Wearable technology has always seemed a stretch too far. Sure your smart glasses do cool things – but don’t you feel like a massive idiot?

But if there’s one thing that CES 2014 showed us it’s that wearable tech is getting much better, and it’s going to be the next big-money tech market. Here is a list of this year’s best.

1) The Pebble Steel – R2,500

The original Pebble smartwatch made its debut at CES 2013, and soon had many sceptics. It had a very sporty feel, which put some people off. This new one, though, is more restrained and in keeping with classic watch design. The Steel is also smaller than its predecessor, but manages to retain the quality of its resolution. The memory has also been doubled…

From 4MB to 8MB.

2) The XOne – R4,000

If Google can shift several gigabytes worth of digital information into normal glasses, then why not do the same for safety glasses – surely they’re more important?

Made in Nashville, Tenessee, the XOne aims to bring skilled manual labour jobs into the future. Sure, they don’t have quite the same aesthetic appeal of Glass – but then again these things are made for real work.

Instead of the tiny screen in the top right of the glasses frame, the XOne makes use of LEDs and audio to communicate with its wearer. The glasses house two 5-megapixel cameras (one inside each lens), speakers and mics, a gyroscope, and an accelerometer, all driven by an OMAP 4460 processor, the “big brother” to Google Glass’s 4430 processor. They also have 128GB of onboard memory and an expandable micro SD card slot.

3) The MetaWatch

MetaWatch is the brainchild of former Fossil watch makers, who have targeted a more ‘premium’ smartwatch market that focuses on quality and design. They have attempted, quite admirably, to bypass the one major problem with smartwatches – they look stupid and hideous.

The Pebble has been accused of feeling ‘too cheap and plasticky’, and smartwatches in general have been dubbed as the tech that nerds make for other nerds.

The new range features premium metals, leather wristbands, and quality craftsmanship that is said “to look as good when paired with a suit as it does with jeans and a T-shirt.”

Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, and neither have the software specs – which kind of tells you all you need to know.

[Source : The Verge]