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
Wearable shows growth in adoption in both the US and Canada. IDC released new numbers on the Canadian wearable market this week with a forecast of 1.4 million wearables to be shipped this year alone. IDC expects the CAGR to be 32 percent over the next five years reaching a total of 3.6 million shipments in Canada by 2019. In the US, Forrester published results from its latest survey which suggests that 21 percent of online US adults use a wearable. This same study found that Fitbit was the most popular wearable device followed by FuelBand, Apple Watch and Google Glass.
VR makes waves in politics and porn. CNN continues to push the envelope in its election coverage. In the past we have seen the news channel use Minority Report-like screens and even holographic reporters. This year, CNN announced that it will be live streaming the democratic debates in virtual reality. Meanwhile, a Canadian inventor is getting everyone hot and bothered with the launch of an Indiegogo campaign for a robotic male pleasuring system that uses VR called the “eJaculator.”
Traditional watch brands gear up to enter the smartwatch race. LVMH CEO, the brand behind Tag Heuer, announced this week that Tag’s much anticipated Android Wear smartwatch will debut on November 9 with a price tag of $1,800 USD, making it the most expensive Android Wear smartwatch to date. Fossil was also teasing us with glimpses of its upcoming Fossil Q Android Wear watch in a couple of marketing shots which hit the internet.
Statistics and Forecast
IDC forecasts 1.4 million wearables will be shipped in Canada this year (MobileSyrup)
21 percent of online U.S. Adults use a wearable device says Forrester (Forrester)
35 percent of survey respondents say they are open to using VR for shopping if given a more realistic feel of the product (Business Insider)
Average Apple Watch sells for $529 USD according to report from Wristly (CNBC)
Device Announcements
LG announces the first Android Wear smartwatch with LTE (MobileSyrup)
Polyera showcases prototype of flexible smartwatch Wove (The Verge)
Tag Hearer to debut Android Wear smartwatch November 9, expected to cost $1,800 (MobileSyrup)
Fossil publishes marketing images of upcoming Android Wear smartwatch Fossil Q (9to5 Google)
Samsung Gear S2 becomes available (The Verge)
Sports tech startup Halo set to launch non-invasive hydration monitor wearable (SportTechie)
Target begins rolling out the Apple Watch this week in the US (TechCrunch)
Major Milestones
Skype launches on Android Wear (TechCrunch)
Google Maps launches on Apple Watch (TechCrunch)
CNN is going to live stream the Democratic debates in VR (The Verge)
Viper launches its SmartStart 4.0 remote on Apple Watch (MSN)
Rumours
Apple patent shows connected ring (CNBC)
Google patents holograms for Glass (MobileSyrup)
Samsung patent shows an advanced Google Glass like project (Patently Apple)
