Salesforce introduces wearables dev kit for enterprise users

Salesforce Wear will work on Google Glass, Samsung Gear and others

Software-as-a-service specialist Salesforce has released a development kit for people who want to create business applications for wearable devices.

The firm said it is glad to be involved in a growing industry and wants to harness wearable technology to improve sales and service.

"Wearables are the next phase of the mobile revolution," said Daniel Debow, senior vice president for emerging technologies at Salesforce.com. "With Salesforce Wear, companies can now capture the massive opportunity these devices offer to connect with customers in new ways."

Salesforce is offering the Salesforce Wear SDK to Salesforce1 developers so that they can create apps for a range of wearable platforms, including Google Glass and Samsung Gear.

"Wearable technology opens up a new realm of possibilities for the enterprise and we're thrilled to work with Salesforce.com to extend mobile innovation," said Nick Rea, director of technical solutions, business innovations group, Samsung Mobile.

"Salesforce Wear will create new mobile solutions that leverage the technology of Samsung Gear devices to help business customers adopt wearables in a meaningful way.

Sample apps have been released and Salesforce hopes that they will find their way onto some of the 50 million wearable units that it expects to see sold this year.

The firm said that Wear and wearables would benefit firms and industries in various ways. It said that a hotel or resort could, for example, offer visitors a wristband device that could be used to pay for services or to relay tourist information.

"Developers will be able to create apps that connect wearable devices to any business process. Apps can be built for everything from a 'nudge' on a smartwatch when an urgent approval is required, to secure facilities access via a wristband, to encouraging healthy workforces through fitness challenges using fitness-tracking devices," it added. "The possibilities on the platform are endless."