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
Microsoft says HoloLens sales are in the thousands (The Verge)
Wearables market expected to grow from USD $15.74 billion in 2015 to USD $51.60 billion by 2022 (PR Newswire)
European wearables penetration continued to lag that of the US (15.6 percent) at 9.2 percent, with the smartwatch portion of the category at 3.8 percent (Kantar)
Apple and Fitbit dominated holiday sales of wearables (Fortune)
Device announcements
HTC Vive Trackers pass FCC regulations (UploadVR)
HTC denies Halfbeak Android Wear Watch (9 to 5 Google)
CuteCircuit debuts a graphene dress (Smithsonian)
Funding & M&A
DigiLens raises $22 million for consumer-focused augmented reality products (UploadVR)
Two Bit Circus raises $15 million to build next-generation micro-amusement markets (VentureBeat)
Lithodomos VR raises $679,500 to bring historic architecture back to virtual life (UploadVR)
Virtualitics launches as first platform to merge artificial intelligence, big data, and virtual/augmented reality (BusinessWire)
Major milestones
Microsoft partners with Trimble, University of Cambridge to make HoloLens a better tool for the construction (TechCrunch)
Google opens up Daydream VR platform to all developers (MobileSyrup)
Google releases final Android Wear 2.0 preview (The Verge)
Medtronic and Fitbit partner to connect activity data with continuous glucose monitoring (iMedical Apps)
Fitbit will cut between five to 10 percent of its workforce (MobileSyrup)
Siri is coming to Apple Watch (Business Insider)
HTC giving 1,000 Vive trackers to VR developers to seed creation of motion-tracked accessories (Fast Company)
Google’s VR film Pearl nominated for an Oscar (Mashable)
Nymi’s HeartID integrated into Atos authentication solutions (IT World Canada)
New study suggests that baby wearables could do more harm than good (Wareable)
HTC’s top Vive designer is leaving to work on Google Daydream (The Verge)
Facebook hires former Google exec Hugo Barra to lead virtual reality efforts (MobileSyrup)
Rumours
Apple patent suggests how a modular bracelet could add additional functionality to the Apple Watch (9 to 5 Mac)
Is an HTC Vive health tracker coming soon? (The Leaker)
Gear Fit Pro trademark hints at new Samsung fitness wearable (SlashGear)
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!