Wearables “poised for take off” – Gartner

Gartner said that the smartwatch and wristband market is “poised to take off”, and that by 2016 smartwatches will comprise “about 40 per cent of consumer wristworn devices”.

The company noted that seven of the top 10 smartphone vendors have entered the wearables market to date or are set to ship their first products, while a year ago “only two vendors were in that space”.

Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner, said: “The Sony Smartwatch products and the Samsung Gear were early products that received much attention in the press but less enthusiasm from consumers due to their unclear value proposition and flawed design. In 2014 we are seeing a few more positive developments in terms of design and user experience (UX) and we therefore expect consumers to show more interest in these products in the second half of the year.”

New products show improvement in terms of design as well as offering features such as voice search, turn-by-turn navigation, contextual reminders and voice notes – “basically a Google Now experience on a smaller screen”.

Noting Apple’s recently announced entry into the smartwatch market (pictured), Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner, said: “As with the iPhone, Apple’s high-price strategy for the Watch will limit its market share; yet with its attention to design and the user interface, we believe this product will attract many users”.

A consumer survey conducted by the company found that away from smartwatches, fitness wristbands and “other fitness trackers” combined are already represented in more US households than other sports watches – despite the latter category having been around for many years.

Driven by the trend for “quantified self”, there is still room for growth “over the next few years”.

But with the opportunities come challenges. In tests, different models of smartwatches and fitness wristbands reduced the battery life of the connected smartphone by between two and eight hours.

“Having the smartphone run for only half a day until it needs a new charge is not ideal and this is likely to put off most users who use smartphones without an exchangeable battery,” the company wrote.

And as consumers add more devices to the household, “the number of gadgets that need to be charged is expected to reach a point where it becomes a burden for the consumer”.

Phones 4U shops closing down across UK

Retailer Phones 4U has gone into administration putting 5,596 jobs at risk. The chain, which is owned by private equity firm BC Partners, said its 550 stores would all be closed on Monday. Phones 4U blamed the move on mobile network EE's decision not to renew its contract, which followed a similar move from Vodafone earlier in September. "If mobile network operators decline to supply us, we do not have a business," said Phones 4U boss David Kassler. The company said established mobile contracts taken out through it would not be affected, although phones ordered and not despatched - for example anyone ordering the new iPhone 6 over the weekend - would be. A customer service line will be open from Monday at 09:00. It also said staff should turn up to work as normal, when they would be given further details and would "continue to be paid until further notice".