Analyst: Moto 360 leads the way in Android Wear device rollout

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New figures released by analyst house Canalys has found that of the nearly five million wearable bands shipped globally in the third quarter of 2014, Motorola’s Moto 360 was the most popular Android Wear choice.

Android Wear is still dwarfed overall by Samsung, the market leader, which comprised 52% of overall market share. Motorola took 15% of share globally, Pebble 12%, with other offerings comprising the remaining 21%.

Interestingly, Nike fell out of the top five...

By James Bourne, 25 November 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Devices, Health & Wellness, Smartwatches.

Jawbone’s $50 wearable and an intricate sleep tracker

Picture credit: Jawbone

Wearable technology provider Jawbone has released two wristbands targeting different markets; UP MOVE, a $50 basic activity tracker, and UP3, a $180 wristband which captures detailed information on sleeping patterns and heart rate.

The UP3 offers a wide variety of goodies, including a multi-sensor platform which provides a user’s resting heart rate, and is designed to capture more health data as the platform updates. It also has a ‘smart coach’ mode, whereby the band...

By James Bourne, 06 November 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Fitness, Health & Wellness, Smartwatches.

Smart glasses uptake suffering from “slow path to social acceptance”

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A report from Juniper Research has predicted fewer than 10 million smart glasses units will be shipped per annum by 2017.

The researchers cite reasons for the relatively low number as lengthy time to market, a lack of a key consumer use case and a slow path to social acceptance.

Type ‘Google Glass’ into any search engine and you will see a variety of stories, both good and bad. For example, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the National Association of...

By James Bourne, 04 November 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Eyewear, Research.

GfK: 420k wearables were sold in the UK this year

Research firm GfK has revealed that over 420,000 wearables were sold in the UK from January through to September 2014. During this period, the total value of the smart devices sold is expected to be in excess of an eye-watering £51 million ($82 million.)

Despite this, the firm believes wearables are far from becoming mass market. Anne Giulianotti, GfK, says: “There’s no question wearable activity trackers have caught on – but with a small percentage of the population....

By Ryan Daws, 24 October 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Devices, IoT, Research, Smartwatches.

Apple Watch will claw back Android’s market share in wearables, claims research

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ABI Research has gazed into its crystal ball, turned over portentous cards and sifted through the tea leaves, and predicted that Apple Watch will nab at least half of Android’s share in wearable devices in 2015.

The findings, which are part of ABI Research’s Wearables and Smart Accessories Market Research paper, found that iOS will gain a 35% share in the global smartwatch segment, just behind Android at 42%. For comparison, Android’s overall stake was at two...

By James Bourne, 20 October 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Research, Smartwatches.

GoToMeeting now available on Android smartwatches for execs to feel like a “super-cool spy”

Picture credit: Citrix Online/Flickr

Citrix has launched GoToMeeting as an app on Android smartwatches, showing both the malleability of wearables for business but also the technology’s fallibility.

The app, which has previously been available on Android smartphones and tablets, has been extended to Android Wear but naturally, the list of commands isn’t all that extensive. Through your smartwatch, you can now join or...

By James Bourne, 16 October 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Enterprise, Smartwatches, Workplace.

Take a look at Windows 95 running off a Samsung Gear Live

Picture credit: Corbin Davenport/YouTube

As hacks go, it’s a pretty useless one. But it’s an interesting look at what wearable devices are capable of. YouTube user Corbin Davenport has uploaded a video appearing to show a Samsung Gear Live smartwatch running Windows 95.

“Has science gone too far?” Davenport asks as he loads up a functioning Windows 95 on the Android Wear 4.4W system. It certainly plays into Android’s malleability as an operating system, and could be seen as a nod...

By James Bourne, 06 October 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Android, Devices, Samsung, Smartwatches.

Wearable Intelligence puts $8m aside for Google Glass in hospitals

Wearable tech startup Wearable Intelligence has shovelled $8m in the direction of bringing Google Glass to the enterprise after the latest round of venture funding.

The latest round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, has been documented in this filing to the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).

The California-based company, led by CEO Yan-David Erlich and president Ryan Junee, is squarely focused on utilising...

By James Bourne, 21 August 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Devices, Enterprise, Eyewear, Health & Wellness, Workplace.

Is the future bright for e-commerce with wearable tech?

With wearables emerging as the top trend at CES 2014 and Google Glass being voted this year’s most innovative product in digital retail, it is hard to imagine that not so long ago, you may have been laughed at if you talked about technology devices that you could wear on your body.

While fitness devices make up the vast majority of the market at the moment. Devices are moving from niche applications and early adopters into much more mainstream products. Google Glass which was available only to a limited...

By Philip Rooke, 18 August 2014, 0 comments. Categories: Brands, Devices, Eyewear, Mobile Wallet, Opinion.