As the years go by, we accumulate more and more “smart” accessories. Smartphones, smartcars, smartscales, smartforks even. After the advent of the smartphone, it seems like technology developers just want to throw tiny computers into everything we use. The next target for developers like Apple and Google, are the smartwatch and the smartglasses.

  Apple is creating a watch, which will undoubtedly be called the iWatch that will have the same features of the iPhone and iPad. Joining in the smartwatch game is Samsung and Google, both of which will most likely be using Android as their operating system instead of iOS. If expectations are reached, then the smartwatches will essentially be a tiny wrist-based computer. Uses will obviously be limited due to size, checking weather, sports scores, and reading texts may be all that is able to be done on such a small screen. Dick Tracy may spring to mind when thinking of such a gadget with his watch communicator. A feature like that would certainly be useful for someone who wants their hand free of a phone, but also doesn’t need that hand to do anything important during the call.

  For anyone who doesn’t want to wait on the big name companies, a Kickstarted project from Pebble Technology has created a watch that connects to iPhone and Android devices. The Pebble comes with customizable faces and can receive texts and control music from your phone.

  The smartglasses from Google, called “Glass”, will go on sale later this year. For now, they are still being tested by “explorers” who can be chosen by writing to Google about how they will use the product to enhance their adventurous lives of ballooning and carving tigers out of ice. If you are chosen, you can then pay $1,500 and go to New York, LA, or San Francisco to pick them up.

  The concept is great, but execution rarely meets expectation. A voice activated pair of glasses can be greatly useful. In their videos, people make frequent use of a GPS to find their way, or a translator in foreign countries. But really, who isn’t going to use them to watch videos at a meeting or enhance stalking capabilities with the planned facial recognition application? And do we really need another way to distract us while driving? Hopefully the interface is small or easy to see through enough for people to keep their eyes focused on the road.

  I expect that by 2015 we will have a smart equivalent for everything we wear now. And when Apple releases the iWatch2, we can call our friends on our smartphones, check the time on our smartwatches put on our smartclothes, get in our smartcars, and let it drive us to the closest store while we watch Youtube on our smartglasses.