There’s no doubt that smart watches will be the next big thing in the tech world. We’ve seen a couple developed by third-party manufacturers, such as the Pebble Watch, but Apple has been said to be working on one for sometime now and some people even used the last generation iPod Nano as a do-it-yourself smart watch. So, it’s clear that it is something consumers are interested in. And since consumers are interested, it only seems logical that Google is working on one.
According to a new report out of the Financial Times, Google is looking to get into the smart watch market. The report claims that the company’s Android division is currently developing the wearable computing device. Google’s other wearable device, Glass, is being developed in the company’s experimental X Lab, which leads us to believe that Google sees the wrist watch as a more viable short term option. Google wouldn’t comment to the Financial Times on the rumor, but the blog did point to a 2011 patent obtained by the company for “smart watch” with a dual-screened “flip-up display” and “tactile user interface,” but as we pointed out in the mysterious octagonal Motorola device patent, companies these days often file for any patent they have a hope of obtaining, just to have more weapons in its arsenal for the court room.
Samsung is also reportedly readying to enter the smart watch market, though it’s unclear if its device would run Android or not. It will however, according to an unnamed source, perform many of the same actions as a smartphone.
Smart watches have received criticism from some people and acceptance from others. Some people claim that the device is just another gadget you have to remember to charge and keep up with all the time. Some also don’t think that there are no advantages to spending the extra money to wear something on your wrist when you can just reach into your pocket and pull out a much larger phone.
What do you think of smart watches? Will they actually be adopted by the average consumer, or just another fad in the geek community? Let us know down in the comments!