What Fitbit’s IPO means for the wearable market
Fitbit made a healthy public debut on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday – bringing its valuation to a whopping $4.1 billion. What began as a target of $20 per share Wednesday night jumped to an opening price of $30.40 on Thursday. For those doing the numbers, that’s a 52 percent climb. Of course, it’s great news for Fitbit, but it also serves as an important marker for others in the wearable market. The strong IPO indicates that investors believe consumer demand for [...]
How wearables and apps make a fantastic Father’s Day
Father’s Day is this Sunday, and while some may have already picked up a gift and planned a day for your dad, the rest (including me) are probably just starting. To you I say, “have no fear, ACT | The App Association is here!” As you may have noticed, ACT | The App Association is doing a 99-Day Wearables Try-on-athon. We are gathering as much info as we can on these devices to help you figure out which device is best [...]
ACT | The App Association named to 2015 OTA Honor Roll
Today, ACT | The App Association was named to the Online Trust Alliance's 2015 Honor Roll. In acceptance of the award, App Association President Jonathan Zuck released the following statement: ACT | The App Association is honored to be recognized on the 2015 Online Trust Alliance Honor Roll. Representing more than 5,000 app makers and software companies, our members' success is founded on earning the trust of users. Today, consumers share sensitive health, education, and financial information with mobile apps, [...]
More than just steps
In my introductory post for We Wear It, I said that part of our goal for the 99 days is to help people learn about the wide variety of wearable devices that are available, their various capabilities, how they work for different lifestyles, and how all of this health and fitness data fits into the policy picture. In other words, it’s more than just steps. This is the first in a series of posts about the devices we’re trying and [...]
Thoughts on the First Days of “We Wear It”
A few observations from the first days of our try-on-athon: We have several people participating who had never before used a wearable health/fitness device, and they were anxious to get a baseline of their regular activity. And when we announced that the first staff challenge was overall step count for the week, things got competitive real fast. Everyone who is wearing more than one wearable (some who already owned a device are doing sort of a side-by-side with whatever new [...]
Slacker Tracker No More
What’s the great part about ACT | The App Association’s We Wear It? Even if you lose (a challenge) you still WIN! This challenge is about setting personal goals, improving your health and getting out of your fitness comfort zone. It’s about trying new things and hopefully finding a few new, exciting activities you enjoy. Here are my experiences… First, let me say that I entered this challenge with all the trepidation of my nerdy, awkward, glasses-wearing, teenage self who was continually shamed [...]