smart watch

A smart watch is a mobile device designed to be worn on the wrist. Designed to be similar in appearance to traditional watches, and often defaulting to mimicking the functions of a traditional watches, the most common use of smart watches is to receive notifications from a smart phone without having to remove this device from a pocket.

The two most prevalent types of smart watches are the Pebble and Android Wear. Unlike Pebble, which is the product line of a single company, Android Wear is a watch operating system that runs on hardware provided by several companies. Apple has announced its intention to release a smart watch, which is expected to increase adoption of the product category.

Background
While watches that could interface to a computer have existed since the 80s as a narrow category, the current selection of smart watch offerings began in 2013.

Criticisms

 * Size
 * Battery Life
 * Utility as a companion to a smart phone