Dell could move into wearable technology market

Ailing PC maker could join Google and Nike in the wearable tech arena

Ailing PC maker Dell has revealed that it's considering entering the wearable computing market, which consists of Google Glass, Nike+ FuelBand and the reported Apple iWatch.

Dell, which is feeling the effects of a major slowdown in PC sales, is in the middle of a battle between founder Michael Dell and billionaire Carl Icahn over the privatisation of the firm, which could help to position it as an enterprise services company by restructuring its corporate hierarchy and focusing on datacentre equipment.

But with interest in Google Glass and Apple's reported iWatch growing, Dell could still see a future in the consumer technology market.

"We're exploring ideas in [the wearable technology] space," Sam Burd, Dell's global vice-president of personal computing, told the Guardian.

But while it is a concept Dell is considering, Burd claims that there are challenges in manufacturing costs, and making the technology "a really good experience" for consumers.

"The piece that's interesting is that computers are getting smaller. Having a watch on your wrist - that's pretty interesting, pretty appealing," he said.

According to a report from analysts Forrester Research, the "big five" technology companies - Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook - will take wearable computing from niche to mainstream.

And Burd believes in the next five years devices will continue to change, but is unsure whether wearable technology will have the same effect as the iPad.

"Looking ahead five years, we expect devices and form factors to continue to change. There will still be a need for 'static' computing on desktops, but there will be a real need for mobile devices. There's a lot of discussion about how that fits into wearable devices like we've seen with Google Glass and watches. We're looking at a world of lots of connected devices.

"I don't see any magic new form factor like the iPad - I don't think anybody saw how that was going to change devices. But the number of [computing] devices per person is exploding," he said.

Last month, Rackspace CTO John Engates explained how wearable technology will not only enhance consumers' lives, but will also provide a new source of commercially exploitable data.

He claimed that it would allow companies to have an "always on" relationship with consumers.

Windows 8

Meanwhile, Burd also touched on Dell's XPS-10 and Latitude 10 tablets, which run Microsoft's Window RT and Windows 8 software respectively. He said that Dell had only sold "hundreds of thousands" of the devices but claimed it was "pretty exciting when we look at the ramp [in purchasing] that we expect from corporate customers".

He said that Windows 8 on tablets had not fared well with Dell's larger customers thus far as businesses are slow to adopt a new operating system, adding that while it was encouraging that some customers had implemented Windows 8 and tablets already, "the jury is still out".