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The wearables market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) geographical segment witnessed growth of 65.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2016, according to IDC, which monitors seven major countries across MEA, even as shipments into these countries totalled 419,925 units during the quarter. IDC projects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.1% for the 2016–2020 period for the MEA wearables market.

Nakul Dogra, a senior research analyst for personal computing, systems,...

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The NPD Group Connected Intelligence Activity Trackers and Sports Report argues that as activity tracker sales continue to see robust growth, the smartwatch is catching up in terms of popularity with consumers as an alternative to track more advanced activities. The report has found that though the activity tracker exhibits leadership in the majority of exercise categories, smartwatches are narrowing the gap.

Eddie Hold, president of Connected Intelligence, said: “Activity tracker...

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Ericsson surveyed 5,000 smartphone users in Brazil, China, South Korea, the UK and the US for a ConsumerLab report on the views of the 280 million smartphone users around the globe about wearable devices. 

According to Ericsson's 

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During last year's I/O developer conference Google unveiled a couple of early innovations to improve how we interact with our wearable devices in the form of Project Soli and Project Jacquard. At this year's event, Google has demonstrated how the projects have developed since.

Project Soli employs a radar-based system to detect small movements around the device – such as finger gestures – and uses the motion...

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According to the latest report from CCS Insight, approximately 10 million wearable devices will be operational in the UK by the end of 2016, with five million sales and the overall figure tripling to almost 33 million units in the next four years.

Fitness trackers will lead the way in terms of volume with sales of 1.7 million expected in 2017, according to the researchers. However, in terms of value, smartphone companions such as the Apple Watch will be the leading category, worth...

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Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have established a way to make skin the next user interface for technology – solving the issue of small displays on most wearables. 

Current smartwatches are more powerful than their interfaces allow them to be. When you cover most of the display with a single finger, it limits what interactions you can perform with a device. A team at the Future Interfaces...

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8% of American adults say they own an Apple Watch, according to research by ad tech provider Fluent.

The results of the survey, which polled 2,500 respondents, exceeded the expectations set after its first Apple Watch study in April 2015. In the 2015 survey, Fluent found that 5% of Americans planned to buy the first version of the Apple Watch, amounting to around 12.5 million people.

A year later, the figures show that 8% of Americans now own an Apple Watch. With the 2% margin of...

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Many of us are expected to utilise our wearables for payments by 2018, if projections by Juniper Research are correct. The research firm expects contactless payments through wearable devices to reach $95 billion annually by 2018, up from less than $35 billion last year.  

Apple’s entry into NFC gave the industry a much needed boost, and could well be seen as...

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IDC estimates that the global wearable device market is anticipated to see 44% year on year increase in shipments to 111.1 million units in 2016. Additionally, the segment is expected to witness a five year CAGR of 28%, resulting in 214.6 million units by 2019. As a result, EQM Indexes is launching an index, named WEARXT, to monitor the wearables segment.

WEARXT monitors the combined performance of around 45 to 55 global stocks that generate revenue from wearable technology...

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The global wearable technology market is estimated to total $196.5 million by 2022 mainly on account of research and development undertaken by a large number of industry players, according to Grand View Research.

Increasing disposable income across the globe, technological advancement, price, quality, battery life, 3D printing and crowd funding are other factors that are expected to make a positive impact. Players in this industry include Apple, Adidas, Garmin, Fitbit, Nike, Google,...