Smart sports watches be the fashion trend-Priceangels.com

Until now, smart watch shipments have been negligible, to say the least. Most analysts we spoke with only started tracking the market recently and estimate that units are currently measured in the thousands per month. But the expectation is that the market will explode in the next five years.Other analysts are even more optimistic for smart watch shipments. Angela McIntyre, a research director at Gartner covering wearable electronics, projects vendors may ship "upwards" of 5 million smart sports watches this year and twice that number next year if more big players enter the market.

To put it another way, the smart watch market probably doesn't have the same potential for user and revenue growth as the smartphone market, but it offers other perks for smartphone companies. McIntyre argues that manufacturers may be able to bundle the watches together with larger phones — aka "phablets" — to boost sales of both. She also speculates that smart watches may evolve to the point where they could "displace" some sales of smartphones, so better to invest in the technology now.

"At this point, they are looking for synergies with their big money makers which are the smartphones," McIntyre says, adding that the watch may serve as another way for companies to bring and keep people in their product ecosystem. Beyond that, analysts note a certain amount of excitement for wearable devices in general — particularly wearable fitness technology — which may translate to sales for smart watches. And while smart glasses — or Google Glass, in particular — may have dominated coverage of wearable computing for awhile, the analysts we spoke with still believe the market for watches is significantly larger.mn5fD3s 

Orr estimates that there will be fewer than 10,000 smart glasses shipments worldwide this year, about 2 million next year and 75 million in 2018 — a little more than half his projected estimate for smart watches that year. The reason, he says, is that smart glasses is a more "specialized" product with potential for particular professionals rather than average consumers. He also believes there is more of a cultural adjustment required for a mainstream audience to buy and use facial computing technology than for watches.

ike many other smartwatches, the Nissan Nismo measures the user's heart rate, temperature and other biometrics.But it also allows users to keep an eye on their car's performance - including average speeds and fuel consumption.Experts say that the watch could be an important step towards greater connectivity in cars."Connectivity is the new battleground for car manufacturers," said Chas Hallett, editor-in-chief of What Car?"In-car internet is coming and now with consumer electronics focusing on watch-based connections, Nissan is getting ahead of the game and joining the two together very cleverly."

The cheap watches can be connected to the car's on-board computer system to allow users to monitor vehicle telematics and performance data. Users can also receive tailored messages from Nissan via the gadget.A glut of smartwatches has hit the market recently, including Samsung's Galaxy Gear and Sony's Smartwatch 2.Car-connected watches could be even more useful than those offered by consumer electronic firms, thinks Mr Hallett.

"Imagine if you could heat up your car on a cold day before you got into it or shut the roof of your convertible when it started raining and it was parked outside," he said.The Nissan Leaf electric car already allows users to interact with it via their mobile phone, said Mr Dunsmore, and such functionality should be available in the firm's next-generation watches.