While smartwatches may be growing in popularity, their ugliness is holding back consumer interest.

The latest tech trends are clearly headed toward wearable technology, and recent developments in smart jewelry is starting to prove that there is a way to wear these mobile devices in an attractive and fashion friendly way that has not yet been achieved by smartwatches and augmented reality glasses.

Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Gear may have cool features, but wearers look like made for TV sci-fi movies.

The fact that the devices are ugly is making them a harder sell, despite the fact that they have the potential to provide consumers with a range of very interesting features. This trend in wearable technology is changing, though, as a growing number of different smart jewelry options start to become available from various different companies – primarily startups. The key is that they maintain functionality and practicality but they don’t actually look like computers.

Some of the top forms of smart jewelry look like a regular necklace or ring, despite the added features.

Among the forms of wearable technology that have been making headlines over the last while, without calling Star Trek or The Jetsons to mind include the following:

• Cellini Bluetooth Pendant – this device from CSR looks like a sleek and attractive pendant that is worn on a necklace. An app allows the user to change the color or brightness of an LED contained within the pendant in order to match the wearer’s mood or clothing. This is available for Android, or for iOS 7 users. In the latter case, the pendant can be told to alert the iPhone user of incoming calls, texts, or emails through a change in color, vibration, or a flashing light.
• Netatmo June Brooch/Bracelet – this jewelry, comes in the form of gold, gunmetal, or platinum in which is set a stone that resembles a large diamond. This is in the form of a broach or is set onto a leather wrist strap. It functions with an app to alert the user as to how much sun exposure he or she has had, as well as the UV index and local forecasts.
• Smarty Ring – this device is, of course, in the form of a ring and features an LED display that alerts the user to incoming calls, social media updates, and messages.
• NFC Ring – also a ring, this smart jewelry has built in NFC technology built into it. The idea behind this piece is to program this mobile device to hold data or perform various functions, such as unlocking a near field communications enabled smartphone.

New partnership aims to accelerate the development of mobile commerce platform

MCX, a growing mobile commerce firm, has announced that it has partnered with Paydiant, a provider of mobile payments solutions. MCX has been working to develop and launch its own mobile payments platform since 2012. This platform was expected to launch in late 2013, but MCX opted to push back the launch for several reasons. In partnering with Paydiant, MCX believes that its platform can be made better and more capable of handling the needs of consumers and businesses.

MCX to make use of Paydiant technology and services

The MCX platform is to make use of Paydiant’s cloud-based solution in order to make its mobile commerce features more robust. Using a cloud-based platform is also expected to help provide a higher degree of security to the platform, alleviating some of the concerns that consumers have in terms of mobile commerce. The mobile commerce scene has become quite attractive to hackers because many payments platforms lack the security features needed to keep financial information safe from exploitation. Lackluster security has been a major detractor for those that have been somewhat interested in mobile commerce.

Bar codes may help make platform more inclusive

The platform that MCX is developing is expected to make use of bar codes as a way to authenticate mobile payments. QR codes have been growing more common in the mobile commerce field for this purpose. The codes can be easily produced and scanned, making mobile payments somewhat more convenient. Many mobile commerce platforms make extensive use of NFC technology. There is currently a lack of NFC-enabled mobile devices available to consumers, which limits the inclusivity of many platforms.

Merchants are becoming more invested in mobile commerce

Merchants will also be able to make use of the platform from MCX. The retail sector has been growing more conscious of mobile consumers in recent years as many people begin to use their mobile devices to shop in stores. By embracing mobile commerce, these merchants may be able to remain relevant with consumers that are beginning to grow more dependent on their smartphones and tablets.