Fitness Trackers, such as the Fitbit or jaw, are the most popular for those health conscious accessories, but its days may be numbered.
Many next-generation smartphones are shipping with the ability to follow steps, calories, heart rate and more, which industry experts say could make the followers of fitness obsolete.
New phones from Samsung, as the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 come with S Health, an application Fitness- and health monitoring that has all the capabilities of a crawler based on the wrist.
LG has a similar application, LG Health, on your phone G3, and smartphone maker HTC has partnered with Fitbit in its latest flagship phone, the M8, which provides users with fitness-tracking functions like.
The tracker fitness business is booming and is now a $ 330 million industry. With the features of these devices become accessible to everyone with a smartphone, that number will continue to grow, says Pankaj Kedia, senior director of product management for Qualcomm, manufacturer of processors, sensors and other cellular components. "Fifteen percent of American consumers currently use a portable device like a watchband or smart adequacy" he says. "As mobile devices continue to add new features and services, [the industry] will continue to attract consumers."
But as more and more smart phones have these characteristics, experts predict that wearable could go the way of the dodo, since most consumers prefer to eliminate redundancies and do all their business in one device. Especially a device they already own.
Phones now trace the steps and calories with the same precision of followers watches, making them attractive to people who are simply trying to quantify how much they move during the day - the vast majority of users, says Ritu Agarwal, who heads the information systems from the University of Maryland. But for athletes and serious runners, there is no replacement for followers of traditional bracelet - yet.
"Some professional riders want to measure your heart rate while running" it, which can only be achieved with the use of accessories heart rate belt that often come with these followers says; sensors for smartphones, meanwhile, need quiet to get an accurate reading. Still, says Agarwal, "these are the temporary restrictions Smartphone manufacturers are addressing proactively."
The largest manufacturers of smartphones problem must be resolved before dethroning wearable is the battery life, Kedia said. A Fitbit can go for a week without pay. A UP jaw can last up to 14 days. However, even the smartest smartphones need to be charged every two days. "The capabilities fitness tracking smartphones require fast and reliable connectivity to synchronize and enable functions such as navigation to monitor execution and provide real-time updates on their progress to social networks," he says. "It's a challenge to do that, keeping your battery alive."
As the battery life improves, Agarwal anticipates that these phone features will become more popular and drip models cheaper phones. However, instead of stripping wearable their physical status tracker choice of title, Agarwal expects smart phones and wearable learn to work together to produce the next best products. "Right now the common opinion is that they are separate devices," she says, "but there is no reason to make them that way."
Kedia agrees, adding that they carry an important attribute that smartphones just can not compete with - their small size. "People will use a combination of smart phones and portable devices for optimum experience," he says. "Wearable Fitness Trackers are often an extension of the smartphone, but allow you to enjoy step tracking and other important functions without having to hold the phone out every time."
While it may be cumbersome having to hold the phone endlessly with a device perched on his wrist lets you view the statistics you want just a touch. "The wearable devices offer instant and continuous, hands-free access to the most relevant personalized information" Kedia said, "that empowers us with more efficient and effective management of our daily life in a way forms [that] we can not mimic a smartphone because portability ".
But perhaps the greatest reward this struggle between mobile and wearable deliver is new and improved technologies, says Agarwal. Devices Watch, for example, are equipped with additional sensors that monitor heart rate and other statistics that mobile no, says while some of the newer devices are now combining the best of both worlds. "Portable Trackers today usually need a phone to connect to the cloud, or a safety device on a PC," she says. "But the new products are released by Samsung, Microsoft and Apple are blurring the distinction between a tracking device and a smartphone. Now we just have to see who the winners in this competitive market will be".