Smart watches are the latest must-have gadget

 Smart watches are the latest must-have gadget

Worldwide, the market for smart watches has grown from 500,000 in 2013, to over 5 million by the end of 2014. These devices – which function as wearable computers – are the most important new product category in consumer electronics since the iPad.
Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung are among the firms launching a variety of stylish, hi-tech watches, incorporating a myriad of new hardware and software features to boost their appeal to consumers. Among the most popular uses are in health and wellness monitoring, sports and fitness. The market for traditional watches is being disrupted by the added functionality of this new generation.

Smart watches
Hot on the heels of the Pebble and Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watches, will surely come newer and more innovative mobile-linked wristpieces.
In fact, at the 2014 Mobile World Congress expo, we're bound to see loads of the things in a concept stage.
But 2014 will be the year Apple launches one. Or maybe it won’t.
Both of which would be a big story.
The first would show the potential power of these products and the second would dismiss the idea as a fad if a company like Apple fails to take up the gauntlet.
No doubt, in time, we'll discover which one.

The iWatch, seen here in a concept design, is on our list for the second year in a row, and now we want it more than ever. We first heard reports of this mythical item in late 2012, which left us intrigued about what could come in 2013. But the year came and went without a single wearable gadget from Apple. Instead, we had to make do with countless iWatch rumors as Google, Samsung and others released wearable gadgets of their own. That's left us hungrier than ever for the iWatch. If Apple truly has a Bluetooth smartwatch up its sleeves, the device needs to come out in 2014. Otherwise, people will stop believing in it the same way they no longer believe in the iTV.

iWatch

Wearable tech
Similarly, 2014 will be the year of technology that you wear - and not just on your wrist or nose.
The whole sector looks set to increase throughout our lives on the back of the growing trend for wearable fitness devices that track exercise progress and healthy living.
Expect to see products built into clothing as well as stuff you can physically wear yourself.