Author: Julie Campbell

Although this heavily encrypted smartphone has been unveiled, what has yet to be seen is if consumers will buy.

Although spying hadn’t really been much of a mobile security or privacy concern in the minds of most consumers for a long time, the recent discovery that the National Security Agency (NSA) has certain surveillance activities that include tracking and watching certain cell phone activities has created a new niche market: the encrypted device.

The true question, however, is how big that market actually is and whether or not people who are interested will make a purchase.

A new device has just been unveiled, called the Blackphone. It was created by Silent Circle, an American encryption firm. It is focused primarily on mobile security, as its mobile developer has labeled that it is “the world’s first smartphone to put privacy and control ahead of everything else.” It is clear that consumers are feeling less secure about the privacy of their smartphones and other devices. Whether or not that heightened paranoia will actually drive them to turn in their old phones and purchase this new one is another matter, altogether.

This mobile security focused smartphone was launched in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress.

The Blackphone was designed to allow the user to send and receive encrypted phone and text communications, as well as secure sharing of files and highly private web browsing. According to the Blackphone chief product officer, Toby Weir- Jones, Silent Circle’s mobile development was geared toward creating the appearance and the feel of a traditional smartphones and the applications that are already familiar to users.

Although this device is certain to draw some attention, particularly from consumers who feel strongly that the NSA has no place in their private business and who are willing to change their lives and pay money to ensure that they can protect their own privacy. However, whether or not there is enough of a mass market for an anti NSA surveillance device has yet to be seen. Moreover, the creators of the device have made no claims in terms of the device being entirely hackproof.

Although the Blackphone does have greater encryption for improved mobile security, without greater guarantees and a closer reflection of the devices that consumers already have, this may remain the favorite of only a small niche.

Has the industry made such a tremendous amount of noise that consumers lost interest before it caught on?

In the mobile tech industry, marketing needs to be conducted extremely carefully in order to make sure that consumers will gain interest and retain it enough to make a purchase and tell all of their friends – wearable technology is no exception to this rule.

When it comes to these mobile devices, brands and advertisers have stopped at no expense to spread the word.

However, as of yet, these wearable technology devices – which tend to be rather on the pricy side – still have yet to catch on with the majority of consumers. While it has generated some interest as individuals read up on the latest developments in the market, the number who do actually make a purchase of one of these gadgets is not as big as it was predicted to be. While some analysts believe that it is still too early in the evolution of the devices to tell for certain what the future will bring, others wonder if the hype was so great in this area that it died off before getting started.

This has left wearable technology makers wondering if they are looking to the future or not.

From smartwatches to augmented reality glasses, there is no shortage of different options available for the consumer to choose. However, as this flood of options has been tremendously hyped and the choices have raced their way forward even before many consumers could even tell what they are, many wonder if the flame on that torch was burnt out before most people could even become aware of the existence of most of the products.

According to the trends that have been seen over the last year, and that were renewed a few weeks ago in Barcelona at the 2014 Mobile World Congress (MWC), it looks as though this year is going to be an exceptionally critical one in the arena of wearable technology. Though Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatches have seen disappointing sales, so far, the marketing has been pushing forward to boost enthusiasm. Now, all the analysts can do is watch to see whether or not 2014 truly proves to be the year of the wearable tech.