With rumors flying about the next wearable technology from the tech giant, great care will be needed.
As wearable technology defines itself as the hottest new tech trend, and smartwatch options explode at the top of that category, Google may want to be careful with the decisions that it makes in its upcoming releases to ensure that it doesn’t end up sabotaging its previous efforts, such as Google Glass.
Rumors are flying about the giant’s entry into this new element of the wearable devices space.
It has already been suggested that Google, in partnership with LG, will be making a smartwatch available to consumers as early as the beginning of the summer of 2014. This will be placing it in direct competition with some players that have already been establishing themselves in the market, such as Pebble and Galaxy Gear (as well as the recently unveiled Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo from Samsung), among others, in addition to the iWatch, which is expected to appear before the end of this year.
But if the company rushes to bring its smartwatch to market, any type of blunder could impact the rest of its wearables.
If Google proves that its wearable technology isn’t up to snuff, then it could work to decrease the appeal of some of the devices that it is even more interested in selling, such as Google Glass. Both of those devices are way up on the hype scale at the moment. Google is now facing a great deal of strain as it watches each day pass while its competition builds its strength in the market for smartwatches, even before it has anything available to offer.
Moreover, Google also knows that Apple will come out with an iWatch eventually, and that the millions of that brand’s loyal customers will all be looking to see what it has to offer. There is tremendous pressure to become a serious player sooner, rather than later due to the shape of this environment.
The question now is whether or not this pressure to put something out quickly will cause the brand to offer a device that is less than exciting. Issues in a Google smartwatch such as an ugly look, a short battery life, or limited features could cause considerable harm not only to its own sales, but to those of the entire range of wearable technology from the company, including Google Glass.
