New Technology

It seems to me that I am starting to see smartwatches much more often these days. I started to do some research on smartwatches and found this website that is discussing how much smartwatches are going to expand and explode over the next five years. There are some really neat features that are to be expected. 

Apple Watch 2 is set to debut this year and it has an impressive list of new functions. Such as time lapse pictures, longer battery life (rumored up to one week), and waterproof. It will also expand to have more native apps. These apps are going to be especially useful, they are rumored to be Siri - for voice texting and calling, Health Apps - to keep track of steps, heart rate, blood pressure and a plethora of other great features, Facetime, GPS and others. The new apple watch is also going to be getting a facelift. Their new designer has been listening to the complaints since Apple Watch first launched and people have been expressing a need for new design scheme. They want options that make their watches classy and beautiful, something they can wear to their office jobs and galas alike while still having great durability. There's said to be some big changes and options for colors and designs that Apple has yet to reveal. 

Another watch that I am excited to see later this year is the Omate Rise Android Smartwatch. It works with IOS and Androids and has a bit more of a rugged exterior. The Omate Rise is 3G-compatible, has GPS and is properly waterproof. It boasts a round 1.3-inch, 360 x 360, touchscreen with sapphire coating. It works with iPhone and Android and the Rise also has a 3G micro SIM slot for untethered use as well as GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. There is a speaker and mic, presumably to take and make calls as well the usual 6-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer for activity tracking. As someone who loves hiking and being outdoors, I would choose this watch over the Apple Watch 2 because of its durability. 

In general, I think that wearable technology is going to change social media, especially smartwatches.

Because of the Voice-Based Updates, I imagine the shift of wearable update-ers will be dramatic. The shift from PDAs with pullout keyboards to smartphones with on-screen touch-based keyboards was significant, but the shift that will come with wearable tech will be even greater. Because screen sizes will shrink down even further, users will no longer be able to type as conveniently as they used to. Now users will have to use their voices to respond which will ultimately change how we interact. Messages/posts will become shorter, more informal and contain less typing and grammar errors which can be embarrassing. As a result, you’ll have to change your communicative style to cater to those more conversational inquiries.

Images will become increasingly more desirable because long messages won't be accessible and people will quickly lose their patience. This will not only cause people to be more concise and the to the point in their personal messages, but advertisers might be able to capitalize on this as well. Optimizing your posts to be legible and interactive on a small screen will put you ahead of the competition, and more wearable users will flock to your social profiles as a result.

It will be interesting to see where Smartwatches will reach, what will happen to regular watches? You know the kind that just tell you the time?? I wonder how long it will take people to make the switch and which brand they'll run to. Social media will have to grow and adapt to keep up, and I have no doubt that it won't upset us.