As Friday’s global launch date edges ever closer, it seems the excitement surrounding the new Apple Watch has already affected smartwatch sales. A new survey shows that more than half (57%) of prospective smartwatch or fitness bands purchasers have delayed their purchases ahead of this week’s launch.

Gaining mass appeal for the smartwatch may be Apple’s greatest challenge.

Sales tracking figures from GfK show that in the first quarter of this year sales volumes of smartwatches fell 21%...

(c)iStock.com/kasto80

Here’s an interesting example of wearable technology: Researchers from the Human-Computer Interaction Group at the University of Rochester have developed a user interface for Google Glass which gives real-time feedback to public speakers on volume modulation and speaking rate.

The premise is straightforward. Given public speaking is often cited as a primary fear of many people – respondents in a 2013 poll said they feared public speaking more than they feared being buried...

(c)iStock.com/KyKyPy3HuK

Kaspersky lab security researcher Roman Unuchek has written on how the authentication method in popular smart wristbands allows a third party to connect to the device, execute commands and even extract data.

The worrying findings came after a multiple month investigation, after Unuchek had initially attempted to connect his personal wristband – which remains nameless – and found he could easily connect to his colleague’s Nike+ FuelBand SE.

Using some code already...

(c)iStock.com/RyanKing999

The analysts at Juniper Research have gotten the tea leaves and crystal ball out again, and predicted annual revenues from connected healthcare and fitness services will approach $2bn by 2019, almost six times the value estimated for this year.

The findings, which appear in the report “Smart Wireless Devices: CE, Enterprise, Fitness, Healthcare, Payments 2015-2019”, examine the prevalence and market value of ‘smart wearable devices’, which Juniper defines as...

Wearable technology providers still have a lot to do to convince the general public they need one of their products, according to new research.

A whopping 75% of the 2000 UK adults polled by Hive by British Gas said they couldn’t see how wearable tech would make their lives easier. Almost one in 10 (9%) polled said they thought wearables would make their lives more difficult.

This isn’t the first time Brits have been less than convinced by the pull of smartwatches and eyewear, although back in 2014 it...

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/Prykhodov)

Long-term readers of my articles will know I'm a fierce critic of Apple, but something happened during their last event and recent discussions at SXSW seem to confirm they’ve changed an industry in a way I don't think the Cupertino-based giant has since the debut of the original iPhone…

When ResearchKit was announced, I was...

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/gmnicholas)

Tests conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in Wokingham have shown that reading a smartwatch whilst driving is more distracting than reading a smartphone and results in longer reaction time to perform an emergency manoeuvre.

A driver reading a message on a smartwatch took 2.52 seconds to react in an emergency, whilst using a handheld mobile caused a 1.85 second delay. The TRL also tested...

(c)iStock.com/buchachon

Analyst house Juniper Research has released a new paper asserting ‘invisible’ wearables – hardware which is indistinguishable from non-smart technology – will provide a key market opportunity by 2020.

In a report entitled ‘The World in 2020: A Technology Vision’, made available for free download here, the analysts argue many wearables companies are...

(c)iStock.com/RayTango

Analyst house CCS Insight has put out its latest global wearables forecast, and predicted that wearable shipments will jump to 75 million in 2015 – a 158% increase on last year.

Not surprisingly, a large amount of this number will be provided by the Apple Watch, due for release in April. CCS Insight expects Apple will account for 20 million of these, representing over a quarter of the market.

Yet the analyst firm sees this point as key – if the Apple Watch succeeds, then it...

Most devices on the market use Bluetooth to communicate, and therefore rely on a six-digit PIN code to authenticate between them. This represents approximately one million possible keys which with today's computing power is simple to crack and allow an attacker access to private data about the user without consent.

The researchers showed how information from the wearable device could be revealed in plain text

Other than just notifications, wearable devices are collecting data such as...