Google Inc (GOOG) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) Want You to Keep It in Your Pants

The days of fishing in your pants or purse every time your smartphone beeps or buzzes will soon be a thing of the past. Here’s a Foolish overview of why wearable technology will transform mobile computing, and which company is best positioned to profit from this new category.

The Increasing Flood of Information to Your Smartphone

Smartphone users are already familiar with the problems of keeping up with push notifications: text and email messages, social media updates, phone calls, stock and sports updates

The situation will only get worse. With the cost of sensors and controllers coming down, more everyday devices and services are being connected to the internet and accessible from your smartphone. The result? Push notifications will increase, and user search will become more frequent.

Wearables tethered to smartphones are seen as a solution to the increased information flow. With a quick glance, wearable users could review, reply, store, or ignore push notifications without fishing around for their smartphones. At the same time, ongoing improvements in voice recognition would allow wearables to become an easy access point for mobile search.

The Wearable Warriors

So what companies are likely to profit from wearables? I’ve taken a look at both Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) based on the following criteria:

Assets: Does the company have the technology to provide a compelling wearable solution?

Materiality: Is the wearable business likely to drive sizable, incremental profits?

Risks: What are the key risks facing successful implementation?