smartwatch or fitness tracker into an outfit and it can be treated as an accessory thanks to the often stylish design. Having wearable tech can even be fashionable and a sign of status. As an added bonus, those that choose various smartwatches or wearable tech can customize them as they wish. If you were to look over to an online store such as Mobile Mob or one similar, you’d be able to find many different customization options to really add a personal touch to your tech!

It’s useful

Whether it’s tracking your exercise or alerting you to calendar reminders, there’s no denying that wearable tech can provide concise and useful features that can be used in everyday life. There’s also a market for them in the business world, helping employees to be more productive and organised and simplifying some of their day to day tasks.

Cons

It has its limitations

With the technology being so small, it limits its functions with regards to some of its features. The Apple Watch, for example, has such a small screen, that it makes in hard for users to browse the web or text. Fitness trackers are less limited as their function is basic and does not require the complications of a smartwatch.

It can be expensive

When Google Glass was released, it cost nearly 1500. And that was just the first, widely untested model! It’s off the market now but Snapchat has recently released ‘goggles’ that have some similar features (mainly just for the camera), and these are hefty in price too. Apple Watches can creep up in price and aren’t that much cheaper than the phone itself (but you’ll need an iPhone to use it.) Fitness trackers are better and usually come in at around 50- 200.

Do you have some wearable tech? What do you think of it? Is it worth investing? Leave a comment below and let me know.

Categories
Phones

Have Mobile Phones Maxed Out Their Innovation Terrace?

The question was perhaps best highlighted with the death of visionary Apple leader, Steve Jobs, that being whether or not the company’s innovation terrace had completed its course. It spreads beyond Apple however and spills over into the entire mobile phone industry in that Smartphones seem to have completed their course of evolution.

Going back to the Steve Jobs discussion however, my best bet would be that Apple’s days as an innovator in the tech industry are all but over and they’ll only be a regular market player from here and on. Evidence to support this perhaps goes back to the early days of Apple when Steve Jobs founded the company, got kicked out of his own company and was then roped back in to “save it” from the distinct lack of growth, vision and innovation it was suffering from. Steve Jobs effectively brought the world what became known as a Smartphone along with other innovations such as the iPod and tablet PC (iPad). Not very long after his death nothing new is really coming out of Apple and the latest iteration of their iPhone doesn’t come with anything you could call a groundbreaking innovation.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because if you look at the overall market of mobile phones, what more can anyone really want to add to their functionality? I always like to look at how Smartphones are in relation to computers — mobile phones have essentially endeavoured to evolve into what we could refer to as miniature computers and that development seems to have reached its end goal.

When a new phone hits the market, nothing overly innovative about it is shouted off of the top of a roof. I mean yeah, there are essentially what are some new developments I’d refer to as nothing but frills, like a curved phone or one which has a borderless screen. There aren’t really any new features which have never existed before, but rather just an extension of memory perhaps, more processing power for more speed, better cameras, etc…Nothing new…

One could even argue that mobile phones haven’t really been innovative at all in that all that they’ve been evolving to become are miniature computers which we can fit into our pockets. Again, I don’t particularly think it’s a bad thing that mobile phones have ceased to develop by way of their innovation, after all, technology is meant to make our lives easier and if a device does that then why should we keep talking about its lack of further development?

The question then turns to why people spend so much money on certain brands, makes and models of mobile phones. Do you get more features, better functionality, more storage space, more security, more flexibility, better privacy perhaps? Do you get a longer lasting battery, smoother operation, a bigger screen, etc?

So yes, I’d say mobile phones have definitely maxed out their innovation terrace, but that doesn’t signal the end of the world in any way. If anything, it gives all the manufacturers some time to consolidate on the various features and make each of their new mobile phones the best that they can be to consumers.

Categories
Cyber Phones

3 Smart Devices That Are Paradoxical

What makes a device a “smart device?” We could perhaps look at mobile phones and how they evolved from being dubbed feature phones to Smartphones to get the answer, but then again some feature phones did indeed have internet connectivity capabilities. We could perhaps refer to smart devices as those which can connect to and interface with others in a feature-rich and intuitive way, which is why though some smart devices are in fact paradoxical by their very nature.

A Smart Wine Bottle

Why on earth does a wine bottle need to have internet connectivity capabilities? I know what you’re thinking — this could perhaps be a good thing, especially if wine lovers can keep tabs on the perfect temperature conditions under which to mature and store their wine, but that’s not what this makes this particular smart wine bottle “smart.” Ferngrove Wine Group, a Chinese winemaker’s idea of their smart wine bottle makes use of wireless tech to combat counterfeiting. It may be a high-end wine, but yeah, I don’t know hey…

Smart Cat Water-Fountain

The fact that this idea raised $56,000 via an IndieGogo campaign is rather concerning, but that was $44,000 short of its intended target of $100k. So this smart cat water fountain was intended to encourage cats to practice better water-drinking habits while helping the pet-owner keep an eye on the water-intake of your kitten, from your Smartphone! I mean there’s natural instinct on the part of the cats for that, isn’t there?

Smart iKettle

Really? A £100 kettle which connects to your phone to alert you when you can pour your hot water and delivers to you some reminders of when you should refill. Oh and it also tells you when the kettle is empty! Ground breaking stuff this, isn’t it? I’ve been using my “dumb” kettle which does exactly the same things manually all wrong!