The word "wearables" has been a hot word in 2014, with the buzz and excitement only set to grow well into the New Year.
And kicking off the new year is CES 2015, which is predicted to put a huge spotlight on wearable devices. Let's take a look at just what we can expect from the wearable tech industry at CES 2015.
One important thing to note about wearable tech at CES is that it's likely to be dominated by smaller companies, with the larger companies in the market, such as Samsung, Apple and Google, holding off on announcements until Mobile World Congress, which takes place in March.
One company that will be making a big splash at the show is HTC, which is set to release a mysterious new wearable device that will reportedly be unlike anything the world has seen before. It will certainly be interesting to see what HTC has cooked up, with rumors suggesting that it will be a smart watch, despite more recent reports suggesting that it will be something else.
Originally the HTC device was supposed to be released in October, but the product was reportedly not yet ready, leading to the company pushing forward the release date.
HTC also reportedly worked with a number of other companies on this product, mostly related to fitness. While no companies have been named, some reports are that the companies could include the likes of Misfit and RunKeeper.
CES will also likely see companies start to experiment with products for other parts of the body. To date the wearable battle has mostly been for the wrist, but it's possible that we could start to see more clips and devices that attach to clothing, many of these even working in tandem with the smart watch.
It is also likely that a number of companies will release heart-rate monitors and related products, especially because of the fact that the heart-rate monitor market is still finding its feet in terms of quality.
Wearable technology has seen a boom over the last year, with shipments tripling in 2014 to 19 million units, from 5.9 million units in 2013. That boom is only set to continue. In fact, total wearable units shipped are expected to reach a whopping 168.2 million units per year by 2019. While there certainly may be some great innovations in wearable device technology, smart watches are expected to remain at the forefront of the wearable tech revolution.
