Tag: uk wearable technology

Wearable technology isn’t winning over the U.K.

| March 24, 2015

People in the country have yet to be convinced that they will be impressed with ownership of wearables.

According to the results of a recent study, people across the United Kingdom have yet to warm to wearable technology to the point that they will believe that their lives will be changed enough by these gadgets that it will be worth actually buying them.

In fact, the research indicated that 1 in 10 consumers feel that wearables will make their daily lives more challenging.

While people in the United Kingdom have been quick to embrace many other forms of technology, as smartphones penetration is tremendous there, but wearable technology has failed to win over that population, as of yet. This is the case, regardless of the fact that some of the most beloved brands, including Apple, have launched or even rolled out their own gadgets. Moreover, people in the U.K. aren’t even convinced by collaborations with some of the most prominent designers.

Only 25 percent of British people feel that their daily lives would be improved by wearable technology.

Wearable Technology - Not impressing UKThe survey was held by British Gas on behalf of Hive and it involved the participation of 2,000 people. It has arrived at the same time that the British Government revealed that it would be making investments worth several million pounds toward automatic vehicles and devices for connected homes. Clearly, the British people don’t hesitate to look to the future of tech, but smartwatches simply don’t appear to be on this list.

The 25 percent of people who felt that their day to day lives would be improved by wearables represented a much lower figure than those who were on board with connected home devices. A much more notable 56 percent felt that connected home devices would change their lives . Moreover, 43 percent feel that artificial intelligence would help to make their daily lives more simple. About 30 percent of people felt that driverless cars and 3D printers would enhance their everyday lives.

With the high expectations for all of these other types of tech, it is interesting that smartwatches and other types of wearable technology have not managed to show their appeal to this same population.

Wearable technology will start to take off in the U.K. by 2017

| February 10, 2015

A recent survey has shown that while Brits aren’t on board yet with wearables, the time is coming.

There are few who would disagree that wearable technology is now on its way, as its popularity is starting to rise and a growing number of people are becoming interested in what these gadgets could have to offer them in the future.

As the products improve their features as well as their appearance, wearables have been able to boost their appeal.

Wearable technology came into the marketplace all in a big wave, but while the first impression of these devices may not have been the best one, they are starting to sway consumers with improvements to their tech and as they grow more stylish. As designers of these gadgets gain a better understanding of what consumers actually want, how to make the devices practical, and what people are willing to actually wear, tech has been improving in a way that is starting to convince people to actually buy.

While consumers aren’t quite ready to make wearable technology mainstream, that time is close.

Wearable Technology to take off in the UKNew research commissioned by Currys PC World has revealed that among Britain’s 18 to 65 year olds, there will be 17 million people using wearables by 2017. That company has revealed that its increases in sales in that category have shot up by 710 percent when compared to the same time last year. Clearly, they are not simply drawing their predictions out of the air.

The growth was greatly credited to the release of Android Wear, and it is expected that when the Apple Watch actually launches within the next couple of months, it will spike even further. That said, keeping on top of the trends and grabbing up the top brand names are not the only drivers behind the willingness of consumers to make a purchase. The fact that these gadgets are increasingly useful and practical is becoming very convincing.

The Currys PC World report was based on a survey of 1068 people. Among them 39 percent said that their top reason for being interested in wearable technology was for health and fitness improvements. Primarily, they wanted to track calories (39 percent), track daily activity levels (36 percent), and monitor heart rate (35 percent). All of these tracking capabilities are available in even some of the most inexpensive wearables that are currently available.