Bluetooth SIG releases wireless accessory predictions

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) oversees the development of the popular standard and has released research based on a survey of over 2000 GB consumers in June 2014 which gives some perspective about the public’s expectation surrounding the rise of wireless accessories in the coming years.

A key finding is that 60% of Brits already own a wireless connected accessory and that 72% expect to own one by 2016. With Android Wear recently hitting the market, and the much-rumored “iWatch” by Apple expected to start production any day, it’s not a long-stretch to see wearables alone accounting for a large proportion of that number.

Other driving factors of this statistic are sure to be Bluetooth-enabled health tracking devices such as; heart-rate monitors, glucose monitors for diabetics, or even heart monitors which can alert medical professionals as soon as something goes wrong with your ticker.

A prediction from the research supports this assumption with the biggest growth found in smart watches, smart eyewear, and fitness monitors. These categories will see the most demand in terms of consumer uptake of all wireless devices over the next year.

Following this, over half (53%) of Brits want to control their home appliances via their smartphone in the future. Connected accessories such as smartwatches may become the perfect platform in order to control these smart home devices (of which 24% believe will see the biggest growth in the next 12 months.) Either way, the “Dick Tracy”-era is nearly upon us.

“It’s clear that consumers are seeing the benefit that wireless accessories of all types can bring them, with over half (58%) stating that connected devices could make the things they do every day quicker and easier,” said Suke Jawanda, Bluetooth SIG CMO.

He continues: “But they also want devices that work seamlessly with their smartphones and tablets, are easy to use and provide them with the data they want. Bluetooth® Smart technology is built into practically every smartphone, tablet and PC on the market which means enabled accessories ‘just work’ with the devices they already own. And by connecting devices and mobile applications it can deliver information that’s truly useful. The technology also offers a simple pairing process and will automatically reconnect – so users looking to buy a wireless accessory know if its Bluetooth Smart enabled they’ll get a simple user experience.” 

Further key statistics from the research include:

–  68% believe that within five years it will become the norm for everyone to own at least one wireless connected device that’s not a smartphone or tablet.

–  73% anticipate the amount of things they do and control wirelessly will increase in the next five years.

–  39% believe wearable tech will see the biggest growth in the next twelve months.

Whilst many of the findings could probably be guessed – it’s interesting to see the public’s opinion of just how important they think connected devices will become over the next few years. Now may be a good time to start getting your apps ready for the wearable revolution…

Source : developer-tech.com