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
iiMedia report suggest that China VR content revenues will grow by 458% in 2016, totalling USD $98.9 million, and grow by another 279% in 2017, reaching USD $375.1 million (eMarketer)
IDC estimates that smartwatch shipments fell by about 52% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2016 (Engadget)
Grand View Research says mixed reality market expected to reach USD $6.9 billion by 2024 (PRNewswire)
Global wearable technology market is anticipated to grow from USD $29.92 billion in 2016 to USD $71.23 billion by 2021, according to Scalar Market Research (SYS-CON)
Device Announcements
Fossil launches 40 new wearables by Diesel, Emporio Armani, and Kate Spade (Wareable)
Microsoft unveils affordable VR HMD partners HP, ASUS, Lenovo, Dell, and Acer (Engadget)
Xiaomi adds another VR headset, the Mi VR (TechCrunch)
Apple Watch Nike+ now available in stores (9to5 Mac)
Funding & M&A
Intel Capital invests USD $38 million in 12 innovative technology startups (Forbes)
Microsoft announces partnership with FitPay (Fast Company)
Google buys Eyefluence (Business Insider)
VR audio startup Dysonics closes Series A led by Intel Capital (TechCrunch)
Intel Capital participates in USD $15.2 million funding round in InContext Solutions, a VR solutions provider for retailers (Yahoo Sports)
GoodParents raises USD $2 million for children’s health wearable (MobiHealthNews)
Starbreeze acquires visual effects house Nozon (Engadget)
Major Milestones
HTC opens Vive Cafes in China (Digital Trends)
Apple Watch 2 and HTC Vive big winners at Wareable Tech Awards (Wired)
Magic Leap sets up company in Helsinki to access Finland’s AR/VR talent (TechCrunch)
Wearable tech company Hexoskin lands deal with Canadian Space Agency (MobileSyrup)
HTC launches VivePaper VR magazine store (Engadget)
HTC partners With InterContinental Hotels to bring Vive to Chinese hotel rooms (UploadVR)
Rumours
Google working on a VR HMD with eye-tracking (Engadget)
AR startup Daqri said to seek up to USD $200 million (Bloomberg)
Analysts predict Magic Leap may launch product in 2017 (Business Insider)
Adidas working on fitness wearable Chameleon (Wareable)
Microsoft research working on haptic touch methods for VR (Engadget)
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!