The trend for smartwatches continues to gather pace with the announcement of several new models at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress this weekend and one UK mobile phone operator even looking to increase mobile data network capacity based on demand from users of new devices.
As well as the headline announcement of Samsung’s second generation Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo products reported by WatchPro here, new smartwatches were announced from Indonesian tablet specialist SpeedUp, China’s Huawei Technologies and Finnish company Creoir’s ‘smart wearable jewellery’ Ibis product.
Google, HTC and Apple are also rumoured to be releasing smartwatch products later this year.
EE Chief Executive Officer Olaf Swantee, told Bloomberg TV that commuters are leading the demand for fast data transfer through newly connected devices that include cars, watches and glasses. With the carrier looking to boost network capacity to match.
The wearable products market was on track to be worth $8billion last year with 900,000 smartwatches shipped in 2013, accounting for 60 percent of that market according to Futuresource Consulting.
