Google is all set to conquer the wearable technology with the introduction of its new feature “tap-to-pay” with the Android wear. Certain evidences were clearly pointing towards the arrival of this feature soon enough. One of the prominent evidences was “try holding your watch to the terminal again” text prompt testing. This made things clear that Google was in the last stages of the testing for this feature. To pay through your smart watch, you need a compatible Android wear watch. What is a compatible smartwatch one that has a NFC chip inside it? So, when you visit your retail store, you will need to touch your watch to the NFC retail terminal, and you are ready to pay for the goods you just purchased.

The second feature that you will see with the new Android wear would be Instant Apps. Waiting for the app to download, and then waiting for few more minutes till it installs can be quite a nerving act. Instead, get them instantly to your smart wearable gadget without installing them with this new feature. This new service is still in the testing stage, and will take a while before it is ready to be used.

To use either of these new features, you should have the compatible devices. Samsung Geat S3 watch and Samsung Pay integrated to it will allow you to pay immediately with your smartwatch. This feature works on Android 4.0 and beyond versions of Android OS. Of course, the gadget should be Tizen OS-based smartwatches. This is the second device that is compatible with the new feature.

Wearables: The Future In Practice

Wearable Technology Trends

The magnetic stripe payment method is what marks the similarity between Gear S3 and other smartphones from Samsung. This feature will allow you to pay through your watch. Currently this is operational only in US. iPhone users can use their Apple Watches to commence payments at the retail counters.

Has Wearable Tech Taken Over?

If you look at the period 2016, you would observe a fall in the sales for smartwatches and wearable gadgets. In fact, a lot of companies had to roll back their gadgets. With Google delaying the release of Android Wear 2.0, the sales faltered badly. For the above features to work, it is important that Google release the Android Wear 2.0, which is said to release early next year. It is the arrival of the next version that will take the gadgets to the next scalable level.

When you question the sales of the wearable technology, you would observe that the sales have not been as great as they should be. For one, people have not really embraced this technology owing to concerns over security and data breaches. A lot of people believe this technology will pry into their lives, and release private information that should not be made public.

Even the technology is in its nascent and testing stage, which is why development in this segment is not progressing beyond a certain limit. You will see that most developers and businesses are still working on apps for the smartphones, and not for the smart gadgets.

Wearable technology will need the support of emerging technologies such as IoT and Big Data to actually make a difference to the business world. Insights that can be received using the wearable technology will need some supporting technology that can help mine this data and release only the relevant matters.

How the technology can be incorporated is another thing in consideration altogether? People have started introducing this technology in gaming, fashion, retail and healthcare in order to redefine the experience. But, a lot of businesses are still struggling on how to use it innovatively to get the desired output and ROI goals. Even in gaming, not every other VR or AR game is a success. Pokemon Go did achieve a commercial success, but there are a lot of games that have attained failure. Not all retail businesses are open to the idea of incorporating AR to their shopping experience. Of course, entertainment has thoroughly integrated this new technology to their different offerings.

It will take some time and innovation from Android to make people embrace this new and emerging technology that will actually help them gain a competitive edge. But, for now the few things that are changing should be explored. Connect with a good developer who can help you create the ultimate app using wearable technology.

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