This Week in Wearables – Disney will make more wearables ‘magical’

This Week in Wearables is our weekly blog curating the best stories on wearables from around the web. If you have tips please send them to sophie@straphq.com.

Disney to bring mobile technology to more parks

via Reuters, by Lisa Richwine

The Walt Disney Co. is about to get a lot more wearable. The company is forging ahead with expanding its $1 billion MyMagic+ program, which features smart wristbands that allow visitors to unlock hotel room doors, enter Disney theme parks, pay for food and merchandise, and book ride times, among other things. A company executive says Disney is exploring how it can leverage other wearable technology to offer this experience to visitors.

Wearables For Good: Unicef Challenges The Tech Industry

via Forbes, by Adam Forrest

Apple and other tech giants are banking on a growing market for wearables, the smart devices making it easier to connect, communicate and monitor your fitness. Now that the Apple Watch is strapped to the wrist of early adopters, the industry is expected to take off. Analysts predict a revenue-generating market of $22.9 billion by 2020. But what if wearables were put to problem-solving use in the developing world? Could smart, wearable devices offer something more than convenience? Could they be life-changing, even life-saving?

Australian wearables market to grow at CAGR of 78%; revenue of A$1 billion by 2018, says Frost & Sullivan

via PR Newswire

Australia’s market for wearable technologies is considered to be in its inception stage, although 2014 saw the advent of several trials and prototypes. The release of the Apple Watch on 24 April 2015 is expected to ignite interest in wearables as well as accelerate sales of wearable devices in Australia. This in turn will spur greater innovation from other players in the industry and drive new partnerships amongst vendors and distributors.

4 Stocks to Watch in Wearables

via The Motley Fool, by Daniel B. Kline

People might want smartwatches, fitness trackers, and other devices that fit the category, or the market may prove to be little more than a niche. Many of the major tech players had put a toe into the wearable waters, but none has had a commercial breakthrough.

Best wearables for dads and grads, May 2015

via ZDNet, by Matthew Miller

With graduation, Father’s Day, and the upcoming summer months it’s the perfect time to consider picking up a new wearable device for your grad or dad.

Med-Tech Marketing: Wearables and Beyond

via Medical Marketing & Media, by Larry Dobrow

Long considered one of the staid, self-contained areas of the healthcare biz, the device/diagnostics space has enjoyed an injection of energy as the potential for integration with mobile devices has become more obvious. But are these companies set up to work alongside their traditional pharma partners, much less the entrepreneurial-minded start-ups that aim to reinvent the category? Larry Dobrow surveys the opportunities and frustrations

Wearables at Work – Day 1: Employees

via Financial Times, by Sarah O’Connor

How would employees feel about being tracked by their bosses via wearables? Could some grow to value it if it helps them in their work? Sarah O’Connor, the Financial Times’ Employment Correspondent is spending this week fitted out in wearable gadgets while she works, to see if the personal data they generate really would be useful to managers – and whether workers could learn to live with it.

How Big Data Is Transforming Sports And Making Me Faster

via Forbes, by Jill Hulme

Big data is becoming an integral part of our everyday lives. Many don’t see the extent to which big data affects our world, and some don’t see it at all. I, however, have a fairly unique perspective that allows me to see just how ubiquitous it’s becoming, and how personal.