Future of Smartwatch Technology

The assignment explores the concept of smartwatches as a unique blend of fashion and technology. It highlights the positive impact of smartwatches on global fitness issues, enabling people to track their health and reach fitness goals. However, it also emphasizes the need for smartwatches to be made affordable to gain competitive advantage in the market.

Running head: TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
Technology Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to discuss in detail about the smartwatch technology. In this report,
several questions related to the mentioned technology who contributed to creating the
technology, when and where the technology was first developed and when it became popular in
the market domain has been answered. Apart from that, what circumstances had motivated the
inventors to invent the mentioned the technology and what impact did the technology impose on
the society will be discussed. Finally, the expected future of the technology will be assessed in
this report.

2TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
1. Who were the key contributors accredited for creating the technology? Briefly describe
their background and how they acquired the capacity and capability to create the technology..3
2. When and where the technology was first developed and when did it become mainstream
in the public domain, locally and globally?.................................................................................5
3. Precursor circumstances that acted as the motivation for the technology............................6
4. How has that technology changed society over time and today?.........................................7
5. What do you expect will be the future timeline of the technology?.....................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference List..................................................................................................................................9

3TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
Introduction
The term technology can be defined as the collection of skills, techniques, processes and
methods used for producing services, goods and for scientific investigation. Technology does not
always refer to grand inventions but the simplest form of technology is the development of basic
tools. While the invention of fire during the prehistoric age enhances the availability of food, the
invention of wheels opened a new direction for mankind by making travelling a lot more easier.
With the development of time, technological innovations like the printing press, telephone an
internet have made communication free from physical barriers and global scale. This report
contains detailed discussion about the innovation of smart watch. A smartwatch can be defined
as a wearable computer in the form of a wrist watch. The early models of smartwatch were able
to perform basic activities like digital time telling, game playing, calculations and translations.
However, with the enhancement of technology, smartwatches manufactured nowadays are
equivalent to a smart phone and have mobile operating system, Bluetooth connectivity and are
able to download mobile apps.
Discussion
1. Who were the key contributors accredited for creating the technology? Briefly
describe their background and how they acquired the capacity and capability to
create the technology.
The first smartwatch was manufactured by Hamilton Watch Company in 1972 and was
named Pulsar. It was the first all-electric digital watch was wrapped in 18 carat gold. In 1982,
Seiko Company developed the first TV watch which had a little grainy TV display under the

4TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
digital time display. In the year 1995, Seiko Company manufactured a message watch which had
the capability to display caller ID along with displaying updates on a good range of subjects like
stock prices, sports scores and weather forecasts. Steve Mann, popularly known as the father of
computing, invented the first Linux-powered watch in 1998. The prototype of the mentioned
watch was launched by IBM two years later (Jaye, 2015). It was a mention worthy invention in
the world of smartwatch since it had the capability of communicating wirelessly with Personal
Computers, mobile phones and various wireless devices. In 2002, US watch company teamed up
with Intel to manufacture Fossil Palm pilot, a watch with 2MB internal memory and applications
like memo pad, address book, calculator and to-do lists. With the advancement in technology,
several companies like Microsoft, Garmin, Nike, Sony, Pebble, Motorola and Samsung has
manufactured various kinds of smartwatches with emerging features. One of the most popular
smartwatch brands in the recent years is Apple. In 2015, Apple launched its first iWatch
(Schroeder, 2016).
Unlike Hamilton Watch Company, which is a watch design and manufacturing company
of America, Seiko is Japanese holding Company which has subsidiaries that manufacture and
sell watches. Other above mentioned companies like Garmin, Nike, Sony, Pebble, Motorola and
Samsung chiefly manufactures electronic gadgets, smartwatch being one of them (Al-Nasser,
2014). The Hamilton watch Company invented the first digital watch in order to offer the
consumers a highly unique product. Companies like Seiko got inspired by the new innovative
watches and gradually smart watch gained popularity. With advancement in technology,
companies like Apple, Samsung and Sony have incorporated a majority of the facilities of a
Smartphone in their smart watches.

5TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
2. When and where the technology was first developed and when did it become
mainstream in the public domain, locally and globally?
The first smartwatch was developed in America by Hamilton Watch Company in 1972.
In 1998, Steve Mann invented the first computing smartwatch in Canada with the help of Linux
operating system. The first smartwatch, Pulsar was created by Hamilton Company in order to
gain enhance their market value with a unique new innovation. The first Pulsar was sold at 2100
dollars at that time. Thus it can be clearly understood that the price range of Pulsar watches was
too high to be purchased by ordinary public domain. When Seiko Corporation acquired the
Pulsar brand, they decreased the price range to 495 dollars. In spite of this decrement, smart
watches were still a luxurious item. In spite of being a unique innovation, smart watches gained
popularity in the past as a symbol of fashion and status. The smartwatch started to gain popularly
in the public domain with the emergence of personal computers and mobile phone in the late 90s.
When Steve Mann invented the first Linux smart watch which enables individuals to connect
with PCs and cell phones, the mentioned smartwatch gained popularity among business
personnel. However, smartwatches were not considered as a necessity by the consumers and
moreover, due to its high cost, the middle-class consumers were not considering smartwatch as a
must-have (Gossweiler III & Miller, 2013). With the enhancement in technology, the features of
smartwatch increased. With the emergence of smartphones in the global market, various
companies like Samsung and Apple, incorporated smartwatches a crucial accessory to be bought
with smartphones. Besides that, in order to gain competitive advantages and attract ordinary
consumer’s attention, the manufacturers of smartwatches focused chiefly on designing and
communication. However, due to the presence of smartphones as an effective communication

6TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
device, in the global market, smartwatch was unable to gain market value as an effective
communication device in the global market.
Apple incorporated the concept of fitness in smartwatch and that has brought a
revolutionary change in the market value of smartwatch, especially among consumers of
developed countries like America, Europe and Australia (Balint & Alexandru, 2017).
Considering the fact that fitness is a major issue in the developed countries, Apple smartwatches
provides various facilities to track and monitor health issues with the help of its smartwatch.
According to survey, 77 percent of American consumers buy smartwatches for their step
counting features, 38 percent of the consumers buy it for heart rate monitoring and more than 36
percent of consumers buy smartwatches because of their sleep tracking features. Moreover,
added benefits of swim proof design and GPS along with improved brighter display, CPU and
GPU have enhanced the market value of modern smartwatches. Thus it can be said that, since the
time when computers and cell phones gained popularity in the global market, smart watches
become mainstream in the public domain.
3. Precursor circumstances that acted as the motivation for the technology
When it comes to smartwatch, one of the chief reasons behind the invention of the first
digital watch by the Hamilton watch company was to gain competitive advantage in the global
market. However, the urge to invent a unique product which will be able to provide a lot of
advantages apart from showing time was also there. Since the laptop computer was already
invented at that point of time, investors are looking forward to build a much portable form of
computer. That’s why Steve Mann created Linux computer watch. Considering the fact that the
price range of smart watches was too high to be purchased by middle class consumers at that
time, the target consumers of smartwatch were hobbyists, elite and higher middle class, people.

7TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
While the chief inspiration of early days smartwatches was computer, smartwatches invented in
modern era target fitness (Desrochers, 2013). Considering the fact that health and obesity related
issues are increasing in developed countries like USA, EU and Australia, smartwatch
manufacturers like Apple, Samsung, Motorola and others have incorporated various fitness
measuring applications to maximize fitness among global consumers.
4. How has that technology changed society over time and today?
Smartwatches have imposed a highly positive impact on the society not only due to its
health related features but also for the several technological benefits it offers to its consumers. In
2012, the Pebble smartwatch gained huge popularity due to on-wrist GPS display, remote
control, run timer and software development kit (Vijayalakshmi et al., 2018). Consumers are able
to order food items or download various applications with the help of the mentioned smartwatch.
However, all these facilities are available on a cell phone as well. Considering the fact that
majority of the functions of smartwatches are available when coupled with smart phones, it can
be understood that global consumers are not highly depend on smartwatches till now. In spite of
offering a huge number of the technological facilities, the chief use of smartwatch is still
restricted to fitness. Majority of individuals buy smartwatch to keep their fitness on track.
Another usage of smartwatches is that smartwatches are used as a style statement by a good
number of consumers. Since the price range of smartwatches has gone down, in recent years,
even middle class consumers are able to afford smartwatches (Zhang & Harrison, 2015).
However, smartwatches need to be more affordable in order to enhance consumer loyalty.
5. What do you expect will be the future timeline of the technology?
One of the disadvantages of smartwatches is that this technology is highly dependent on
smartphones. Smartwatches without smartphones can provide a very limited amount of facilities

8TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
and hence are not able to gain popularity in the global market (Riddiford, Pond & O'brien, 2015).
However, tech companies like Apple are taking initiatives to manufacture smartphone
independent smartwatches. Google has taken initiatives to offer the next level smartwatch to the
consumers. The company has teamed up with LG and the premium price of the watch is 349
dollars. Some of the unique benefit o the mentioned smartwatch is a stainless steel body, 1.2in P-
OLED display with Gorilla Glass, new high dust and water protection technology along with
various fitness trackers. Apple, on the other hand, is about to launch LTE chip in the next
generation Apple watch 3.
In spite of all this initiative, it can be said that the future of smartwatch is not bright.
Although smartwatch is a unique combination of fashion and technology, still now, this
technology is highly dependent on smart phones (Hansen et al., 2015). The leather strap and
metal bezel, which is a fashion statement nowadays may get absolute a few days later.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that smartwatch is a mention worthy
invention in the world of technology. Since the time it had been manufactured, it is considered to
be a unique blend of fashion and technology. Not only this, smartwatches have imposed a highly
positive impact on global fitness issues. This technology has enabled people to keep the track of
their health issues and thereby reach their fitness goal. However, in order to gain competitive
advantage, smartwatch should be made affordable so that a huge range of consumers can nail this
incredible technology.

9TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
Reference List
Al-Nasser, K. (2014). U.S. Patent No. 8,725,842. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, 56-59
Balint, B., & Alexandru, M. (2017). SMART WATCH CONTROLLED BY MOBILE PHONE
VIA BLUETOOTH. Review of the Air Force Academy, (1), 45.
Desrochers, J. (2013). Smartwatches: How They Could Impact the Largest Swiss Watch
Company, Swatch Group. How They Could Impact the Largest Swiss Watch Company,
Swatch Group, 15.
Gossweiler III, R. C., & Miller, J. B. (2013). U.S. Patent No. 8,467,270. Washington, DC: U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office, 34
Jaye, R. (2015). Development of the Smartwatch (a Modern Wrist-Worn Timepiece) from 1972
through 2015, 12-18
Riddiford, M., Pond, A. N., & O'brien, L. J. (2015). U.S. Patent Application No. 29/470,164.
Schroeder, J. L. (2016). Technology, Gender and Fashion. Cardozo Arts & Ent. LJ, 34, 753.
Vijayalakshmi, K., Uma, S., Bhuvanya, R., & Suresh, A. (2018). A demand for wearable devices
in health care. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(1.7), 1-4.
Zhang, Y., & Harrison, C. (2015). Tomo: Wearable, low-cost electrical impedance tomography
for hand gesture recognition. In Proceedings of the 28th Annual ACM Symposium on
User Interface Software & Technology, 167-173.

10TECHNOLOGY MANAGMENT
Hansen, J. P., Biermann, F., Madsen, J. A., Jonassen, M., Lund, H., Agustin, J. S., & Sztuk, S.
(2015). A gaze interactive textual smartwatch interface. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 2015
ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Proceedings
of the 2015 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (pp. 839-847).