Disney is merging its consumer product and interactive divisions, a move that acknowledges the shared goals of important product lines like the Disney Infinity video game franchise and the upcoming line of wearable toys called Playmation. The change is "in response to changing consumer preferences in a marketplace increasingly influenced by technology," the Burbank, California, company said Monday. The new division also includes its publishing unit, which puts out children's books, e-books and apps and had been part of consumer products previously.
Bloomberg is out with new numbers from Slice Intelligence showing that after an initial spike in orders the Apple Watch is now selling less than Fitbit fitness trackers. Slice gathers data from emailed sales receipts to monitor how well devices are selling in the U.S. Before the 2014 holidays, none of the well-known wearable devices (from Fitbit, Garmin, Jawbone, and Samsung) were selling more than 50,000 units per week. But Fitbit spiked up to more than 200,000 units per week during the holiday, and never returned to pre-holiday levels.
Wimbledon Tennis Championships sponsor, Jaguar, has launched a project to monitor the emotions of tennis fans by using sensor technology to capture and analyse their highs and lows during matches. The multi-sensory #FeelWimbledon campaign will see selected members of the crowd enjoying the tennis this year with biometric wristbands capturing the excitement at SW19, while atmospheric, in-ground sensors monitor the energy around the courts, and global sentiment is analysed on social media. Atmospheric sensors will collate crowd movement, audio levels and infrared; biometric wristbands will capture heart rate, movement and location around the grounds; and sociometric tracking will the conversation among fans around the world on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. It is expected that all this data will provide a unique level of insight and present a completely new perspective on Wimbledon.
