请先思考：为什么要把设备穿戴在身上？

我担心我们电子产业中的许多人可能完全搞错了所谓的“可穿戴式(wearable)”趋势。在这个可穿戴设备崛起的时代，最重要的议题不应该是讨论可穿戴设备的外观该如何，而是该去理解“为何需要可穿戴设备？”除了能向人炫耀你戴了很酷的智能手表，该思考的是设备的可穿戴性能为用户带来什么好处。 不久前包括Samsung与LG都发表了第一批采用Android Wear平台的智能手表；该平台是Google专为智能手表与其他可穿戴设备打造的操作系统。并非试图将一整支智能手机塞进腕表中，采用 Android Wear的新设备设计是为了传达需要的信息、以方便快速响应；这与前一代“把智能手机绑在手腕上”的设备相较，是一种进步。

LG采用Android Wear操作系统的智能手表G Watch
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实际上，我们之中有多少人会想要一只每次一有新短信、Facebook新消息或新电子邮件就哔哔叫的手表？当然，我知道Android Wear智能手表的功能不只是通知，但不知道你是不是跟我一样，觉得Android Wear的通知功能很像倒退回了BP机时代？我想很多人不会希望再一次配戴那像是电子锁链的东西。 让我们先把Android Wear放一边，来谈谈GoPro摄影机。以Hero做为产品名称的GoPro摄影机零售价在199.99美元至399.99美元之间，风靡运动爱好者， 特别是冲浪、潜水、滑雪板与自行车等体育项目。这种产品感觉有点像是可穿戴设备的原型，是未来所有可穿戴设备的一个先驱典范。 GoPro 这家公司最近在美国股票上市(GoPro市值目前为29.6亿美元)，对一家新创公司来说是非常了不起的成就。一篇路透社报导引述了Dougherty & Co分析师Charlie Anderson的说法：“自从iPod与iPad问世以来，大概没有一个消费性电子品牌像GoPro这样，能在其产品领域扮演主导性的角色。” 我不太确定自己是否会跟进对GoPro的如此赞誉，但这家运动摄影机供货商确实成功地在一个明确的市场领域打出自己的品牌，而该领域是其他大型消费性电子业者与传统摄影机制造商还不敢尝试的。我认为GoPro最令人欣赏的，就是有想到“为何需要可穿戴设备？”这个问题，它的摄影机在这方面表现优异。

GoPro的滑雪头盔用摄影机Hero 3+
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众所周知，GoPro的创办人Nick Woodman是因为在2002年前往澳洲旅行时，想拍摄自己在冲浪时的运动照片，所以有了创办公司的灵感；在那个时候，市面上没有一款摄影机能让业余摄影师能在运动时拿来拍摄，而且是能“穿戴”在身上的。 将 一台小型数字相机放在头盔上或是装设在自行车等所谓的极限运动设备上，并不是Woodman一个人的愿望，很多运动爱好者也渴望能在自己运动时捕捉到非常 高质量的画面，以记录自己的“战绩”。GoPro的摄影机并不是为了“可穿戴”所开发出来的装置，而是为了达成在运动状态下更贴近用户的任务，“可穿戴”才变成不可缺少的元素。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：新一代可穿戴设备制造商都缺少动机与热情

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{pagination} 我认为新一代的Android Wear设备制造商，都缺少了Woodman的动机与热情，也错失了可穿戴设备的真正重点；那些厂商为了可穿戴设备市场而开发可穿戴设备，但并没有想好将智能设备穿戴在身上，究竟是必须或是只能说“还不错”。 GoPro的成功也预示了谁可能主导未来的可穿戴设备市场。值得注意的是，Sony、Panasonic与Canon等消费性电子市场老品牌，其实都严重误解了运动摄影机市场；它们的技术都是顶尖的，但却没能透过理解使用者的情感所向来开发运动摄影机。 如Envisioneering Group分析师Richard Doherty 所言，那些老品牌的失败并非是缺乏尝试的勇气：“Sony在高价位产品尝试过许多GoPro产品有的功能，而Samsung也开发过类似的原型，但根据我们所知，那些业者并没有成功销售过运动摄影机。” 那么GoPro到底是怎么成功的？Doherty认为，该公司正巧搭上了人们越来越爱“自拍”的风潮；而邀请某某运动名人用GoPro摄影机拍摄影片的市场营销活动，以及积极在YouTube与公司官网发布视频的策略也发挥了作用。 IHS Technology 的分析师Francis Sideco 则认为，软件也是让GoPro凸显自己的一大成功因素：“其设备能提供高质量视频，并可轻易透过免费应用程序来编辑并分享视讯，产品价格也符合消费者的预期；”他指出，虽然其他竞争对手同业如Contour、Drift也做了类似的尝试，但GoPro的营销活动成功地让该公司领先群雄。 不过Sideco也表示，GoPro需要维持在技术上具备竞争力的产品，同时透过定期客户活动与视频比赛等来培养客户群；该公司确实也开始做到了这些：“他们的公开发行也透露了如此的战略方向。” 如果GoPro的成功带来任何启示，那些将在可穿戴式业务领域取得成功的厂商，会是能理解使用者并知道他们为何要持续配戴可穿戴设备的；此外还有能开发让使用者充分发挥可穿戴设备功能之软件的业者。 就像Envisioneering Group的Doherty的结论，GoPro正享受着：“让他们成功建立品牌的社交网络情感依恋，而透过倾听设备用户的声音，他们将能保持新鲜感。”我也认为，这是众多有意开发可穿戴设备市场的供货商们需要学习的。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Wearable: Ask First 'Why Wear It?'，by Junko Yoshida

