History of Computers - Smart Watches

By Josh Thomas

Smart Watches

Smart Watches have been around since the late 1970s. Many companies have tried their hand at making a watch that does more than a normal watch (to put it simply), but not all of the attempts at a smart watch were as successful as the iWatch or the Sony Smartwatch. Smart watches have advanced through out the years and have now become some of the most coveted pieces of technology our society has to offer.

Overview

The first smart watch was made by Citizen in 1978 and was a wristwatch that included a calculator. With forty buttons around the dial, the watch was able to carry out most calculations. More calculator watches were invented by other companies such as Seiko and Casio. Eventually a new feature was added to smart watches in which they could play video games. In 1980 Casio released a watch called the GM-10 that had a game installed in the watch in which you used two buttons on the right of the clock to control your ship and fire missiles to defend an alien attack. Casio later released another watch in 1987 that included technology to broadcast music. Raise the little antenna in the watch and speak or play music into it and the watch will play the music on nearby radios. By using a calibrated knob on the side, you can decide the preferred frequency for the FM band. Casio produced the first watches with video game and "music" capabilities. As the 21st century neared, companies began to try and incorporate internet and mobile phone capabilities into watches. IBM and Citizen struck first with a Linux-based watch called WatchPad. It had an LCD screen and a bluetooth included. Fossil produced a watch in 2002 that included all the capabilities of a PDA. Companies continued trying to advance their watches as newer technology was introduced to the market. In 2009 Sony introduced the Ericsson MBW-150 that could pair with a phone via bluetooth and vibrate when text messages were received and when the user had an incoming phone call and display the name of the caller or their number. Sony later released another watch in 2012 that allows you to read notifications from messages, twitter, and even read your mail. Samsung also was in the race to produce the best smart watch. Samsung released the S9110 in 2009 and the watch was called the World's thinnest watch phone. The watch included bluetooth, email, and MP3 playback. Samsung later released the Gear S which allowed the user to make calls instead of just see notifications which was a large improvement. Pebble Company is also a strong competitor in the Smart Watch game with its 2012 Pebble Watch that is compatible with iPhone and Android phones and displays notifications from SMS, iMessage, Facebook, and Twitter. The most recent smart watch is the iWatch from Apple. The iWatch not only displays your notifications but also lets you respond to them. You can respond to phone calls and messages without using your phone. The iWatch also includes Siri and maps and most if not all the functions of the iPhone. The smartwatch has come along way since 1978.

Significance

The smartwatch is significant to the history of computers because it enabled users to pack the internet into a smaller and more handheld device. The internet is now literally on your wrist and computers will continue to advance more. Smartwatches make our everyday lives easier by having our phones and the internet on our wrists. User interface is less complicated and more attractive.