W|W: The Wearable Weekly – A problem with authority

Welcome to The Wearable Weekly, your trusted guide to all things wearable tech. If you only have time to read one thing about wearables this week, this is it.

Industry Highlights

Is Apple Watch “flopping”? This was the big question this week as we lead up to Apple unveiling its third quarter fiscal results. Fueled by data from Slice Intelligence which suggest that Apple Watch sales are on a major decline and that Fitbit is outperforming the device, most of the wearable news this week was consumed with speculation on the success or failure of the Apple Watch. While some were giving it a DOA, others were optimistic of the traction for Apple’s first wearable. Apple has not yet released any data on Apple Watch sales and its expected (hoped) that they will finally unveil sales figures in its upcoming Q3 call.

Statistics & Forecasts

Piper Jaffray analyst predict the wearable tech category will grow from 21 million units in 2014 to 150 million units in 2019, a 48% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) (Yahoo Finance)

Online US sales of Apple Watch said to have eclipsed 3 million, says Slice Intelligence (TechTimes)

X-rated movies to be No. 3 virtual-reality market by 2025, says Piper Jaffray (MarketWatch)

Device Announcements

Pebble Time shipping to backers end of this month (MobileSyrup)

StrechSense revealed a new wearable sensor that powers itself through movement (i4U)

HTC Grip gets delayed (MobileSyrup)

French luxury goods maker LVMH will launch a rival product to Apple Inc’s Apple Watch costing 1,400 euros ($1,526 USD) (Reuters)

Apple Watch to launch in New Zealand on July 31 (Apple Insider)

Misfit introduces $19.99 Flash Link fitness tracker and smart button (MobileSyrup)

Moov launches new fitness wearable Moov now (PC World)

Samsung Gear VR for Galaxy S6 now available in Canada (MobileSyrup)

Major Milestones

Misfit Shine fitness tracker pebble app updated to sync data from iOS or Android smartphones (Android Police)

Microsoft Research publishes means to extend battery life on wearable by leveraging the smartphone (ZDNET)

Google updated Ingress with Android Wear support (9to5 Google)

HTC bringing its Vive VR headset on a world wide tour (CNET)

Disney is closing its first VR attraction (Engadget)

Hulu launches Apple Watch remote for its streaming service (The Verge)

Misfit launched its Link smart platform for Flash and new Flash Link devices (MobileSyrup)

Polar Loop 2 updated with smart alerts and sync to other fitness platforms (Tech Times)

Rumours

Google expected to launch EE, or Enterprise Edition, of Glass with larger prism, Intel Atom CPU, and optional battery pack (MobileSyrup)

Oculus already working on an Oculus Rift 2 (UploadVR)

Next version of Android Wear may include a watch-to-watch communication feature and interactive watchfaces (MobileSyrup)

More details surface around Samsung’s rumored Gear A round smartwatch (MobileSyrup)

Google Glass may include ability to provide information about what it sees (IBTimes)