CES 2015: Samsung predicts wearables future

Samsung says the next wave of "power dressing" for workplace leaders will include wearable technology. That's right business professionals will be all about smartwatches and other wearables in 2015, which will become a status symbol of saviness and professionalism.

Smartwatches always draw the stares and leers of CES showgoers, but it's clear that this year's batch of wrist wearables are a different breed. To compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple, they focus more on simple designs with competitive price tags to undercut the competition.
The company outlined its top five trends for the new year, with wearable technology topping the list. Others included the concept of personal "power hours" (flexible times to work, beyond the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. work day, thanks to mobile phone adoption), virtual reality technology, the smart home and coding for kids.

 

Every child born in the next 12 months will learn coding as a core subject along numeracy and literacy," Samsung said in the report. Teaching kids how to program is a part of a greater initiative across many industries to get them excited about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at a young age. New York City is already piloting a program to teach coding at eight public schools.

The toy industry is getting on board too: Kickstarter-funded Robot Turtles teaches kids as young as 3 the basics of coding in a traditional board game format. Samsung is among the companies that believes the smart home revolution is just beginning. Soon, products in the house will be connected to the Internet and work together your fridge will send a message to your TV telling you you're out of milk; the lights will flicker if you've left the front door open.

In September 2014, Samsung gave members of the press a peek at its vision for smart home automation. BK Yoon, president and CEO of Samsung, said during the 2014 IFA tech conference in Berlin that the future home will be responsive  the walls will move to create new floor plans when, for example, you're hosting a big dinner party and want to borrow a little space from the living room.

The refrigerator will tell you when items within are expired. You'll be able to cook over a stove top with the help of recipe holographic, so you don't have to get your devices dirty by accessing directions via mobile. In its 2015 prediction report, Samsung said automated home systems will move from "geek to chic driven by a dramatically improved user experience."