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• 苹果iWatch量产推迟至11月，或配蓝宝石屏幕cYMesmc

{pagination} Wearable: Ask First 'Why Wear It?' Junko Yoshida, Chief International Correspondent MADISON, Wis. — I'm afraid many of us in the electronics industry might be getting this whole "wearable" trend all wrong. In the era of emerging wearable devices, the most important part of the debate shouldn't be "how" a wearable device looks (its form factor, if you will). More important is to understand "what for." Why attach a gadget to yourself? Aside from the brief thrill of bragging about your cool new smart watch, how does wearability enhance the gadget, for the person wearing it? I am looking at the first Android Wear smartwatches unveiled, respectively, by Samsung and LG on Wednesday. Android Wear is a version of Google's mobile operating system tailored for smart watches and other wearables. LG's G Watch powered by Android Wear OS Instead of trying to cram an entire smartphone into a wristwatch, the new gear based on the Android Wear OS is designed for to convey information as they need it, and to facilitate a quick response. This is an improvement on the previous generation of smartphone-strapped-on-a-wrist devices. But really, how many of us actually want to get pinged by a watch every time we receive a text message, a mention in Twitter, an update in Facebook, or a new email? I know that an Android Wear-based smartwatch is meant to do so much more than paging. But am I the only thinking that the notification part of Android Wear feels distinctly like a throwback to the beeper era? Anyone who remembers wearing that electronic leash will be reluctant for a re-run. But let's set aside the new Android Wear gizmos for a moment, and think about the GoPro camera. Designed under the Hero brand, GoPro's camera, retailing somewhere between $199.99 and $399.99, is popular among athletes, especially surfers, divers, skateboarders and cyclists. It feels like the prototype wearable device, a harbinger of all future wearable devices. As seen in the company's IPO this week (which valued GoPro at $2.96 billion), the ascension of the startup is pretty remarkable. In a Reuters story, Dougherty & Co analyst Charlie Anderson was quoted saying, "There probably hasn't been a consumer electronics brand as dominant as GoPro has been in its category since the early days of the iPod or the iPad." GoPro Hero3+ on ski helmet I'm not sure if I would go so far as to praise GoPro. But it's true that the action sports camera supplier has successfully carved out a brand of its own in a solid market segment where big CE companies and traditional camera manufacturers had never ventured. What I admire most about GoPro, however, is that it has figured out the "what for" part of the wearable device question. Its cameras execute well on this promise. Next page: GoPro's success GoPro's founder Nick Woodman is known to have been inspired to start the company because he wanted to take action photos of his own surfing during a trip to Australia in 2002. At that time, no cameras were available that amateur photographers could pick up and "wear," to capture images so close to real action. The idea of a digital camera small enough for anyone to wear on his helmet or to mount on a bicycle and other "extreme sports" gear turned out to be not just Woodman's passion. Many sports enthusiasts crave to capture very high-quality sports action footage of their own exploits. GoPro's camera wasn't a device developed for the sake of being "wearable," though. Instead, the mission of getting close to the real action made wearability indispensable. I think the new-generation Android Wear device makers, lacking Woodman's drive and passion, are missing the point about wearable devices. They're developing wearable devices for the sake of being in the wearable market. They have no clue about whether wearing a smart device is necessary or just nice. GoPro's success also sheds some light on who might eventually rule as future wearable device developers. It's important to note that Sony, Panasonic, or Canon -- incumbents in the consumer electronics market -- badly misunderstood the action-sports camera market. Their technology was state-of-the-art, but they failed to understand the emotional attachment users tend to develop for their action-sports cameras. As Richard Doherty, research director at the Envisioneering Group, put it, their failure wasn't because of their lack of trying. "Sony tried. [They've done so] with higher-priced products and many features behind each GoPro release. Samsung prototyped it. But to our knowledge, they never sold many SportsCams," Doherty observed. GoPro's success Then, how exactly did GoPro succeed? Doherty said that GoPro was able to ride a wave of "people's increased desire for narcissistic video." In his opinion, Flip video could have taken GoPro's place but Cisco's suddenly folding Flip also helped GoPro. Marketing stunts like "Felix Baumgartner jumping from the Red Bull balloon using GoPro" also worked well. But perhaps more important, GoPro made efforts in "publishing videos on the GoPro and YouTube channels." In essence, Doherty said, "What Flip started, GoPro perfected." Francis Sideco, senior director of consumer, mobile, and IT Electronics at IHS Technology, believes that software helped GoPro set itself apart. "The devices provide great video, editing is easily enabled (and shared) via a free app, and prices are in-line with consumer/prosumer expectations," Sideco told EE Times. Other companies like Contour and Drift tried, said Sideco, but GoPro's substantial marketing efforts have put "the company ahead of the pack." What's needed for GoPro is, according to the IHS analyst, "to maintain a technically competitive product while cultivating their user base, engaging with regular correspondence, giveaways, and video contests." But GoPro already does all this. "Their Social IPO points to this strategy," said Sideco. If GoPro's success is any indication, those who succeed in the wearable business are the ones who understand their users and know why they want to keep wearing certain wearable devices. Further, they're the ones who develop software that allows users to make the most of the device they purchased. As Doherty summed up, GoPro "now enjoys a social media emotional attachment which builds their brand. By listening to owners, they stay fresh." Similar insight, I believe, is required of any vendor hoping to exploit the wearable market.