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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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Technological advances in the growing wearable computing market are bolstering growth rates in both consumer and non-consumer markets. This is in sharp contrast to how the scenario was before the present, when wearables were a fringe market of curious devices that were bulky, unaesthetic and impractical for consumer applications.

BCC Research projects that the global market for wearable computing products will exceed $171.2 billion in 2021, on a five-year compound annual growth rate of...

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It’s been an amazing journey so far, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it. This milestone allows me to reset our SWOT analysis and share the overall strategy for the year to come with the team and I am glad to give you a glimpse at it here.

Three years ago, wearable tech was in its infancy. The whole industry has evolved a lot in just a few years – and I shared that evolution

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Students with autism and anxiety in the US and Canada will be able to pursue a proper education and therapy with the help of the Snug Vest – a specially designed inflatable garment by Wearable Therapeutics – which employs the ‘Deep Pressure Therapy’ technique that helps children and adults who are in need of constant pressure to achieve daily tasks with ease.

Wearable Therapeutics founder and CEO, Lisa...

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Consumers consider accuracy as the most important feature of wearable devices, with more than half of those who do not own a wearable considering buying one if they trusted its accuracy.

The survey, of 706 US consumers, aged between 18 to 65, titled “The State of Wearables Today” conducted by Valencell and MEMS & Sensor Industry Group, looked to gain insight on consumers’ knowledge and preferences around wearables such as a device, clothing or accessories...

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A survey conducted by the Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA), in collaboration with Vital Enterprises, has revealed that adoption of smart glasses could benefit enterprise environments.

Where enterprises in the aerospace, automotive, life sciences and manufacturing sectors are the earliest adopters of the smart glasses technology, the survey shows that adoption of the technology is steadily building.

42% of the enterprises surveyed stated that they will adopt the...

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The insurance industry is facing a crisis of talent. Experts hold that retiring baby boomers will leave a void of 400,000 open positions to fill by 2020. Insurance training provider The Institutes revealed that in 2013 the number of employees aged 55 and older was 30% higher in insurance when compared to any other industry. Additionally, 40% of potential employees – high school students – are not keen on building a career in insurance.

In light on this scenario, Erie...

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Apple has looked to reinvigorate the Apple Watch with watchOS 3 with improvements to performance and navigation along with new features related to fitness and health.

New physical features include new watch faces including Minnie Mouse, Activity and Numerals. Apps – such as, Workout, Music or Messages – will now be able to launch from the watch face. Customers can add complications to the Photo, Motion or Timelapse watch faces.

As regards performance, users can press...

Earlier this week, WearableTech headed along to Motorola's launch event for their VerveLife range of sports-orientated wearables. Today we've got the flagship VerveOnes+ in the office to put through its paces and see - or rather hear - this latest hearable's capabilities. 

Design 

We've come to expect superb design from Motorola, ever since the...

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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...

Motorola invited us to a launch event in London where the company unveiled their range of VerveLife wearable devices. The line-up is focused on the more active of consumers and consists of new smart headphones along with interesting entries into the sports camera market. 

“We are proud to launch VerveLife, a collection of wearable, wireless, and waterproof devices designed to give ultimate...

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Researchers at the National Science Foundation’s Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) at North Carolina State University have developed a low-power wearable system that will help predict and prevent asthma attacks.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that over 24 million people are impacted by asthma in the US and patients currently make use of inhalers to counter the systems that can include...

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Wearables today are limited in their flexibility due to current widely-adopted materials being unable to carry the current required for electronic devices. Many researchers have attempted to overcome this hurdle with nanomaterials, but a new ultrathin film could be the most promising advancement yet. 

An international team of nanomaterial researchers...

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Royal Philips and Pegasystems have partnered to aid managed care service providers and accountable care organisations to make use of connected devices and health data to boost patient care.

The collaboration will see the integration of the Pega Care Management Application to the Philips HealthSuite Cloud platform. The development will also lower costs at support care managers and insurers, with general availability slated for later in 2016.

Philips and Pegasystems will put on display...

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According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, the wearable market in India was largely reliant on fitness bands, with 87.7% of market share in the first quarter of 2016 while smart wearables, devices that run on third-party applications, had market share of about 12.3%. IDC also reported that overall wearable sales during the quarter totalled a little over 400,000 units.

Xiaomi was the leading vendor in the quarter with 27.1% market share and Mi, its affordable...

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Quadrant Information Services, a technology supplier to property and casualty carriers, has argued that the insurance industry is being transformed by big data analysis and miniaturised data collection devices with the phenomenon impacting both health insurance and auto insurance.

A recent study by research group Strategy Meets Action revealed that though only three percent of health insurers are currently using wearable devices to help set individual rates, approximately 22% of health...

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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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By the middle of 2017, China’s central bank regulation will ensure that all payment terminals will feature contactless payment. In anticipation of this development, Oberthur Technologies (OT) is collaborating with Mobvoi and China Union Pay to launch an Android smart watch that will facilitate contactless payment in China secured by OT’s embedded Secure Element.

As of September 2015, Mobvoi’s Ticwatch is the best-selling Android smart watch in China following its...

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Researchers at the University of California San Diego claim to have put together the first flexible wearable device capable of monitoring both biochemical and electric signals.

The Chem-Phys patch represents a breakthrough in the healthcare wearables space and provides real time recording of electrocardiogram (EKG) heart signals and levels of lactate, a biochemical marker of physical effort.

Nanoengineers and electrical engineers at the UC San Diego Center for Wearable Sensors...

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Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman has said in a blog post that rumours about the company exiting the wearables business are “unequivocally false”.

The post is in response to news last week that the maker of the UP line of fitness trackers had decided to put an end to its business. Rahman said: “To be clear, Jawbone remains wholly committed to innovating in and building great wearables products. We have never been more excited about our pipeline of technology and products and...