HAPPY ARRIVAL DAY GREETINGS, ALL GUYANA! Happy May 5th! As we commemorate the arrival of indentured servants from Bharat (India) and elsewhere who first set foot on our beloved country, Guyana, on this day back in 1838. It feels so good to be 175!

Now, let’s get to business! A Smart Watch is a wearable device marketed as more than a cell phone. At a glance, it gives atomic clock accuracy, and allows you to read your text messages in a device that is always at hand.
The technology behind the Smart Watch is called Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT), which the developers treat as an attempt to personalize everyday devices.

The time, news, stock quotes, text messages, weather, sports and horoscope are some of the applications that can be found on this wrist-wearable device.
One of the world’s best known tech giants, Sony Mobiles, has announced the launch of its new Smart Watch accessory for Android Smartphone. The Smart Watch is a wearable device that extends the power of user’s Android Smartphone by sending information from their Smartphone straight to their wrist.

The Smart Watch has a 1.3-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display that is used by the watch to notify users about updates and events with the use of vibrations and screen alert. Along with this, the smart watch also allows users to read texts and emails as well as receive Facebook and Twitter updates, all while the Smartphone lies in the pocket.

Smart Watch connects to Android Smartphone using Bluetooth, giving users the ability to control key functions of the device without removing their Smartphone from their pocket or bag. With just a tap, touch, and swipe, Smart Watch turns from a watch displaying the time to a remote information centre, or an Android Smartphone.
It seems the early consensus about the Smart Watch is that while it would be a cool, cutting-edge gadget to have and show off to your friends, it won’t replace the Smartphone anytime soon.
And that makes perfect sense. After all, most of us at this point couldn’t envision ever giving up that iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, or better yet, the Blackberry Z10. They’re essential; almost like a part of our body at this point, or, as they say, the new cigarette. Are you addicted to them?
But here’s the thing: Thirty years ago, if you’d told someone that most of us would be walking around in public spaces with phones to our ears, they’d have probably laughed at you.
“Phones are for the home,” they would’ve said. “Phones have cords!” But, as we’ve seen, things change; and they change fast nowadays. What’s normal now may not be normal tomorrow; and the pace of technology today forces us all to rethink and accept new norms at ever-speedier intervals. However, I try my best to stick with my not-so-old stuff, because, if you want to be in the ‘tech’ race, you need to have the “load”…  As in big bucks!
Think about the Tablet for a moment. While I’m not suggesting a Smart Watch will replace your tablet anytime soon, I would suggest that three or four years ago, most of us would have laughed at the idea that a tablet would replace your laptop. That old clunky thing seemed… well…  irreplaceable, didn’t it?
Well, many people are doing just that. Apple – and the iPad – showed us a new way to think about computing; a better way (in some cases, but not all); and it’s not that revolutionary or crazy today to say a tablet could act as a laptop replacement.
And I think that, with time, a well done Smart Watch will make some people – certainly not all – turn in their Smartphone. Of course, it’d need all the features of a Smartphone, which will not be a huge leap of faith, given the ever continued miniaturization of components. It will also need better voice recognition since, after all, our fingers aren’t shrinking anytime soon.
But if you’re still not convinced, think about it this way: Five decades ago, computers filled entire rooms, and phones were stuck to walls. Twenty five years ago computers filled entire desktops, and for the past few decades they’ve been on our lap. Now they’ve teamed up with the phone and taken up residence in our pocket. Be careful here, the wireless waves are not so healthy for us, especially my fellow male folks.
Is it so strange to think that one day they might actually sit on our wrists? I didn’t think so. But it’s happening now and fast too.
Both Motorola and Sony, which make Android-based Smartphone, offer Smart watches of their own. The MOTOACTV Smart watch links with any Android Smartphone that has the MOTOACTV application on board, and can do things such as answer calls, view incoming text messages, listen to music and, of course, record exercise sessions and workouts.
It’s not surprising that Microsoft is working on a Smart watch. Microsoft doesn’t want to be left out of the Smart watch category. It has asked its parts suppliers in Asia to send it touch-based components that could be used to make a Smart watch. I am citing Microsoft’s touch-based watch may have a screen that measures 1.5 inches. You know the Window developers are trying to be a little different from the others.
Apple too is working on such a product. Since then, inside sources from Google and every tech company out there is working on some sort of Smart watch device.
Mobile technology is changing the way we live, work and play. So, my fellow Guyanese, do you think the Smart Watch has what it takes to be the new Smartphone? It’s coming to a store near you, so wear it, touch it and watch it!