What Capabilities Does a Smartwatch Have?
Have you decided to buy a smartwatch phone wearable but not quite sure what you should be looking for? Smartwatches are increasing in popularity and most major electronic manufacturers are designing and churning out their own variations. These little wearable gadgets are stylish and remarkable at the amount of technology that’s packed in such a tiny space.
Wearing a smartwatch is a bit like wearing a microcomputer around your wrist which can link to various fitness and wellness services through apps installed on the watch. These devices work better when linked to specific devices, commonly smartphones or tablets. Smartwatches work together with the linked device, usually via Bluetooth or wifi, to give you a better-personalized experience because all the settings will be tailored to your usage and daily digital needs.
These trendy gadgets are convenient and, in some cases, eliminate the need to reach out for my phone to perform a basic task like reading a text message.
What Can A Smartwatch Do To Make Things Easier?
On top of carrying out basic tasks like calculating figures, creating to-do lists, translating, they have been modified a great deal and are capable of independently running their own mobile operating systems using an ever-growing selection of apps.
Smartwatches are like ‘beefed-up’ PDA devices with much more advanced features such as playing audio files, reading emails, providing route directions, taking and receiving calls or even making payments when out shopping instead of using your credit card. They are also a great device to stay up-to-date with your social networks. I’m already sold just on the above features but let’s delve a little deeper into some of the other great ways you can use your smartwatch.
Take some snaps whilst on the go…
Most smartwatches come equipped with a camera which is probably one of the most used features on a phone, so naturally having an additional camera on your watch will prove to be valuable if your phone runs out of battery.
As mentioned above, your smartwatch will be able to navigate you around unfamiliar areas if you ever get lost. This function is made possible by the use of GPS navigation just like the sat-nav in your car!
A thermometer is another fancy feature- the ones that we’ve tested did a good job of giving accurate body temperature readings. Most smartwatches sport a touchscreen to make for easier navigation around the operating system. A smartwatch wouldn’t be ‘smart’ if it didn’t come equipped with clever ways of scheduling your life.
It helps to manage tasks.
Apps such as ‘tiny task’ provide simple ways to easily view tasks, mark a task complete or incomplete or delete the task altogether. The watch will then sync the updates directly to your phone. Calendar appointments or birthdays will pop up on the watch’s screen as a gentle reminder (this has been a life-saver on a few occasions. phew!)
In order to perform the above tasks, smartwatches need to constantly push and pull information from other devices and this is made possible by the use of Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth. As the technology evolves we’ll be able to use smartwatches in many other areas of our lives.
Do you want to burn some calories?
One popular area that smartwatches thrive in is FITNESS. Because the watch is on your body all day long, it makes it possible to collect activity data with relative ease. These little devices are a godsend and make it possible to literally track your exercise/activity at any given point. This data can be viewed using various apps that display the information in a user-friendly way using charts (I love a good chart).
Smartwatches will collect activity data, using an accelerometer, that can count steps, distance, rest times and calories burnt throughout the day. Some smartwatches can be synced to a heart rate monitor via Bluetooth, so you can measure your maximum and average heart rate during your workout.
Get with the new trend
As mentioned earlier, most major electronic manufacturers are jumping onto the bandwagon of the smartwatch revolution and nowadays you’ll find that most key players have their own versions.
Google has developed a smartwatch version of its Android operating system named Android Wear. The software is now used on a majority of different manufacturer’s smartwatches and if you are an Android phone user then this would naturally be the best option for you.
The Apple Watch is proving to be very popular and comes with a long list of cutting-edge technology. It’s armed with a heart rate sensor, GPS, accelerometer and even gives you a gentle nudge when you receive an alert.
Technology has moved forward a great deal and the fact that so many features usually associated with a phone or tablet can now be crammed into a watch just goes to show. If you’d like to know the best android watches that we’ve tested you’ll find them here.
Thanks for dropping in and please feel free to leave your comments below. I’d be very interested to know which smartwatch you have your eyes on or have recently purchased.
