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.
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Statistics & Forecasts
Google says ‘hundreds of millions of users’ will have Daydream VR phones in a couple of years (The Verge)
50M Google Cardboard apps downloaded to date (TechCrunch)
IDC market research shows Fitbit and Xiaomi lead smartwatch market with the two companies holding 24.5 and 17 percent of the market, respectively (ReadWrite)
The first quarter of 2016 saw 19.7 million wearable devices shipped, a 67 percent year-over-year increase, says IDC (AppleInsider)
Device Announcements
Google working with IMAX to create a JUMP VR camera (The Verge)
Google is building its own Daydream headset and controller (MobileSyrup)
ATAP team unveils Soli chip small enough to fit inside a smartwatch at I/O (The Verge)
Google and Levis are launching a smart jacket early next year (MobileSyrup)
Google announces Daydream at I/O: reference design for hardware including smartphones, headsets and controllers and a VR app marketplace (MobileSyrup)
Speck’s Google Cardboard case now shipping (The Verge)
PornHub announces X-Rated wearable “fitness” program “BangFit” (Ubergizmo)
Pebble gets GPS and better battery life with smart strap Pal (CNET)
Omate launches the Omate Wherecom S3 smartwatch for seniors (CNET)
Funding, Crowdfunding & M&A
Comcast Ventures Leads $3 Million Round in VR Startup Spaces (Variety)
Fitbit buys wearable tech from COIN (MobileSyrup)
Major Milestones
PX labs, Atheer, Pristine, Vital Enterprises, and XOEye were all named as IDC Innovators in enterprise platforms for smart eyewear for 2016 (Business Wire)
Disney launches Disney Movies for VR app for Rift and Vive (MobileSyrup)
SketchFab launches VR app (The Verge)
eBay launched what it called the world’s first virtual reality department store (Mashable)
Funomena building AR game using technology from Google’s Project Tango (Polygon)
Android Wear 2.0 launches with complications, and new user inputs (MobileSyrup)
BACtrack – a wearable that detects when you have been drinking, wins government award (The Guardian)
Google’s Daydream supports Unreal Engine with native Unity coming soon (TechCrunch)
Oculus app update blocks HTC Vive access (Ars Technica)
Realiteer Launches Google Cardboard’s First Virtual Reality Multiplayer Shooting Game (PR Newswire)
Rumours
Google hints at upcoming Tango + Daydream (VR) relationship at Google I/O (Mashable)
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!