Google To Introduce "Smart Jeans"!?

We've got smart phones, smart homes, smart cars.  Everything is getting "smart" these days.  In tech terms, this means the items are being linked digitally to combine their functionality with outside software, typically to make things easier, faster or just all around cooler.

Well, the latest smart object is here, as officially announced by Google earlier today.  Smart Clothing.

Surely, wearables have been a trend all year: booming during CES (Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show) and in blogs and startups.  But Google's announcement today of PROJECT JACQUARD is one of the first unveilings that just might be able to bring this trend mainstream.

Project Jacquard intermixes software development and fashion design to create conductive textile material that can be woven into any fabric to create "smart fabric". 

The video released on Project Jacquard (check it out on TechCrunch here) is pretty convincing.  As is the fact that Google announced it is partnering with Levi's to bring Jacquard-enabled clothing to the market.  

Look, Google isn't a fashion company, so the partnership makes sense.  Plus, how better to make this new technology open to the masses than in a trusty pair of blue jeans from Levi's!

The exact capabilities that will be woven into these jeans are still undefined.  In fact, the video touts, "Jacquard is a blank canvas for designers, we are excited to see what people are going to do with it".  

So, this begs the question..... if you were to buy "Smart Jeans" from Levi's, what would you want them to be able to do!?

What The New iPhone Means For Your Jeans

It's normal today to see technology trends following fashion.  Anyone's who has ever seen a smartphone cover with a posh designer label on it could tell you that.

But we've gotten to the point now where technology trends are so influential that they are affecting fashion trends.  And better yet, doing so in very untraditional ways.

The new iPhone 6 Plus is following the trend of larger, phablet sized phones.  And as many are saying, this is beginning to look like the future of mobile technology. 

Some people don't like the larger phones, claiming they are hard to hold in their hands, or they bend in their pockets, or (gasp!) don't fit in their pockets!

That's where clothing designers come in!

No clothing brand wants to be out of the running for purchase because someone's new, state-of-the-art smartphone no longer has a home in their jean pocket!  

Mashable published yesterday several conversations from designers claiming they were creating new clothing with that exact problem in mind. 

J. Crew, for example, considers each aspect of the customers lives during their design process.  The head of women's design, Tom Mora, said "We think about all of these details- whether it's introducing new tech accessories for the iPhone 6 - or special interior pockets to carry the various generations of iPads or tablets."

It's pretty cool that the designers are making such a big deal about catering their products to our technology needs.  Though, I have to say, iPads in interior pockets of our pants!?  J. Crew needs to rethink that one!!  Most women don't even wear pants with enough fabric to cover an iPad let alone hide one inconspicuously!!

J. Crew isn't alone in planning their fashion around tech trends, though. Lee Jeans, L.L. Bean, Levi's, American Eagle and Japanese brand Uniqio all are also on board planning their designs for iPhones, Galaxy Tablets and phablets.  

What do you think?  Would you buy jeans if your smartphone didn't fit in the pocket?