Its Wristy Business

We’re not one to shy away from the wearable battle.  We’re back in the hunt to find the best wearable and Microsoft might be seeking their moment to strike.

After surrendering the smartphone race with just 5% market share in both the US and Western Europe, Microsoft could look to wearable’s as their future foothold in consumer tech.

Microsoft have produced an under par performance when it comes to their other markets, but will be likely to try and find a save from grace with a high-tech wearable device. With more people moving away from desktop PCs to smartphones and tablets, it could be a bold move.

There is no clear winner in the smart watch race and it is continuing to be more difficult to distinguish a front-runner. Samsung are standing tall with the Galaxy Gear, Nike are happy with the Gear Fit and Apple seem smug with their iWatch concepts, so Microsoft will definitely be interested in joining the battle.

In fact, Microsoft has already begun filing a patent that will allow a wearable device to display information and can be taken out of its strap and placed into a docking station. Microsoft’s tiling interface could fit perfectly on your wrist and rumours emerged that they will be looking to include a number of features like a clock app, maps and a notification centre.

After the recent $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia, this could prove to be hugely influential in the wearable they create. Nokia have already toyed with the idea of creating a wearable so with this exploration combined with Microsoft’s knowledge, we could expect a well-designed smart watch that comes in a number of vibrant colours by the end of 2015.

Although, it won’t be entirely plain sailing to the finish line as Motorola are looking to steal the show with their Moto 360, as are LG with their G watch and likewise Google with their own take on the wearables.

All we know is, being able to look at your wrist and telling the time could become a lot more technical. Hoorah!

What To Expect From Google IO 2014

Google has already had a very busy 2014 but the search engine giant has had an equally productive last 12 months, snapping up several companies.

Google has also unveiled a whole host of products over the last 12 months and has dropped subtle hints at tons more. So, it’s only fair that we look at some of the rumours for the Google IO Keynote that is scheduled to kick off on June 25.

With plenty of discussion revolving around intimidating-looking robots, smart watches and impressive home technology, it could be a very exciting occasion, although if you wanted to go to see the technology first-hand you have missed out on the registration date.  Fear not though, you can watch the Google IO through a live stream on both the 25th and 26th June.

So, what can we get our hopes up for?

It could be time for a Google watch. We’re unsure of whether we will see an official Google watch but we could get a sniff at smartwatches powered by Google’s Android Wear platform – close enough. These watches could come in the form of the LG G Watch and the Motorola Moto 360.

For people attending the event, they could get a glimpse at the latest Google Glass edition after plenty of beta versions sampled at a wild £892, that could boast some more apps and a new demo of the Android KitKat software. For us guys that aren’t fortunate enough to go down for the day, we may just have to read about how good it is.

We spoke about Apple CarPlay a few weeks ago and given that Google are still yet to unveil their infotainment system yet, the Keynote seems like the perfect opportunity to do so. With Google Maps continually updated and improving, this could be an impressive piece of software that could make driving an even better experience.

We could also get a look at the Project Era ‘LEGO’ type phone, a modular phone that consists of upgradable parts in the hope of helping to save its users money and reduce cell phone waste.  The most exciting about this is that it could to pave the way for customisable tablets, smartwatches and even laptops in the future, which could be incredible.