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.
Don’t forget to subscribe to The Wearable Weekly using the form below to make sure it hits your email inbox every week!
Statistics & forecasts
Fossil looking to wearable tech to reverse sales declines (NASDAQ)
39% of game developers working on AR/VR headsets (Road to VR)
Market for virtual reality devices, software, and content will swell to $64 billion by 2021 (Datamation)
Forrester says it will be at least five years before VR becomes a mass consumer medium (Marketing Land)
Funding, Acquisitions & M&A
8i announces $27 million Series B funding (Business Wire)
Magic Leap acquires 3D division of Dacuda in Zurich (TechCrunch)
Device announcements
eSight launches new smart glasses promising 20/20 vision for the legally blind (BetaKit)
Disney launches MagicBand 2 (Wareable)
Anyone in the US can now order Spectacles online (MobileSyrup)
AltspaceVR expands cross-platform support to Google Daydream and Android (UploadVR)
NBA launches virtual reality app with Google Daydream (USA Today)
HTC plans to release a mobile VR headset by the end of 2017 (MobileSyrup)
Sony Smartwatch 3 and Android Wear 2.0 release now ruled out (Ubergizmo)
Vive Tracker Dev Kits start shipping, sees 2,300 applications (UploadVR)
Many Apple Watch models sold out ahead of possible spring band refresh (MacRumors)
Major milestones
HTC’s Cher Wang and Google’s Tilt Brush just a few honoured at the 2017 Lumiere Awards (UploadVR)
Actiongram brings Hello Kitty characters to HoloLens (Slash Gear)
IMAX’s first VR arcade opens (The Verge)
NextVR offering NBA games outside of League Pass plan starting Feb. 23 (Engadget)
Uber now available as a standalone app for Android Wear 2.0 (9to5 Google)
Atlas Wearables launches AI coach (PR Web)
Dreamscape Immersive set to open its first VR storefront in LA this fall, with plans for wider rollout in 2018 (MarketWatch)
HoloLens hack lets you film mixed reality (UploadVR)
Google Chrome supports WebVR (Business Insider)
Magic Leap hit with new lawsuit alleging that company promoted sexist work environment and used misleading marketing materials (Forbes)
Rumours
Huawei Watch 2 with Android Wear 2.0 to launch at MWC 2017 (BGR)
Sony files patent for Vive-style PSVR tracking device (Engadget)
Apple Watch patent regarding fast charging resurfaces (Patently Apple)
Fitbit building a full smartwatch (Wareable)
Microsoft is reportedly gearing up to launch HoloLens v3 in 2019 (TNW)
TAG Heuer tipped to launch hybrid Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch on March 14 (PhoneArena)
Subscribe to The Wearable Weekly
Don’t forget to subscribe to The Wearable Weekly using the form below to make sure it hits your email inbox every week!
Image via VR Focus