Activity Tracking Is The Most-Wanted Smartwatch Feature

These days everybody seems to be talking about smartwatches. We've already seen smartwatches from Samsung, Motorola and LG and we're likely to see one from Apple later today. Some are shaped rectangular and others look more like traditional wristwatches. But what value do these wearable mini computers deliver and what do consumers really want from them?

According to an international survey conducted by German research institute GfK, the most wanted feature in a smartwatch is activity tracking. Borrowing from fitness wristbands, most smartwatches can track steps, measure your heart rate and tell you how many calories you are burning throughout the day. Apple's rumoured iWatch is also expected to focus on the health aspect, even though it might take things further than other devices have thus far. Apple has reportedly put a lot of effort into health measuring technologies that could find their way into the iWatch.

While consumers from all five markets included in the survey agree on activity tracking being the most important smartwatch feature, there are differences in what else could convince them to shell out hundreds of dollars for one of the new gadgets. While consumers in China and South Korea think a smartwatch should be able to handle phone calls, people from Germany, the UK and the United States think it would be nice if a smartwatch could actually tell time.