Wearable Wednesday – Fitbit files for $100 million IPO

Wearables Wednesday is our weekly blog curating the best stories on wearables from around the web.

Fitbit Files For $100M IPO

via TechCrunch, Anthony Ha

The filing states that the fitness-tracking company aims to raise $100 million in its initial public offering (that number could be a placeholder that will change). It also says the company will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FIT”.

Wearables: The Next Employee Accessory?

via eMarketer

There’s been plenty of chatter about what consumers want from wearables and what they’ll use them for, such as mobile payments and health and fitness tracking. Based on recent research, wearable devices are also set to change the business world.

Jawbone Hires Google Commerce Head Sameer Samat as President

via re/code, by Kara Swisher

Jawbone has made a big hire, grabbing one of Google’s top commerce execs, Sameer Samat, as its new president. He is currently VP of shopping and travel products at the search giant, but will start at the San Francisco maker of activity trackers and other wireless products later this month.

An Apple Watch In Middle America

via TechCrunch, by Sarah Perez

Okay, it’s technically not “middle” America, geographically speaking, but it is a small chunk of suburbia on the outskirts of an even smaller urban center. A place where people don’t rush right out and buy the latest new gadget simply because it exists. Where people don’t even notice your upgraded Dick Tracy-style Apple Watch wristwear, unless you find yourself compelled to point it out them. And then, shrugging their shoulders, they say things like“Hmm, I don’t know if I really need that,” or “Why did you get one?” Or, at best, with a tinge of skepticism, “Do you actually like it?”

The Revolution Will Be Digitized

via Washington Post, by Ariana Eunjung Cha

From the instant he wakes up each morning, through his workday and into the night, the essence of Larry Smarr is captured by a series of numbers: a resting heart rate of 40 beats per minute, a blood pressure of 130/70, a stress level of 2 percent, 191 pounds, 8,000 steps taken, 15 floors climbed, 8 hours of sleep.

As the Apple Watch goes, so does the smartwatch market

via CIO.com, by Fred O’Connor

The smartwatch market’s fate rides on the Apple Watch. If it fails, it could have as devastating an impact on smartwatch sales as Google Glass has had on smartglasses.

Yahoo Makes Play For Apple Watch; Flurry Analytics Available To Developers

via IBTimes, by Salvador Rodriguez

After arriving late to the mobile revolution spurred by the iPhone, Yahoo is making sure that doesn’t happen again with the Apple Watch. That’s why the company Thursday announced that wearable developers can now use Yahoo’s Flurry Analytics service to track user behavior on their Apple Watch apps.

Analytics will drive the business case for wearables

via diginomica, by Ryan Gloeckler

We’re at a huge juncture in the way enterprise IT systems are built, sold and used, and much of that focus is on analytics and creating services based on insights from real-time data. Analytics has to be at the heart of successful wearables.

The Data Science Revolution

via Huffington Post, by Eric Schmidt & Jared Cohen

The Huffington Post launched in 2005, but had it done so 10 years prior, it would have met a very different audience. By 2005, the average reader was digitally savvy — spending lots of time online, communicating mainly through email and mobile phones, and engaging daily with social media. Yet this was before the likes of Siri, Google Now, and Waze came along. Today, we are more connected than ever, and rely on all kinds of smart machines on a daily basis. Computers may have started as linear tools used only by engineers for discrete tasks, but they have grown into versatile devices that support each of us in a distinct and exciting way

Facebook: Smartwatches Are “Absolutely” An Advertising Opportunity

via Marketing Land, by Matt McGee

Facebook hasn’t launched an official Apple Watch app, but the company considers the device — and smartwatches, in general — an opportunity to show advertising to consumers. Dave Jakubowski, the head of ad technology at Facebook, told an audience at the Collision Conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday that smartwatches are “absolutely” an advertising opportunity. But he emphasized that the real challenge will be in developing an ad format that works in this environment.

Making sense of wearable data in marketing

via Computer Business Review, by Joao Lima

As the wearable market keeps expanding, businesses will have to learn how to make sense of the data the devices produce and how to apply it to their marketing strategy. According to Strap, the number of sold fitness trackers and smartwatches will double this year to 60 million and companies should be looking at wearable data as it allows them to localise and personalise experiences for users in real time.

Wearable technology promises greater efficiency in cities, industry and life

via Washington Post

Technology makes our lives easier. Whether it’s a simple technology like the wheel, or a complex technology like a combustible engine, there’s no argument that having the ability to go from point A to point B is more efficient with wheels than with legs. But what about wearable technology? How will wearables affect us? Our cities? Industry? Will wearable technology alter our evolution?