Today on a special extended Mobile World Congress edition of “Wearable Times” – Wearables stay hot in Barcelona! At Mobile World Congress today, Sony announced they’re launching its first wearable fitness tracker in March. It’s called the SmartBand. We first saw the SmartBand teased at CES in January, but that was before the wristband had an official name. But the company’s going beyond just a plain ol’ fitness band. When you pair the Sony SmartBand with Sony’s Lifelog application you can also use it to keep track of places you’ve been, songs you’ve listened too, books you’ve read, and other data.  The device is waterproof so you can wear it in the shower. And it pairs with your Sony phone via NFC or Bluetooth. A couple of days ago, Samsung announced the new Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartphones. Now they’re expanding its line of wearables to include a fitness tracker. Samsung announced today the Gear Fit. It’s a downsized version of its smartwatch siblings, with a focus on tracking your heart rate and counting your steps. What’s different about this fitness band is that is has a curved screen. Lastly, HTC, who has struggling to compete with the marketing muscle of Samsung and Apple, has decided it needs to expand. They announced not only mid-range phone -- the Desire 816 – they promised a broader lineup that will include wearables. No other details were given. 


Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - February 24, 2014

This week on “Wearable Times” – Victim or “Glasshole?” A recent YouTube video showing an attack on a tech expert using Google Glass in a bar has been making the rounds on the Internet. The woman claimed that bar patrons snatched the Glass off her face after receiving taunts for wearing the device. She released a video of the incident that she filmed with the wearable. However, she denied that she was recording anyone before the incident. The attack highlights the legal issues surrounding wearables. Aside from privacy concerns, Glass could face a lifetime ban should several states decide to ban the product for fears that it would contribute to more road accidents. Etiquette published online by Google on how to wear Google Glass and not be a "glasshole" suggests that the tech giant has long expected such hostility toward the device and its users. In other wearables news, after "a flurry of wearable electronics launches" at Mobile World Congress this week, NPD Display Search said it is now tracking unit shipments in the nascent wearables market - just as it does PCs, mobile devices, TVs, and other consumer electronics. NPD said it is currently tracking unit shipments for 79 wearable tech products and counting.


Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - March 2, 2014

This week on “Wearable Times” – Seems like Samsung is not through with their wearables “shock and awe” campaign. They may be getting ready to announce more wearable devices in addition to the three new gadgets unveiled at Mobile World Congress a few weeks ago, including the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit. Engadget recently discovered an FCC filing that describes a new Samsung fitness-band device called the “S-Circle” that’s yet to be officially unveiled by the company. A month after the Pebble Appstore made its debut on iOS, Pebble just announced at SXSW that it finally updated its Android software to 2.0 – and making its app store available on Google Play. The update gives users access to Pebble apps and watch faces, enables the viewing of old notifications, and allows apps to be downloaded to the "locker." They also announced a few new apps: eBay, Evernote, and Time Warner Cable. Intel has reportedly acquired Basis, a maker of health tracker wristwatches that monitor a user's activity, heart rate, and sleep patterns. Sources say the purchase price is between $100M and $150M. Basis is estimated to have a 7% share of the health tracker market, putting it behind leaders FitBit, Jawbone, and Nike.

Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - March 9, 2014

This week on “Wearable Times” – It was clear wearables were going to be a key topic even before SXSW began. Speakers at the event unanimously agreed that the category is advancing rapidly. Basketball star Shaquille O’Neal even made an appearance to discuss his new interest in wearable technology with Rick Valencia of Qualcomm. Yet despite predictions that the market for wearables could reach $30-$50 billion over the next 3 to 5 years, the growing consensus was that mass adoption was still a ways off. On Google Glass, Robert Scoble (author and startup liason officer of Rackspace) said: “This is one of those products you know is the future, but it’s so unfinished at this point that it’s frustrating. It’s three to five years away before it’s really useful.” Also at the SXSW conference, Google's SVP of Android and Chrome, Sundar (Soondar) Pichai said that Google is about to release a developer SDK that will make it easier for companies to create wearable devices that run on Android. Pichai didn't drop any hints as to whether or not Google itself was working on any devices, but instead said that when it comes to wearables, he thinks about it "at a platform level."

Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - March 16, 2014

After months of rumors, Google officially announced that it plans to extend Android to other wearable devices beyond Google Glass, and it’s starting with smart watches. The effort is called “Android Wear” and a post to the Google Blog last week said it will bring aspects of Google Now, including voice control and notifications, to your wrist. In other Google news, Google wants everyone to stop hating on Glass. After getting some negative publicity over the last few months, Google started firing back at Google Glass haters with a series of pro-Glass factoids.The company shared their “The Top 10 Google Glass Myths.”This comes a month after Google explained in a similar list how not to be a glasshole. And lastly, according to Nielsen's "Connected Life Report," 70 percent of consumers are already aware of "wearables," and about one in six (15 percent) of them currently use wearable devices--such as smart watches and fitness bands--in their daily lives. Not surprisingly, the majority of wearables owners are young, with nearly half (48 percent) between 18-34 years old.

Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - March 23, 2014

Google Glass will be getting more chic. Google announced last week that it has partnered with Italian eyewear powerhouse Luxottica to design “innovative iconic wearable devices.” The world’s largest producer of sunglasses has pledged to include its marquee brands, Ray-Ban and Oakley, and expects to have its Glass collection hit the market in 2015. The Financial Times is reporting that Apple has been headhunting designers at luxury watch companies for its future iWatch. The FT claims that watchmakers are not impressed with the future of wearable computing. Swatch CEO Nick Hayek believes that technological limitation will restrict innovation in the smart watch market. The FT is also claiming that Apple has actively sought to recruit watchmakers from the cream of the crop in the industry. So far, there are no takers. And the most amazing announcement this past week is that Facebook has acquired Kickstarter darling Oculus VR for around $2 billion in cash and Facebook stock. The virtual reality startup doesn’t even have a consumer product on the market, but Facebook has big plans for VR. The backlash to the acquisition was swift, with thousands of supporters doubting Facebook’s noble intentions for the company.

Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - March 30, 2014

Well it was April Fools' Day this past week, and both Samsung and HTC decided to have some fun. On April 1st,  they both claimed to be working on pairs of super smart, connected tech gloves. Samsung announced Samsung Fingers and HTC went with the Gluuv, both touting features like Wi-Fi capability, built-in cameras, speakers, solar charging, thermal tech and music integration. As well as more ridiculous ones, like Talk to the Hand mode and flatulence auditory reproduction. Google's effort to register the word 'Glass' as a trademark for its wearable electronic glasses has been stalled by the United States' Trademark Office.While Google has already registered the term 'Google Glass' as a trademark, a report in the Wall Street Journal this week revealed that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has objected to the 'Glass' trademark application, submitted last year. According to the report, a trademark examiner raised two objections, one of which was that the trademark was too similar to other trademarks containing the word 'glass', which could lead to confusion for consumers. The other objection was that the word 'glass' was merely descriptive. Such generic terms cannot be trademarked under US federal law.

Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - April 6, 2014

The wearable technology space might be in its early adopter phase right now, but according to new data from research firm IDC, the mainstream will start getting into the game very soon. By the end of this year, over 19 million wearable devices will ship worldwide, tripling last year's figure, IDC reported last week. Between now and 2018, wearable shipments will generate a 78.4 percent compound annual growth rate, eventually hitting 111.9 million worldwide shipments in 2018 alone. Have you been pining for your very own wearable $1,500 Google Glass but weren't sure how you, a regular non-developer residing in the United States, could procure one? Tuesday will be your lucky day. Google is opening sales of Glass for one day only to any adult in the United States who wants one of the devices. In true sale fashion, Google is throwing in free frames or sunglasses for those first-time customers and the supply is limited. Sales start at 9 a.m. ET on April 15, but people can sign up now with Google to receive a reminder. And lastly, in Apple iWatch rumors - KGI securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo believes the iWatch will ship during the end of the third quarter, offering biometric functionality, integration with the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and a "fashionable appearance." He also believes that Apple will offer the iWatch at multiple price points, with the most expensive version costing upwards of $1,000.

Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - April 13, 2014

One of the first mainstream brands to make wearable fitness electronics is getting out of the game. Nike confirmed last week that the company is ditching wearables and laying off as many as 55 people in its hardware division, which makes the FuelBand line of fitness trackers. Moving forward, Nike will reportedly shift its focus to fitness software, including its Nike+ API, which other hardware makers can integrate into their own wearables. Google has filed a new patent application with the U.S. Patent Office for a contact lens, which comes embedded with a tiny camera. This lens can be used for different purposes like capturing the image where a wearer sees at real-time or assisting visually impaired by providing inputs to contact-based guiding device. This also means apart from capturing the image, the wearer can film videos as he sees around even without the person in front. And finally, Pebble owners can now control their Pandora stations directly from their smartwatch. The service launched its first smartwatch app for streaming music last Monday in Pebble's appstore. The app, which lets users control their Pandora playlists from their Pebble, marks the first time the music-streaming service is available on a wearable device.

Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - April 20, 2014

Even though its highest-end device was voluntarily recalled for causing skin irritation, Fitbit managed to increase its market share by 3 percent, according to a recent report on fitness trackers by NPD. The report mentions that the market share for Fitbit, which makes the Flex, Zip and the now-recalled Force, increased to 67 percent in the 5 weeks ending April 21, up from 64 percent in the 5-week period ending November 2 of last year. Last week, news making the rounds that Google was making Google Glass available to anyone who wants to purchase it online – not just for that one day April 15th experiment. Well it turned out to be a false alarm. Glass will not be on sale for long. A Google spokesperson said that the link is still live to accommodate the buyers who were still in the pipeline from the April 15th sale. And finally, PayPal is rolling out a new program that will allow customers to make wireless transactions on their smartwatches. PayPal is launching a pilot phase of the program at campus Starbucks in San Jose, using a special app for the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch and Gear Fit fitness band. As the customers steps into the area covered by a PayPal Beacon installed inside, they immediately get notified so that their photo pops up on the point-of-sale system in the Starbucks store.

Scott Kerr Wearable Times Radio Minute - April 27, 2014

Scott Kerr is Executive Director of the category insights practice at Time Inc. 

Each week,  the "Wearable Times" Radio Minute will give you a short summary of the two or three most interesting stories from the hot wearables market. Follow me on Twitter @scott_kerr